In the winter of 1221-1222
an unusual encounter between man and beast took place in the Punjab region of
India. Chinggis Khan's imperial guard while probing southwards in India were
held in awe by the sight of an extraordinary creature. The Mongol imperial
guard reported seeing, "A one horned animal with a body like a deer's, but with
a horse's tail and green in color which addressed the imperial bodyguard in
human speech saying, " Your master should return home as soon as possible!Ó[1]
This passage is quoted from the biography of Yeh-lŸ
Ch'u-ts'ai's biography in the YŸan-shih, a Chinese account of the period of Mongol
rule. Yeh-lŸ Ch'u-ts'ai, an important advisor to Chinggis Khan reported this
incident to the Emperor who raised questions about the meaning of this episode.
Yeh-lŸ Ch'u-ts'ai explained it thus, "This is an auspicious animal called chŸeh-tua. It is capable
of speaking all the world's languages, it loves life and abhors bloodshed. This
is a happy omen sent down by Heaven to warn your Majesty. You are Heaven's
eldest son, and all the men under Heaven are your children. Pray accept the
will of Heaven and preserve the people's lives.Ó That very day the Emperor
withdrew the army.
Professor Igor de Rachewiltz,
an eminent scholar of Mongol history, states in his article published in the
journal Austrina in 1982, "For my part, I am inclined to believe that
a real incident occurred which gave origin to it, which was later distorted
and magnified. It is indeed not only possible, but likely that some Mongol
soldiers saw a rhinoceros. This explanation was suggested long ago by Hung
ChŸn (1840-1893)
[2]
, but it seems to have escaped notice of both Chinese and
Western historians. Such a sighting may well have taken place during the Mongol
raid in the winter of 1221-1222. Although on its way to extinction, the one-horned
rhinoceros of India was still to be found in the Punjab and Sind in the fourteenth
century. The report of such a sighting could easily have been distorted and
exaggerated by the witnesses themselves, to whom the animal was quite unfamiliar.
If so, Yeh-lŸ Ch'u-ts'ai's subsequent interpretation of the incident, as related
by his grandson Liu-chi', is perfectly plausible, even if the location and
date in the latter's account are not to be relied upon. We must not forget
that one of Ch'u-ts' ai's main functions at court at the time was that of
soothsayer, as evident from his biographies and from his own writings.
[3]
He no doubt belonged to the category of non-shamanic soothsayers
called in Mongolia tšlegecin
or "diviners', which included specialists in divinatory arts from different
countries.
Man and beast are seldom involved in the realm of diplomacy, but in this case the fate of a nation might well have rested on the horn of a rhinoceros from India.
[1] Yuan-shih (Po-na ed) al c.146 2a-b Cf. Etani, pg. 49; Yen, pp.590-1
[2] Yuan Ðshih I-wen cheng-pu bo (Kuo-hsŸeh chi-pen ts'ung-shu ed.) c.22A, p.278
[3] See Sung Tzu-chen, op. cit., 11a-b; Munkuev, op cit., pp. 70-1; Chan-jan chŸ-shih, wen-chi (Ssu-pu ts'ung-k'an ed.) bp c.8. 15b4. Cf. also ibid c.4.10b3 and c.10 3b3.. On Ch'u-ts'ai's activity as bicēci (scribe secretary) see de Rachewiltz, "Yeh-lŸ Ch'u-ts'aiÓ, pp.195-8