# Saghang Sechen

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{{Short description|Mongol writer, historian, and Borjigin prince (1604–1641)}}
{{Infobox writer
| image=
| caption= 
| birth_name=Saghang Sechen Qong Tayiji
| birth_date=1604
| birth_place= [Ordos](/source/Ordos_City) (present day [Inner Mongolia](/source/Inner_Mongolia), China)<ref name="mongoltoli">{{cite web|title=Sagan setsen|url=https://mongoltoli.mn/history/h/424|website=mongoltoli.mn|access-date=22 May 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210521230817/https://mongoltoli.mn/history/h/424|archive-date=21 May 2021}}</ref>
| death_date= after 1641
| death_place=
| nationality=
| occupation=Writer
| notableworks = ''[Erdeniin Tobchi](/source/Erdeniin_Tobchi)''
| awards = 
| signature= 
}}
'''Saghang Sechen'''<ref name="jstor">{{cite journal |last1=Okada |first1=Hidehiro|last2= 岡田英弘 |title= Dayan Khan as a Yüan Emperor: The Political Legitimacy in 15th Century Mongolia|journal= Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient|year=1994 |volume= Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient Vol. 81 (1994)|publisher=École française d'Extrême-Orient ([JSTOR](/source/JSTOR))|pages= 51–58|doi= 10.3406/befeo.1994.2245|jstor=43731760 }}</ref>{{efn|{{blist|{{langx|mn|Саган сэцэн хунтайж|Sagan secen khuntaij}}, {{IPA|khk|saʁə̆ɴ set͡sʰɘ̆ɴ χʊntʰɛ́ːt͡ɕ|pron}}|[Classical Mongolian](/source/Classical_Mongolian) (transcription):  {{Transliteration|mn|Saghang Sechen Qong Tayiji}}, {{IPA|mn|ˈsaɣăŋ ˈsetʃʰĕn qʰoŋ ˈtʰajĭdʒĭ|IPA}}}}}} (1604<ref name="cambridge">{{cite book|author=Branko Soucek |author2=Svat Soucek |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7E8gYYcHuk8C|title=A history of inner Asia|page=358|publisher=[Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press)|year=2000|isbn=978-0-521-65704-4}}</ref><ref name="Sanders">{{cite book|last=Sanders|first=Alan J. K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UGwvDwAAQBAJ|title=Historical Dictionary of Mongolia Volume 1|page=735|publisher=[Rowman & Littlefield Publishers](/source/Rowman_%26_Littlefield_Publishers)|year=2017|isbn=978-1-5381-0227-5}}</ref> – after 1641) was an ethnic [Mongol](/source/Mongols) writer, historian, and prince from the [Borjigin](/source/Borjigin) clan.

He is primarily remembered for writing ''[Erdeniin Tobchi](/source/Erdeniin_Tobchi)'' (1662), a history of the Mongol great Khans which was written to promote unity among the Mongols. He also wrote a number of [biographies](/source/biographies), covering [Godan Khan](/source/Godan_Khan) and the [Shakyamuni Buddha](/source/Shakyamuni_Buddha).  The historian was reputedly executed by the [Qing dynasty](/source/Qing_dynasty) for refusing to become their subject. 

==Early life==
Saghang Sechen was an ethnic Mongol born into the [Ordos](/source/Ordos_Mongols) tribe, the son of the {{Transliteration|mn|Ordos Bat Khüngtaij}}.<ref name="jstor"/> He was a nephew of [Altan Khan](/source/Altan_Khan).<ref name="Sanders"/> When he was just 17, Saghang Sechen became a military and administrative aide to [Ligden Khan](/source/Ligden_Khan). The latter entitled him {{Transliteration|mn|Setsen Khüngtaij}}.<ref name="Sanders"/>

==Work==
[[File:Ost-Mongolen.jpg|thumb|Front-page of a 1829 [German](/source/German_language) edition of the ''History of the Eastern Mongol'' by Sechen]]
He is best known as the author of the ''[Erdeniin Tobchi](/source/Erdeniin_Tobchi)'' ('Jeweled Summary'), which was published in 1662.<ref name="brit">{{cite web|title=Mongolian literature|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Mongolian-literature|publisher=[Britannica](/source/Britannica)|access-date=18 May 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210518095116/https://www.britannica.com/art/Mongolian-literature|archive-date=18 May 2021}}</ref> The work is a history of the Mongol great Khans,<ref name="Sanders"/> and came as part of a struggle for unity among the Mongols, and renewal of their literature.<ref name="brit"/>

The work has some [anecdotes](/source/anecdotes) also found in the early-13th-century ''[The Secret History of the Mongols](/source/The_Secret_History_of_the_Mongols)'' and in [Guush Luvsandanzan](/source/Guush_Luvsandanzan)'s ''[Altan Tobchi](/source/Altan_Tobchi)'' or {{Transliteration|mn|Khadyn ündsen khuraangui Altan tovch nert sudar orshivoi}} ('Short History of the Origins of the Khans Called the Golden Summary'), also written in the early 17th century. In his work there are also citations from the {{Transliteration|mn|Shar Tuuj}} ({{Transliteration|mn|Sir-a tuguji}}, 'Yellow Story'), written as on ode to [Dayan Khan](/source/Dayan_Khan) in the 17th century by an anonymous author. It tells the story of the capture of Gürbeljin-gua ('Beautiful lizard'), queen of Tangut, whose husband (Tangut Khan) had been murdered by [Genghis Khan](/source/Genghis_Khan) after he destroyed their kingdom, the Tangut state. The story tells that before giving herself to Genghis Khan, she placed a pair of tweezers inside herself, which caused a fatal injury to Genghis Khan. She then drowned herself into the [Yellow River](/source/Yellow_River). The work of Saghang Sechen has a strong folkloric note.<ref name="Sanders"/>

He further wrote biographies of [Godan Khan](/source/Godan_Khan), the grandson of Genghis Khan, and of [Shakyamuni Buddha](/source/Shakyamuni_Buddha).<ref name="Sanders"/>

Beside the literary value of his works, as an historian, he is said to have greatly contributed to the study of Mongol history.<ref name="unesco">{{cite book|author=Unesco. Regional Office for Education in Asia and the Pacific|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3WGAAAAIAAJ|title=Social Sciences in Asia and the Pacific|page=325|publisher=[UNESCO](/source/UNESCO)|year=1984|isbn=978-92-3-102148-0}}</ref>

==Death==
According to one source, he refused to become a subject under the [Manchu](/source/Manchu) of the [Qing dynasty](/source/Qing_dynasty) and was sentenced to death by dismemberment.<ref name="Sanders"/>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

Category:1604 births
Category:17th-century deaths
Category:17th-century historians
Category:17th-century Mongols
Category:17th-century nobility
Category:17th-century biographers
Category:17th-century executions by China
Category:Mongolian writers
Category:Mongolian nobility
Category:People executed by the Qing dynasty

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Saghang Sechen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saghang_Sechen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saghang_Sechen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.