China says Genghis Khan catalyst for Renaissance

BEIJING, July 20 (Reuters) Genghis Khan -- notorious as the ruthless, bloodthirsty creator of an empire that spanned Asia and Europe -- also laid the foundations for the Renaissance, China's Xinhua news agency said today.

''Genghis Khan introduced papermaking and printing technologies to Europe and pioneered cultural exchanges between Asia and Europe,'' it quoted Zhu Yaoting, a specialist on Mongolian history at Beijing Union University, as saying.

''He brought cultural progress that helped liberate the Europeans from the bondage of theology -- in this sense, his expeditions served as a catalyst for the Renaissance,'' he said.

Genghis Khan's expeditions to Europe also reopened the Silk Road and laid the path for Marco Polo's historic trip to China.

''The expedition revived the ancient trade link and made economic and cultural exchanges possible again between the isolated civilisations,'' said Chen Yuning, a professor at Ningxia University.

Last month, state media said Genghis Khan could also be considered the founder of globalisation for forming the largest contiguous land empire in history. The 800th anniversary of his uniting Mongol tribes, the beginnings of his empire, is being commemorated this year.

China has also in the past made numerous other unusual historical claims, including the contention that the Chinese invented football and golf.

And some Chinese academics say China ''discovered'' America decades before Christopher Columbus.

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