As I mentioned in an earlier post about Jiayuguan I made an Attempt to Visit the Mazong Mountains in northwest Gansu Province. The word mazong, I pointed out, is now translated in most tourism-related ephemera as “horse’s mane,” perhaps a reference to the black appearance of the mountains when seen from distance. Owen Lattimore, who traveled along the northern flank of the mountains with a camel caravan in 1926, maintained however that mazong meant “horse’s hoof-print.”
Having grown up in China Lattimore spoke Chinese like a native, but in 1926 he did not know any Mongolian. In a later 1975 edition of The Desert Road to Turkestan, by which time he had became quite fluent in Mongolian, he elaborated on a new theory about the meaning of the word mazong. Lattimore:
However, as far back as the Ming Dynasty, founded in 1368, these mountains were called the Ma Tsung (Mazong) Shan, as pointed out in the Ming Shi, or “History of the Ming Dynasty.” E. Bretschneider, who in his Mediaeval Researches From Eastern Asiatic Sources (London, 1887) translates sections of the Ming Shi, also maintains, like most current commentators, that Ma-tsung means “horse’s mane.” It is possible that the Chinese word was corrupted from the Mongolian as far back as the fourteenth century?
Having grown up in China Lattimore spoke Chinese like a native, but in 1926 he did not know any Mongolian. In a later 1975 edition of The Desert Road to Turkestan, by which time he had became quite fluent in Mongolian, he elaborated on a new theory about the meaning of the word mazong. Lattimore:
Ma-tsung Shan (mazong in Pinyin) . . . is explained on p. 245 as the “horse hoof-print hills.” This was how the name was explained to me by the caravan men. It was only many years later that I divined the true derivation and meaning of this name. It is from the Mongol Metsin Uul, “Ape Mountains” . . . In other words, what we have here is an extension . . . of the folklore world of the Abominable Snowman of Asia.The more familiar Mongolian word for Abominable Snowman-like creatures is almas. There is, however, the word мич(mich), which means ape. Used to describe a mountain this word would be spelled мичин (michin), thus Мичин Уул, or Ape Mountains. It is possible then that the Mongolian michin became corrupted in Chinese as Ma-tsung and now in Pinyin style as Mazong? Lattimore would seem to to think so.
However, as far back as the Ming Dynasty, founded in 1368, these mountains were called the Ma Tsung (Mazong) Shan, as pointed out in the Ming Shi, or “History of the Ming Dynasty.” E. Bretschneider, who in his Mediaeval Researches From Eastern Asiatic Sources (London, 1887) translates sections of the Ming Shi, also maintains, like most current commentators, that Ma-tsung means “horse’s mane.” It is possible that the Chinese word was corrupted from the Mongolian as far back as the fourteenth century?
In any case, there were indeed many legends of wild hairy apeman living in these mountains. Are the mountains known as the Mazong Shan actually the Ape Mountains, and thus perhaps one of the abodes of the legendary almas, the Mongolian version of the Abominable Snowman? If so, it would only add to the mystery of these mountains, now inaccessible to foreigners.
For an vastly entertaining tale of the Abominable Snowman of Tibet who steals the Crown of Genghis Khan from Scrooge “The World’s Richest Duck” McDuck only to have it retrieved by Scrooge with the assistance of Donald Duck and his three nephews see “The Lost Crown of Genghis Khan“ in the Greatest DuckTales, Volume 1.
For an vastly entertaining tale of the Abominable Snowman of Tibet who steals the Crown of Genghis Khan from Scrooge “The World’s Richest Duck” McDuck only to have it retrieved by Scrooge with the assistance of Donald Duck and his three nephews see “The Lost Crown of Genghis Khan“ in the Greatest DuckTales, Volume 1.
I first read this Scrooge McDuck tale when I was seven years old, at which point I vowed I would someday visit both Tibet, putative home of the Abominable Snowman, and Mongolia, the home of Genghis (Chingis) Khan. At that time Tibet and Mongolia were among the most difficult places in the world for an American to visit, but even then I was confident that in the end I would persevere. I am now happy to say I have been able to fulfill both of these vows.
