The old name of Genghis Khan was Temujin,
who was born in 1162 in a noble family of a Mongolian tribe. With his wisdom and
intrepidity, he gradually unified Mongolia. In 1206, all chieftains of the
tribes in Mongolia convened a meeting at the bank of the Wonan River, jointly
choosing Temujin as the Great Khan, and calling him Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan
was such an outstanding politician, militarist who overawed Europe and Asia.
Riding the whirlwind in his whole life, he fought with enemies, conquered the
Central Asia, and established by far the most capacious Mongolia Great Empire of
the border in the world, striding Eurasia. Genghis Khan died on the journey of
attacking Xi Xia (a dynasty in old times). Since Genghis Khan was buried
secretly after his death, nobody knew where his coffin was buried. It was still
a historically unsettled case. The devout offspring can only set the curtain
that Genghis Khan had used before his death on the plateau between Altai and
Kent Mountain, and set up eight white felt curtains, which are called eight
white rooms. The eight white felt curtains became the mausoleum symbol of
Genghis Khan. For hundreds of years, it received the sacrifice of Genghis Khan
by their offspring.
After the perdition of the Yuan Dynasty
(1271-1368), eight white rooms moved with the Erdos tribe, which was responsible
for guardianship. In the sixth year (1649) of the Shunzhi reign in the Qing
Dynasty (1644-1911), the Qing court granted Elinqin, middle banner of Erdos left
wing, the noble rank of Prince, and he served as the leader of Ikinholo ally.
For the convenience of meeting the ally, he moved the eight white rooms to the
area that he governed, which is Ikinholo Banner now.
Ikinholo means Monarch Mausoleum. In the period of Anti-Japanese
War, the coffin of Genghis Khan had been moved to
Xinglong Mountain in Yuzhong County of Gansu Province,
and then it had been transferred to the Ta'er Temple of Bingzhong County in
Qinghai Province. In the spring of 1954, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region organized a delegation to escort Genghis
Khan's Mausoleum bedroom, which escorted the coffin of
Genghis Khan to the original place to bury. The
Genghis Khan Mausoleum was
formally founded in 1956.
Now, the Genghis
Khan Mausoleum is located in the place, with the front facing to the south. The
main construction of the mausoleum consists of three
co-adjacent mausoleum palaces.
The main hall is 26 meters in height, the yurt peak, like a Mongolian tent, dots
the white wall, and the top was built with luck designs by yellow-white glazed
tile. Climbing along the steps, one can see a 5 meter-high sitting statue of Genghis Khan in the middle of the mausoleum. In the
bedchamber behind the main hall, there are three Mongolian tents covered with
yellow satin juxtaposition. The coffins of Genghis Khan, his wife, his second
wife and his third wife are placed in the middle of the hall, and the coffins
of Genghis Khan's two brothers
are placed in the west and the east of the bedchamber.
The western and the eastern halls are all 23 meters in height. The coffin of
Genghis Khan's fourth son Tolui (the father of Kublai Khan, who was the founder
of the Yuan Dynasty) and the coffin of Kublai Khan's wife were placed in the
eastern hall; The western hall enshrines 9 banners, which were the symbol of 9
generals, and arms and other goods used at that time. The east and west corridors
of the main hall were decorated with large frescos. The content manifests the
expedition history of Genghis Khan and the processes that Kublai Khan unified
China. Two huge wooden wheels outside the hall have received supremacy homage
for many years by visitors, because it was said that the two wheels were used to
carry the coffin of Genghis Khan hundreds of years ago.
Genghis Khan's real tomb is still
historically a mystery. People have already regarded the Genghis Khan Mausoleum
that evolved from the eight white rooms as Genghis Khan's real mausoleum, with
which to commemorate his achievements.