Replies

[What you describe is unlike what happened in the West. Perhaps you’re reading Chinese histories that have a different bias? I wasn’t there, and neither were you. What Western historians wrote down from the 15th century onward is well distilled in this excerpt from Kari:
The third era that influenced Russian thought in a great manner is Mongol Russia. In the 1200s, the Mongols conquered Russia. They held Russia for years. That time was cruel. There are a lot of words in Russian, related to torture, taxation, and corruption that come from the Mongol language. Dominance under personal authority was rooted in the administrative culture of the Mongols. That is, there is only one khan that leads. It is he who leads, no one else. Others are passive followers. That one guy leads and takes responsibility and the initiative. When the belief of divine legitimacy to lead is attached to this, the leader will appear fairly tough in their worldview.

The corruption and cruelty also come from the Mongol era. During Mongol rule, the only ways to survive were lying, corruption, and violence. This still lives very deep in Russia’s strategic culture. When Mongol rule ended, the Mongols did not just pack their bags and disappear from Russia. Instead, they mixed with the locals. So the traditions also stayed with the people. In particular, to the leading caste. The Mongols who had previously ruled the country merged into the ruling layers, which is still visible today.]

His thesis is based on personal prejudice and literal ignorance, not historical fact. Most of these people never bothered to learn anything about history outside of their particular specialties and don’t particularly want to. And that’s fine. What’s clear is he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I understand you, as a layman, having neither the interest nor the inclination to find out. As a self-proclaimed expert, he should know. He doesn’t.

I am neither Chinese nor literate in Chinese. I “know” all of the things you do through this guy. Then I took a closer look, over the years, and discovered it was complete nonsense, through looking at names, dates and battles. In essence, for a people supposedly ruled by khans worshipped as gods, they sure seem to fight their rulers a lot and have these private armies very similar to European ones possessed by men like Warwick and Buckingham, except theirs are kingmaker armies capable of taking the throne and killing the khan himself.