The Evolution Of The Westren Cognition Of The Mongols In The Middle Ages

Prester John was a legendary figure prevailing in the medieval European society.He was the image of the Eastern Christian king constructed by Westerners based on the realistic needs under the historical background of vague cognition of the East.In the 12 th century,the Western European society was faced with the struggle between religious power and royal power inside and the threat of Islam outside.In this case,the Christians created the “King of Kings”--the legendary figure of Prester John,who ruled the “Three Indias”,and actively went to the East to seek the archetype of his character,in an attempt to ally with him and attack the Islamic forces.But the Mongol's appearance then let the Westerner's fantasy find the reality carrier.However,with the deepening of the understanding of the Mongols,the image of Prester John as an ally was subverted,and the process of subvert was also subsumed in three different stages of the Western cognition of the mongols:At first,the Westerners thought the Prester John was the leader of the Mongols.From 1218 to 1241,the Mongol army on the Western expedition defeated the Western Liao,Khwarezm,Kievan Rus and other countries one after another.The invincible Mongol army made the Westerners think that this was the Eastern ally they had been looking for.The fact that the Mongols persecuted and massacred the Muslim during their conquest only confirmed this belief.In the Westerners' eyes,the Prester John(David or his grandson),as the chief of the Mongols,represented God punishing the Muslim and would soon come to the rescue of their beleaguered Christian allies.However,the fantasy was always better than the cruel reality.With the Mongol armies marching west,the Westerners began to question Prester John's identity as an ally.From 1241 to 1242,the Mongols marched into the Poland,Hungary and other heartlands of Europe.The Mongols massacred Christians in the course of theirconquest and intended to continue their attacks,which had an impact on the Western cognition that imaginary allies were real aggressors,it has shocked the expectant Westerners.Why did Prester John's army attack its allies? Were the Mongols the allies who came to aid Christianity or the “Tartars” who dreamed of conquering the world?To answer this question,the Westerners decided to go to Mongolia to learn the facts,instead of judging their identity by imagination and guess.Through the continuous efforts of missionaries and travelers,the Westerners gradually acquired some information about the Mongols and the Prester John: John of Plano Carpini and others realized that the Mongols were not the army of Prester John,but they expected to conquer the world and could not be allies of Christianity;In the eyes of Marco Polo,the legendary Prester John might have been a minor tribal leader in central Asia,and Genghis Khan,as a representative of justice,led the Mongols to revolt against the rule of Prester John and won.For the conquest of the Mongols,the Westerners combined “eschatology” with the culture of guilt and regarded them as“the arms of God”,sent by God to punish sinful Christians.Finally,the image of the Mongols was symbolically included into the eschatology of Christianity after several evolutions.