Samurai Yujiro, JB correspondent
Dry dung fuel, or a cattle-dung rocks.
The ‘king’ of mountain sheep; known as ARGALI in Mongolian inspires me alright. Because its by no means a regular ‘sheep’ in Scotland; for the animal is 2m from head to tail, 1.2m high and weights as heavy as a 180kg sumo wrestler.
Cattle are bred for milk and meat by the Mongolians. Horse milk is used to make ‘fermented wine’ on its soil too. I’ve previously slept in a Mongolian ‘Gel’ (tent) in Nagoya before but never been to the country. Got to try the ‘milk’ too.
At any rate, the 12th century great Chinghis Khan; the founder of the mighty Mongol Empire and his men had once vanquished vast amount of land; from Eastern Asia, establishing Yuan dynasty in China in 1271; then expanded to the West stretching as far as Krakow in Poland. Cattle-dung fuel, or poo was dried and used for cooking and heating among the conquerors.
Sustainable was the Mongolian system.
- They ate sheep, goats, donkeys and horses.
- They made alcohol from fermented horse milk.
- They didn’t use cars, but rode horses.
- They cooked and heated by using cattle feces.
- They slept in Gel.
While today’s tedious world faces lockdown and calamities thanks to the Bat virus, I emphatically believe that Chinghis Khan and the Mongolian people’s way of life may provide us with the answers; or a tip to how we should behave and persevere in these difficult times. Efficiency, sustainability and ecology. Use everything that we can. Reduce plastic bags and wastes.
Make it simple!
Isolationism and de-globalization is highly likely to accelerate in the years to come, whether good or bad. Is the world flat? Well it was, and that’s the prime factor why Mrs. Corona spread so fast, resulting in a pandemic. And as a natural born Bellend, it is my understanding that we should now all learn from the great Mongolians who revered feces of their cattle and argali. As a matter of fact, during Nippon’s Edo period (1600-1868), human wastes too were sold for a price. There existed ‘Poo traders’ that bought excreta of Edo (Tokyo) people and sold it to farmers as fertilizers.
Automatic toilets and TOTO gadgets?!
Well of course we all do now live in a sanitary world. Notwithstanding, I cannot help but rethink of the significance to reuse everything we can, in these troubling times.
