> a cursory google shows that the mongolian words for steel and iron are similar to the ones in Chinese, my conjecture is that the chinese words are actually loaned from a barbarian culture not the other way round.. (genghis khan probably came from a smithy family btw)
Your conjecture about etymology makes no sense as the Chinese character 鐵 for iron dates back at least to small seal script[1] from a cursory search[2], and small seal script predates Genghis Khan by about 1400 years.
Bronze metallurgy was in China for even longer,[3] pretty sure that was way before there was any meaningful contact with "barbarians".
Your conjecture about etymology makes no sense as the Chinese character 鐵 for iron dates back at least to small seal script[1] from a cursory search[2], and small seal script predates Genghis Khan by about 1400 years.
Bronze metallurgy was in China for even longer,[3] pretty sure that was way before there was any meaningful contact with "barbarians".
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_seal_script
[2] http://xh.5156edu.com/hzyb/a20196b17789c99815d.html
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_metallurgy_in_China
Edit: I misread [2]. The character dates back at least to large seal script which is older.