IranAvenue (ایران آوینیو)

I first discovered Vasily Yan (1875-1954) through my grandfather’s library. Picking up the book “Chengiz Khan”. His writing made me fall in love with Central Asia and its rich history. In 1888, Vasily Yan embarked on a journey to the ruins of ancient cities along the Black Sea. These were once energetic locations, now silent, reclaimed by nature. Yan documented with minute detail into the architecture and life of these past worlds. In his prose, vivid pictures of the past are painted. The most interesting point of Yan’s writings is in relation to his remarkable dream encounter with Chengiz Khan. In his sleep, Yan found himself on an ancient battlefield, facing the mighty Mongol leader. They wrestled in the traditional Mongol style, holding each other’s backs. At one point, Yan felt as if Chengiz Khan was breaking his spine with his immense power. In a moment of desperation, Yan decided to trick the Khan by waking up. Yan later wrote that he chose to fight the Khan awake by collecting stories and documenting the history of his reign and battles. This dream encounter became a pivotal moment in Yan’s explorations. It deepened his understanding of Chengiz Khan’s legacy and gave birth to his trilogy: “Chengiz Khan,” “Batu Khan,” and “the Last Sea.” Quite often in my postings, I shall quote from Yan’s books so that my readers can share some of his profound insights and taste his graphic expression. And through his eyes, one is able to relive Central Asia’s wonders and timeless stories.

Legends often borrow from each other, and we can see this among different cultures. In Greek mythology, Achilles’ mother dipped him in the River Styx, holding him by his heel, which became his only weak spot. Similarly, in German legend, Siegfried bathed in dragon’s blood, but a leaf stuck to his back, leaving that spot vulnerable. His uncle Hagen later used this weakness to kill him. In Persian mythology, Isfandiyar was bathed in a magical spring, but he closed his eyes, making them his weak spot. Rustam used this knowledge given to him by Simorgh to defeat him.

It is interesting how mankind has always sought immortality. However, it often fell due to its own weaknesses.

Isaiah Berlin uses a fragment from Archilochus, “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing,” to categorize thinkers into two groups: hedgehogs, who focus on one defining idea, and foxes, who draw from diverse experiences. Berlin analyzes historical thinkers using this framework, suggesting it reveals their approaches to understanding the world.

Berlin describes Leo Tolstoy as a fox who wished to be a hedgehog, arguing this inner conflict contributed to his great literary works like War and Peace and Anna Karenina.