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1、LARRYMOSESIndianaUniversity,Bloomington,IndianaLegendsbytheNumbers:TheSymbolismofNumbersintheSecretHistoryoftheMongolsAbstractTheSecretHistoryoftheMongols,athirteenth-centurytext,isoftenusedbyscholarsasasourceforhistoricaldataontheearlyMongols.Thenumericalmaterialhasfounditswayintovirtuallyeveryarti
2、cleonMongolmilitaryorganizationandonthedatingofevents.Thepresentarticleshowsthatmostofthenumbersusedinthetextareofalegendarynature,andarethereforenotareliablesourceforscholarship.Keywords:Mongols-SecretHistory-ChinggisKhan-MongollegendAsianFolkloreStudies,Volume55,1996:73-97NTRODUCTION:NUMBERPATTERN
3、SINTHESECRETHISTORYOralhistoriesthathavemadethetransitiontoastandardizedliteraryformoftenretainavarietyofmechanismsthatoriginallyservedasaidsintheprocessesofmemorizationandtransmission,butthatarenotrecognizedassuchinthelatermanuscripttexts.Examplesincludemne-monicdevices,alliterativerhymeschemes,epi
4、cexaggeration,andcultur-allysignificantdistortionsoffact.TheSecretHistoryoftheMongols(SHM),composedinthethirteenthcentury,istypicalofsuchtextsinthatitcombineshistoricalfactwithanumberofeventsandindividualsthatareclearlyimaginary.AcaseinpointisDuwaSoqor,thelegendaryancestoroftheMongols,whohadaneyeint
5、hemiddleofhisforeheadwithwhichhecouldsee"threestagesahead"(DERACHEWILTZ1971,118).Similarlyfictionalarethecontentsofepicboastsdescribingthesuperhumanpowersandabilitiesofcertainindividuals.ThusJamuqa,attemptingtodemoralizetheNaimansoldiersontheeveofbattlewithChinggisQahan,attributesqualitiesofsuperhu-
6、mantoughnesstotheMongolcommanders:Theirforeheadsareofcastcopper,Theyhavechiselsforsnouts,Theyhaveawlsfortongues,Theirheartsareofiron,Theyhaveswordsforwhips.Andofonegeneral-Qasar,thebrotherofChinggis-Jarnuqamakescomparisonsthatsmackoftheancientheroesinothermyths:Heisthreefathomsinstature,Hehasathree-
7、yearold[mare]forfare,Hewearsathree-layerarmor,heisdraggedbythreebulls.Ifheswallowsamancompletewithquiver,Itdoesnotgetstuckinhisthroat....[74ILEGENDSBYTHENUMBERSWhenheshoots,drawinghisbowtothefull,Hesh
