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132
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[MAY, 1882.
Yi Bing
King
CHINGHIZ KHAN AND HIS ANCESTORS.
BY HENRY H. HOWORTH, F.S.A.
(Continued from p. 81.) XV.
Ssanang Setzen. Schmidt has compared the We shewed in the previous paper of this three systems in a useful table as follows - series that the Mongols derived their early Ere Modun Köke
Ga nlphabet and literary culture from the Uighurs. Eme Modun Kökekchin To the same source they doubtless owed their Ere Ghal Ulaghan famous chronological system, which it will Eme Ghal Ulaghakchin Ting not be unprofitable to describe here. The Ere Shiroi Shira system of chronology used by the Mongols is Eme Shiroi Shirakchin
Ki founded on a double cycle. One of these con- Ere Temur Tsaghan sists of 12 years, to each of which is attached Eme Temur Tsaghakchin Sin the name of an animal in the following Ere Ussun Khara
Shim order:
Eme Ussun Kharakchin 1, Khulughana, the mouse;
By a combination of the 12 animals' names 2, Uker, the ox;
and these 10 names, which always follow one 3, Bars, the tiger or panther;
another in the same order, we get a cycle of 4, Taolai, the hare ;
60 years: each 60 years beginning with the 5, Lu, the dragon ;
same name. Schmidt has arranged the years 6. Moghai, the serpent;
of this century from 1804 to 1863 according to 7, Morin, the horse ;
the Mongol system. It will suffice here to 8, Khonin, the sheep;
give a few as a sample of the rest 9, Bechin or Mechin, the monkey;
Ga, mouse year...1804 Sin, sheep.........1811 10, Takia, the hen;
Yi, ox................1805 Shim, monkey ...1812 11, Nokhai, the dog; and
Bing, panther ...1806 Kin, hen .........1813 12. Gakhai, the pig.
Ting, hare.........1807 Ga, dog.............1814 These names are applied to the years in suc. U, dragon .........1808 Yi, pig ............ 1815 cession in a recurring cycle of 12 years, but Ki, serpent ......1809 Bing, mouse......1816 as this is too short for practical chronology, it King, horse ......1810 eto, etc. has been combined with a second cycle of 10. It will be seen that every 12 years each This second cycle of ten is constituted in two animal is found linked with a companion from different ways. In one of them the cycle is which it was two places distant at the earlier named after the five elements: Modun, wood; occurrence; and it is this, of course, which conGhal, fire ; Shiroi, carth; Temur, iron; and stitutes it a cycle of 60 years. If the names Usun, water; which, by attaching the mas. are followed out it will be seen that in 1864 we caline and feminine particle ere and eme to each again get to a year which has to be named Ga, respectively, makes the full cycle of 10. This is mouse year, the method usually employed. The second Having explained the system, we will now system is similarly named after the five colours : say a few words about its origin, and we may Köke, blue; Ulaghan, red; Shira, yellow; take it that the third method abovenamed, in Traghan, white; and Khara, black; which in the which Chinese words are used, isa comparatively feminine are respectively Kökekchin, Ulaghak- modern innovation due to Chinese influences. chin, Shirakchin, Tsaghakchin, and Kharakchin. The real systems found in the older Mongol
This system is mainly used for the calendar. A literature are the two earlier ones. third system has adopted the Chinese names Ulugh Beg, the famous prince astronomer, Kia, Y, Ping, Ting, Wu, Ki, Keng, Sin, Shin, has recorded for us the names used by the Kuei; or as the names occur in their Mongol Uighurs in their 12 years cycle, and they are as transcription, Ga, Yi, Bing, Ting, U, Ki, King, follows:--The mouse kesku, the ox uth, the Sin, Shim, and Kai. This third mode Schmidt tiger bars, the hare thawshk'an, the dragon lui, says he had only found used in the case of the serpentyilan, the horse yunad, the sheep ko's,
