Mongolian Communities Research Articles

Memory of the Grassland: How to Keep Singing Mongolian Gür Songs in Today’s Ordos City, China

Ordos is a prefecture-level city of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Besides the famous Genghis Khan’s Remembrance Place as its significant feature of the past, it also features some gur songs of the Mongolian grassland. Although little known to the world, Gur songs have long served in Mongolian rulers’ circles from ancient times. Through reconstruction, revitalization, and re-textualization over three millennia, Gur songs are regarded to represent local Mongolian culture as they are deeply rooted in Hanggin (a special district of the city) of Ordos. Crises of a heritage solely built on a single inheritor are emerging: Will the cultural memory of the community decay after the demise of the ‘inheritor’? Will there be a memory gap? Does the orally transmitted ritual music preserve the cultural memory of the Mongolian community in the process? How does the century-old music tradition find its connection to Ordos, a city with an urbanization history of under 20 years? This discussion queries the reconstitution of memory through an ethnography of this Mongolian heritage example in Ordos, expecting to be a critical inspection for the persistence of the cultural memory of the community.

The Development Process of Qinghai Mongolian Folk Songs Through Anthropological Perspectives

Background and Aims: Qinghai Mongolian folk songs, cherished expressions of the Mongolian community's cultural identity, are the focal point of this anthropological study. The research aims to investigate the development process of Qinghai Mongolian folk songs through anthropological perspectives. Materials and Methods: Employed a comprehensive methodology integrating both ethnomusicology and anthropology on in-depth interviews with two key informants renowned for expertise. Additionally, participant observation techniques were applied, carriers of traditional knowledge, and agents fostering cultural continuity within the community. Results: This study resoundingly emphasizes the critical need to safeguard the exquisite tapestry of Qinghai Mongolian folk songs, serving as a melodious gateway into the soul of the Mongolian community. Beyond preservation, the study sparks curiosity for future exploration, beckoning researchers to unravel the regional intricacies, contemporary transformations, and dynamic community-driven conservation strategies that shape the ongoing narrative of these cultural treasures. Conclusion: This research contributes to the discourse on safeguarding traditional cultural expressions while celebrating the enduring beauty of Qinghai Mongolian folk songs and honoring the rich heritage of the Mongolian people in Qinghai.

Babürnâme’deki Örneklerden Hareketle Türk-Moğol Kültüründe Yadacılık Geleneği

The practice of yadačılıq involves manipulating weather elements such as rain, snow, and storms through specific rituals or stones. Throughout history, those who engaged in these practices have been bestowed titles like yatčı, yadačı, and cayčı, distinguishing them from individuals referred to as qam or shaman. The tradition of yadačılıq persisted among Turks and other Central Asian communities, spanning from ancient times to more recent centuries. Over this period, numerous sources have offered insights into this subject. One such illuminating source on these rituals and beliefs is the Bāburnāma, a memoir and diary-style account authored by Babur Shah, a notable figure from the 16th century. Within this work, Babur Shah documented his experiences, observations, and encounters during his rule. Significantly, the Bāburnāma includes explicit references to the terms yadačı and yadačılıq, underscoring the continuity of these beliefs within the societal fabric of the 16th century. The intent of our article is to emphasize the existence of yadačis and the beliefs encompassing yadačılıq across diverse Turkish and Mongolian communities, both in the past and the present, dispelling the notion that this practice is merely a legend.

Accumulation of Metals in the Environment and Grazing Livestock near A Mongolian Mining Area.

The Mongolian economy is supported by rich deposits of natural resources, such as copper, coal, and gold. However, the risk of heavy metal pollution to livestock and human have been recently discussed. This research collected various samples from soil and animal (sheep, goat, horse, cow, and camel), blood and organs (kidney and liver) in the Mongolian countryside. These samples were processed, and the concentration of metals was quantified using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP/MS). As previously reported, arsenic was found at high levels of accumulation in soil. Selenium is another concern, as median concentration in one area exceeded the maximum allowable level. Cadmium and selenium were found to be highly accumulated in animal kidney. This research revealed the current pollution level in Mongolia based on evaluation of soil and animals. The concentration in animals could not indicate that animals had severe effects because of heavy metal exposure. However, kidney is eaten in Mongolia, and so there is a direct connection to human health, and this research suggested the possible risks posed by each edible animal. In particular, evaluation of metals in livestock is rare in Mongolia. This result can contribute to animal and human health in Mongolian communities.

Орографические объекты «Сокровенного сказания монголов» (Mongγol-un niγuča tobčiyan) в контексте исторической географии Внутренней Азии

Introduction. Investigation of the space once invaded and reclaimed by the Mongolic peoples is one of the pressing problems in the history of nomadic societies. Goals. The paper seeks to investigate names of positive topographic forms, analyze written sources reflecting the formation of the Mongol Empire for oronyms inherent to the medieval Mongolian language, and determine their localization. Materials and Methods. Historical geography stresses the significance of one stage in the Mongolian invasion of Inner Asia reflected in famous historical monuments, such as The Secret History of the Mongols, Compendium of Chronicles by Rashid al-Din, and Yuán Shǐ. The tasks of identifying individual objects and landforms presented in the text of The Secret History, as well as their localization in the geographical space of medieval Mongolia, were solved by the methods of phonetic reconstruction, comparative analysis of terms and historical events — through the use of 13th–14th century written sources, contemporary toponyms across the territories to have served as a historical arena for the events described. Results. The paper investigates etymologies of terms and names of orographic objects, attempts to identify the places mentioned in The Secret History within the real geographic space. Conclusions. The terminology denoting elevated landforms in The Secret History of the Mongols is distinguished by diversity and represents a very ancient stratum of vocabulary that had been formed through the abundant use of figurative words. Many terms are obsolete and do not function in modern Mongolian any more. At the same time, traces of obsolete terms are found in toponyms across territories inhabited by Mongolic peoples as such. So, the work outlines the circle of sacred orographic objects revered by the medieval Mongolian community.

Binding Buddhas and Demons to Text: The Mongol Invention of the Dorjé Shukden and Trülku Drakpa Gyeltsen Literary Corpus (1913–1919)

AbstractThis article examines previously unstudied historical sources from seventeenth–twentieth century Khalkha, Mongolia concerning the controversial Dorjé Shukden tradition (Tib. Rdo rje shugs ldan; Kh. Mong. Dorjshüg). In the last quarter-century, the current Dalai Lama has imposed a controversial global ban on the practice that has cleaved Tibetan and Mongolian communities from one another, led to much bloodshed, and the splitting of the institutional base of the transnational Géluk (Tib. Dge lugs) tradition. Anti-Shukden polemicists and the small body of contemporary secondary scholarship on the schism attribute the rise of Shukden traditions to a hyper-conservative faction of monks based in Lhasa during the early twentieth century. They are credited with elevating Shukden, a violent regional spirit, to the high position of an enlightened protector of the Dharma. This article troubles that historical position, showing how developed Shukden traditions existed in Khalkha a century before the Lhasa movement. It then advances a new working hypothesis on the origins and enduring appeal of the Shukden tradition, which is that it is a long-running expression of the trans-Asian (and now, transnational) expansion of Géluk scholasticism far beyond the political dominions of the Dalai Lamas over the course of the Qing and Tsarist empires, the rise of nationalist and socialist government in Inner Asia, the exercise of profound socialist state violence, and the experience of global diaspora.

Антропология популярного вероучения буддизма в этнической Бурятии

The article discusses the main trends in the evolution of Buddhist dogma and the development of Buddhist monastic complexes in ethnic Buryatia. The anthropology of popular belief in Buddhist theory and practice demonstrates the general universal structure of the perception of Buddhist culture by Buryats in line with the adaptation of Buddhism to a meta-ethnic Mongolian community – all Mongolian people.

Концепт власти в религиозной культуре монгольских народов

The article on the material of the Mongolian people considers the concept of power in their religious culture and traditions. Throughout all the history of arising and disappearing of socio-political and military associations in the Mongolian community, the power of the state and the leader was consecrated with such phenomenon as the Eternal Blue Sky. This cult in Central Asia among the Mongolian people evolved from the spatial, temporary and mythological ideas of the Mongolian people about the power and its sacral essence.

Responses to the Economic Crisis among Immigrants in the Czech Republic: Impeding and Inhibiting Factors for Staying

This paper considers the impact of the most recent global economic crisis on immigration in theCzechRepublic. Developments during this economically troubled period suggest that the “immigration-inexperienced”CzechRepublic, which has attracted significant numbers of people seeking economic opportunities in the past decade for the first time, has repeated historical mistakes made by Western European countries during the 1970s oil crisis. Initially, promising economic growth at the beginning of the decade allowed the Czech government to ignore issues of immigration, including controlling inflow and immigrants’ integration into the majority of society. The sudden reality of jobs disappearing in late 2008, irrespective of the fact that many employers in the economic sectors are dependent on foreign guest workers, caught the country unprepared. In an effort to level the unemployment rate and dampen societal unrest, theCzechRepublicoffered financial assistance to immigrants who opted to depart voluntarily, but officials overestimated the willingness of foreign labourers to return home, even if gainful work vanished.This paper is based on research conducted among participants of the government-assisted Voluntary Return Programme and a follow-up ethnographic study in the Vietnamese, Ukrainian and Mongolian communities in Prague. It can be shown that most immigrants decided to stay despite extreme declines in their living conditions. While the motivations of immigrants to leave or stay are multifaceted, this paper offers an alternative to the “pull-push” model that takes into consideration economic as well as cultural factors, which both impede and inhibit migrants from returning “home”.

Construct validation of the Language Independent Functional Evaluation versus the Barthel Index in a Mongolian community

Purpose. Differences in language and literacy impede our understanding of the impact of disability around the world. Since function is primarily action, the computer-animated Language Independent Functional Evaluation (L.I.F.E.) might bypass the use of written or verbal scales. This study validates L.I.F.E. in a developing world population.Methods. Families were randomly chosen from the city centre, suburban ‘ger’ districts and countryside of Arvaikheer, Mongolia. The L.I.F.E. and cross-translated Mongolian Barthel Index were administered in random order. Demographics including subjective observation of disability were gathered. L.I.F.E. scores were converted to Barthel equivalents.Results. One hundred forty-four persons completed the test, 24 answered for other persons. Persons with observed disability had lower L.I.F.E. scores (64.55 vs. 94.53, p < 0.001). L.I.F.E. and Barthel scores related well. (Spearman's rho = 0.757, p < 0.001; for persons with observed disability Pearson r = 0.820, p < 0.001). Individual functions all had high interclass correlations (>0.75), except bowel and bladder, which had moderate correlations. Qualitative inquiry found the L.I.F.E. was preferred over the Barthel.Conclusions. Using L.I.F.E., function can be measured without language or literacy. L.I.F.E. expands our ability to measure and compare the prevalence of disability and the impact of rehabilitation across regions perhaps leading to more rational allocation of resources.

Nutritive Composition of Tarag, the Traditional Naturally-Fermented Goat Milk in China

Nutritive compositions were analyzed in 10 batches of samples of Tarag (the traditional naturally-fermented goat milk), which were collected in the Mongolian community in China. Results showed that Tarag had richer nutrients than yoghurt. Tarag-2 (from Zang goats) had better chemical nutrient density than Tarag-1 (from Chaidamu goats). Tarag was rich in casein, lactoferrin, serum albumin, β-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin, and 3 unknown fractions in certain samples. Microbiological enumeration revealed that Tarag contained large lactic acid bacteria and yeast. Tarag was judged nutritious and indicated the latent value for people's health.

Poaching State Politics in Socialist China: Uxin Ju's Grassland Campaign, 1958–1966

This study explores the local experience of a state‐initiated campaign to improve the grassland in Uxin Ju, a Mongolian community in northern China, from 1958 to 1966. The contrast between the local experience and the official representation reveals great discrepancies and attests to the ability of local people to utilize state policies to meet local needs, transforming socialist ideologies into local rationales. Applying Michel de Certeau's theory of everyday practice that sees book reading as poaching and the use/consumption of political and cultural discourses as a process of creative empowerment, I examine how the Mongols in Uxin Ju “poached” state politics to their own advantages and appropriated the grassland campaign in the making of the local landscape. This poaching further elucidates James Scott's concept of ideological resistance by focusing on the creative use of nonoppositional nature, which is an important way in which local people could express their agency in the oppressive regime of socialist China. This article calls attention to how nonsubversive co‐optation of state policies can function as an expression of agency in the making of local human‐environmental history, even on the part of individuals who are actively accommodating to the ideology of the dominant regime.

Familial aggregation of metabolic phenotypes in a Mongolian community population

Familial aggregation of metabolic phenotypes in a Mongolian community population

Human cystic echinococcosis in two Mongolian communities in Hobukesar (China) and Bulgan (Mongolia)

In order to investigate the prevalence of human cystic echinococcosis (CE) in traditional Mongolian communities in western Mongolia and Xinjiang (northwest China), studies were carried out between 1995 and 2000, on two ethnically identical populations in Hobukesar (China) and Bulgan (Mongolia). The prevalence of human hepatic CE in the two communities was significantly different. In Hobukesar, human CE prevalence by ultrasound was 2.7% (49/1844), while in Bulgan it was 0.2% (4/1609) (P<0.001). Dog surveys showed that coproantigen-positive rates or dog necropsy positives were similar in both communities (35.0% in Hobukesar and 35.7% in Bulgan). Comparing possible risk factors, there appeared to be some significant differences between the two communities, which might contribute to the observed difference in CE prevalence. These included: the proportion of herdsman or farmers recorded; the proportions of dog ownership and livestock ownership; and the proportion of families practising home slaughter. The presence of a Russian dog-dosing programme up to the mid-1980s may explain the lower prevalence of human CE in the Bulgan population; no similar programme operated in the China-administered Hobukesar community.

Alcohol indulgence in a Mongolian community of China

Recent ethnographic fieldwork in a pastoral region of Inner Mongolia indicates that alcohol use and abuse plays a more significant role in contemporary Chinese social process than has previously been disclosed in either domestic or foreign scholarship. By reporting and reflecting upon the practices, purposes, and consequences of habitual indulgence by male Mongolian herders in a particular setting, this article breaks down the monolithic conceptual category of “Chinese drinking” and reconfirms that alcohol-related problems are deeply embedded within broad social issues associated with modernization.