With thanks to: Chris Atwood, Professor of Mongolian History, Indiana University; Charles Bawden, Emeritus Professor, and former Professor of Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, who started it all; Dr Dambyn Bazargur and Badraa; Siqin Brown, SOAS; Yuefan Deng, Stonybrook University, NY; Dalai, historian, Ulaanbaatar; Ruth Dunnell, Associate Professor of Asian History and Director of International Studies, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio; Erdenebaatar, Institute of Animal Husbandry, Ulaanbaatar; Stephen Haw, for vital guidance on Marco Polo’s China; ‘Helen’, Renmin University, Beijing, for wonderful interpreting; Professor Tsogt-Ochir Ishdorj, Head, Department of Historiography, History Institute, Mongolian Academy of Science; Jorigt and Nasanbayar of the Mongolian Language Institute, School of Mongolian Studies, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot; Luc Kwanten and Lilly Chen, Big Apple-Tuttle Mori, Beijing and Shanghai; Professor Yao Dali, History Department, Fudan University, Shanghai; Lars Laaman, History Department, SOAS, for his help with Sharaldai (see Bibliography) and his translator, Geok Hoon Williams; Yuan-chu Ruby Lam, Department of Chinese, Wellesley College, MA; Du Jian Lu, Xi Xia Institute, Ningxia University; Richard John Lynn, for his Xanadu verse translations; Tom Man, of Perioli-Man, Oxford, for putting flesh on the Pleasure Dome; David Morgan, formerly Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Nachug, Director, Institute for Genghis Khan Studies, Edsen Khoroo (Genghis Khan Mausoleum); Oyun Sanjaasuren, MP, leader of Citizens’ Will-Republican Party, Head of Zorig Foundation; Igor de Rachewiltz, School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, for vital and unstinting guidance; Panoramic Journeys, together with Esee, two Nyamas, Ravi, Refika, Nancy and Joan; my Mongol guides, Goyotsetseg Reston (Goyo) and Tumen; Randall Sasaki, Texas A&M University, and Kenzo Hayashida for an introduction to Kublai’s lost fleet; Sainjirgal, researcher, Genghis Khan Mausoleum; Sharaldai, theologian, Genghis Khan Mausoleum; Professor Noriyuki Shiraishi, Niigata University, for his comments and guidance in Avraga; Professor Chris Tyler-Smith, formerly at the Department of Biochemistry, Oxford University, for his help on Genghis’s genetic legacy; Professor Wei Jian, Renmin University, Beijing, for unique insights and inspirational guidance; ‘William’ Shou for the Xanadu trip; Jack Weatherford, Macalester College, MN; Graham Taylor, Karakorum Expeditions, Ulaanbaatar; Frances Wood, British Library; Lijia Zhang, Beijing, for friendship; as always, Felicity Bryan and her team; and in Transworld Doug Young, Henry Vines and Sheila Lee.
The quotations from The Secret History are from de Rachewiltz’s version (see Bibliography), with permission from Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Netherlands.
A note on spelling
In transliterating Chinese, pinyin is now standard, but it still overlaps the old Wade–Giles system. I use whichever seems more appropriate. Spellings of personal names vary widely. ‘Genghis’ is pronounced ‘Chingis’ in Mongol, and should really be spelled like that in English (to overcome a common fault: the G is soft, as in ‘George’, not hard, as in ‘good’). I retain ‘Genghis’ out of deference to tradition. I use the more familiar ‘Kublai’ rather than ‘Khubilai’, ‘Qubilai’ or ‘Kubla’. Xanadu is ‘Shangdu’ (Upper Capital) in Chinese; but Xanadu is traditional in English, thanks to Coleridge.