Altan Tobchi - Purpose

Purpose

Taken as a whole the Altan Tobchi is not a religious text, either of Tibetan Buddhism or of the well-developed shamanic Cult of Genghis Khan. It is largely secular and deals with affairs of the state. The Buddhist introduction is irrelevant to the main thrust of the work. It is not a set of laws, although decrees of Genghis Khan are included in the Secret History section. Examples of codified nomadic law exist separately and include the Code of Altan Khan (c. 1577), and the Parchment Laws of the Khalkha (1570s-1639). It is not a simple king list from the legendary Chakravarti kings to Ligdan Khan. Although the title says it deals with "statecraft", the work is not political philosophy nor a treatise concerned with the machinations of the legislative, executive and judicial functions of the state. It does not treat of any state policy in detail (e.g. the relay post system or military strategy). Rather the work is clearly designed to be a manual of ethics for the Mongolian nobility with special emphasis on preserving the unity of the state. The work is essentially didactic and instructional in nature. Its code of conduct is loosely analogous to the Way of the Samurai and chivalry. Although the near entirety of the ethical code contained in the Altan Tobchi is authentically Mongolian or nomadic and thus derives from the sayings of Genghis Khan or nomadic tradition, there are also a few quotations here and there taken from Indian ethical works and Yuan dynasty Tibetan-inspired state ideology (i.e. the Teaching of the Two Orders, of Kublai Khan).