The Special Status of ‘Solongos’ in the Worldview of the Medieval Mongol Empire －Focusing on the Story of “The Legend of Argasun Khuurchi (Аргусан хуурчийн(хорчийн) домог)”－
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This study examines the symbolic and political status of the eastern ethnic group Solongos (Солонгос) within the cosmological worldview of the Mongol Empire, known as ТАВАН ӨНГӨ ДӨРВӨН ХАРЬ ЕСӨН ИХ УЛС (“Five Colors, Four Foreigners, Nine Great Nations”). Focusing on the narrative of the Mongolian legend The Legend of Argasun Khuurchi (Аргасан хуурчийн домог), the paper explores how Solongos was not merely perceived as a geographical Other, but rather as a time-honored neighboring people symbolized through “rainbow” (солонго) and “east” (сол) motifs in Mongolian classical texts and mythologies. In particular, the myth of Boha(Bukha) Tsagaan Khan and his daughter Princess Khulan, as depicted in The Blue Chronicle (Хөх судар) and The Golden Summary (Алтан товч), reveals the distinctive position of Solongos as one of the “five-colored nations” in the ideological integration of the empire. The Mongol Empire structured its vision of universal rule through the concept of the “five colors” (ТАВАН ӨНГӨ) as cosmic and political principles, assigning each ethnic group a symbolic color to legitimize its divine mandate and imperial order. Within this system, Solongos was associated with the color white (цагаан), representing purity and the sacred origins of the East. It should be noted that, unlike the more widespread East Asian convention that associates the East with blue or green (青), the Mongolian color–direction scheme found in texts such as Shar Tuuzh, Altan Tobchi, and Tsagaan Tuukh assigns the color white (цагаан) to the eastern Solongos, indicating a regionally specific adaptation of the five-color cosmology rather than a simple adoption of the Chinese model. Moreover, as descendants of Balhae(渤海) and Goguryeo(高句麗), the Solongos embodied the archetype of the nomadic diaspora within Mongolian mytho-historical narratives, functioning as intermediaries of cultural integration in the empire’s discourse of conquest and coexistence. By interpreting the figure of Solongos, this research seeks to analyze the layered structure of the Mongol Empire’s global order and uncover traces of imperial memory and cultural solidarity shaped through patterns of otherness and interaction. It ultimately recontextualizes the historical ties between the Mongols and the Korean people as part of a transnational history of cultural exchange, and analyzes the role and symbolism of the “Eastern People” in the Mongolian mythic framework as part of the ideological foundations of medieval Mongol world rule.
Abstract
This study examines the symbolic and political status of the eastern ethnic group Solongos (Солонгос) within the cosmological worldview of the Mongol Empire, known as ТАВАН ӨНГӨ ДӨРВӨН ХАРЬ ЕСӨН ИХ УЛС (“Five Colors, Four Foreigners, Nine Great Nations”). Focusing on the narrative of the Mongolian legend The Legend of Argasun Khuurchi (Аргасан хуурчийн домог), the paper explores how Solongos was not merely perceived as a geographical Other, but rather as a time-honored neighboring people symbolized through “rainbow” (солонго) and “east” (сол) motifs in Mongolian classical texts and mythologies. In particular, the myth of Boha(Bukha) Tsagaan Khan and his daughter Princess Khulan, as depicted in The Blue Chronicle (Хөх судар) and The Golden Summary (Алтан товч), reveals the distinctive position of Solongos as one of the “five-colored nations” in the ideological integration of the empire. The Mongol Empire structured its vision of universal rule through the concept of the “five colors” (ТАВАН ӨНГӨ) as cosmic and political principles, assigning each ethnic group a symbolic color to legitimize its divine mandate and imperial order. Within this system, Solongos was associated with the color white (цагаан), representing purity and the sacred origins of the East. It should be noted that, unlike the more widespread East Asian convention that associates the East with blue or green (青), the Mongolian color–direction scheme found in texts such as Shar Tuuzh, Altan Tobchi, and Tsagaan Tuukh assigns the color white (цагаан) to the eastern Solongos, indicating a regionally specific adaptation of the five-color cosmology rather than a simple adoption of the Chinese model. Moreover, as descendants of Balhae(渤海) and Goguryeo(高句麗), the Solongos embodied the archetype of the nomadic diaspora within Mongolian mytho-historical narratives, functioning as intermediaries of cultural integration in the empire’s discourse of conquest and coexistence. By interpreting the figure of Solongos, this research seeks to analyze the layered structure of the Mongol Empire’s global order and uncover traces of imperial memory and cultural solidarity shaped through patterns of otherness and interaction. It ultimately recontextualizes the historical ties between the Mongols and the Korean people as part of a transnational history of cultural exchange, and analyzes the role and symbolism of the “Eastern People” in the Mongolian mythic framework as part of the ideological foundations of medieval Mongol world rule.