Mongolian Culture Research Articles

Research on Ecological Culture in Mongolian Folk Songs from the Hetao Region

Mongolian folk songs are deeply rooted in the vastness of the grasslands and the rhythm of nature. The lyrics reflect a profound reverence and love for the ecological environment, demonstrating a strong awareness of ecology and environmental protection. Especially in the Hetao region, Mongolian culture along the Yellow River's bend showcases a rich and diverse uniqueness, forming a distinctive cultural phenomenon in this area. By deeply analyzing Mongolian folk songs from the Hetao region, this study, through the combined perspectives of literature, linguistics, ethnology, history, and ecology, discusses the ecological values and educational significance of the harmonious relationship between humans and nature as embedded in these songs.

The Impact of Hu’s Music Diplomacy on Mongolia’s Tourism National Branding Program

This study aims to analyze the impact of Hu's music diplomacy on Mongolia's national branding program. The study employs a descriptive qualitative method with secondary data analysis from journal articles, books, relevant reports, and media covering The Hu's activities. The results indicate that The Hu, with their unique approach of combining traditional Mongolian music elements with modern rock, has successfully raised global awareness of Mongolian culture and enhanced the country's positive image. Their international performances received awards, and collaborations with renowned musicians have introduced Mongolian cultural elements to a wider audience, creating curiosity and appreciation for Mongolia's cultural heritage. Strategic recommendations include greater government support, enhanced collaboration with digital platforms, and educational and cultural exchange programs.

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.

Монгольская лексика сферы просвещения, образования и науки

Introduction. The article deals with semantics and etymology of several basic terms of Mongolian culture vocabulary relating to education and science. Goals. The study shall primarily describe how the lexical layer in question was formed, and trace the sources of such borrowings. Materials and methods. The materials were collected from Mongolian-Russian and Mongolian explanatory dictionaries via continuous sampling. The identified lexemes were checked against corresponding entries to Mongolic / Turkic etymological dictionaries and bilingual dictionaries of Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan. Results. Some of the analyzed words happen to have been borrowed into Mongolian from Uighur, but Uighur was not the ultimate source of the lexemes: Mong. шавь ‘disciple, pupil’ < Uig. šabï had come to Uighur from Sanskrit via Chinese; Mong. багш ‘teacher’ < Uig. baqšı and Mong. бичиг ‘writings’ < Uig. bitig are originally Chinese; Mong. ном ‘book’ < Uig. nom had come to Uighur from Greek via Sogdian. Some other words, such as Mong. боловсрол ‘education’, эрдэмтэн ‘scientist’, ухаан ‘intelligence’ (in шинжлэх ухаан ‘science’), оюутан ‘student’ ― have common Turko-Mongolic (bol- ‘become’, uqa- ‘comprehend’) or even common Altaic (ere- ‘male’, oyu- ‘mind’) stems, but their new semantics referring to various phenomena of education and science appeared comparatively recently, to a large extent, as a result of attempts to find new words for the notions introduced by Chinese culture and Uighur Buddhism. The words зүй and судлал, as well as derivatives from the stem sur- belong to common Mongolic lexis. Conclusions. Most of the analyzed words were borrowed into Mongolian from Uighur as part of religious vocabulary. Some of these terms originally derive from Chinese, Sanskrit or even Greek. Indigenous Mongolic lexemes are derivatives from sur- ‘to study’, and the terms зүй ‘theory’ and судлал ‘study’ that are used as parts of science names.

Competition and Achievement: A Narrative Analysis of the Role of Zamuhe in Genghis Khan's Films

Temujin is the undoubted protagonist in Genghis Khan's film, and although the supporting role of Zamuhe is a secondary role, from the perspective of Mongolian culture and narrative, Temujin and Zamuhe are two wings of a single body, and Zamuhe has always been a strong competitor to Temujin, a replica or a reflection of the story of Temujin, and an intimate part of his life, which is an important part of the story of Temujin. Therefore, Zamuhe in the story of Genghis Khan can be viewed in the light of the second protagonist.

Western Mongolian (Oirat-Kalmyk) loanwords in Kyrgyz

The Kyrgyz are one of the Turkic peoples that have had extensive contact with Mongolian tribes throughout history, and their language has one of the largest numbers of loanwords of Mongolian origin. Careful analysis shows that these words were borrowed from several historical Mongolian idioms at various times. Western Mongolian loanwords make up the most recent stratum in terms of chronology. They were acquired in the 16th–18th centuries from Western Mongolian idioms, whose living successors are Oirat and Kalmyk. This article is the first attempt to deal specifically with loanwords from Western Mongolian languages to a particular Turkic language. The author of the paper offers numerous, especially phonological, criteria, for identifying Western Mongolian loanwords in Kyrgyz, and provides examples that meet these criteria. The fact that Mongolian loanwords from the late period are more prevalent than those from earlier layers, and that they also include examples related to Lamaism, Mongolian culture and ethnography, suggests that the Oirat-Kalmyk and Kyrgyz tribes had more intensive interaction than is often recognized.

몽골 민족무용의 문화적 특징과 사회적 가치

This study focused on the Mongolian national dance drama 'Cavalry' to trace the roots of Mongolian national culture and to examine its historical background. It analyzed the ethnic elements of the dance drama 'Cavalry' and reviewed the diversity of Mongolian culture as depicted in the drama. Finally, the study examined the value of Mongolian national dance culture as depicted in 'Cavalry' and its impact on society. The results revealed that Mongolian national dance goes beyond just being a form of dance, playing a significant role in the derived cultural values, contributing to the transmission and development of national culture. This research is expected to contribute to existing studies on the transmission and development of Mongolian national dance culture.

Несколько замечаний о монгольских переводах с тибетского языка

Introduction. Translations from Tibetan had been of great importance for the making of Mongolian literature. Translation as cultural phenomenon influenced the shaping of standard Mongolian, gave rise to terminological clusters in different spheres of written language, such as philosophy, medicine, astrology, etc. The principles of translation that had emerged in the period of Buddhism’s dissemination in Mongolia still remain instrumental enough in performing translations from other foreign languages. Translations from Tibetan of historical, hagiographical, narrative and other compositions constituted an essential part in the reading agenda of Mongols to further influence the latter’s culture at large. So, Mongolian literature entered the literary zone of northern Buddhism. Goals. The study seeks to raise a question on delineation — with certain frames and peculiarities — of Mongolian national literature. We should also keep in mind that some parts of literature stay beyond this zone and were only partially influenced by the examined phenomenon — historical literature, recorded (and published) epic narratives, folk ritual literature, etc. Results. Our insight into the complex of various traditions demarcates the originality of medieval literature of Mongols. So, translations from the Tibetan language can be considered as a fact of Mongolian culture, as a special feature in the development of Mongolian written traditions — but not as part of Mongolian literature proper.

Несколько замечаний о монгольских переводах с тибетского языка

Introduction. Translations from Tibetan had been of great importance for the making of Mongolian literature. Translation as cultural phenomenon influenced the shaping of standard Mongolian, gave rise to terminological clusters in different spheres of written language, such as philosophy, medicine, astrology, etc. The principles of translation that had emerged in the period of Buddhism’s dissemination in Mongolia still remain instrumental enough in performing translations from other foreign languages. Translations from Tibetan of historical, hagiographical, narrative and other compositions constituted an essential part in the reading agenda of Mongols to further influence the latter’s culture at large. So, Mongolian literature entered the literary zone of northern Buddhism. Goals. The study seeks to raise a question on delineation — with certain frames and peculiarities — of Mongolian national literature. We should also keep in mind that some parts of literature stay beyond this zone and were only partially influenced by the examined phenomenon — historical literature, recorded (and published) epic narratives, folk ritual literature, etc. Results. Our insight into the complex of various traditions demarcates the originality of medieval literature of Mongols. So, translations from the Tibetan language can be considered as a fact of Mongolian culture, as a special feature in the development of Mongolian written traditions — but not as part of Mongolian literature proper.

Mongolian Spot in Kyrgyz and Mongolian Culture in the Context of Bodylore

Türklerin geleneksel inancına göre Moğol lekesi, Umay Ana’nın doğumu kolaylaştırmak için bebeğin kalçasına attığı tokattan kaynaklanmaktadır. Bu lekenin uğurlu ve kutsal olduğu kabul edilir. Kırgızlar bu lekeye Umay Ene’nin el izi derler. Manas Destanı’nda da kendine yer bulan bu leke bebeğin rızık kaygısıyla doğmak istememesi üzerine Umay Ene’nin eliyle yaptığı zorlamanın bir sonucu olarak meydana gelmiştir. Almambet’in doğumunun anlatıldığı dizelerde ise bebeğin doğumuna Umay Ene yerine Mîkâil, el ile değil de değnek ile müdahale eder. Moğollar bu lekeye mavi leke/benek derler. Moğollara göre mavi leke Moğol halkının bir sembolüdür ve dünya üzerine Moğollarla birlikte yayılmıştır. Moğollardaki bu düşüncenin Batılılar tarafından söz konusu doğum lekesinin Moğol lekesi olarak isimlendirilmesinden kaynaklandığı düşünülmektedir. Diğer yandan Moğollarda gök mavisinin kutsal bir yeri vardır. Mavi (gök) Tanrı, mavi (gök) kurt ve mavi (gök) leke kutsal gök kültüyle ilişkilidir. Türk-Moğol geleneğinde Umay Ana ve gök kültü nedeniyle şans ve kutsallıkla ilişkilendirilen mavi doğum lekesinin Moğollarda sonraki dönemlerde millî bir sembol hâline gelmesi Moğol lekesinin mitolojiden ideolojiye doğru bir anlam dönüşümü geçirdiğini göstermektedir.

A perspective of authenticity degree on the protection of traditional dwellings in ethnic community: The case of the Ma house in Songzhou ancient city

As a provincial level historic city, Songpan County in Sichuan Province has a history of more than two thousand years. Locating in the border of three provinces, Songpan was inhabited by multiple ethnic groups. The leading culture here has experienced the baptism and influence of various ethnic cultures such as the Diqiang culture, Mongolian culture, and Tubo culture, and it was not until the Tang Dynasty that the harmonious scene of the coexistence of various ethnic cultures began to be dominated by the Central Plains culture. This research took the Ma house in Songzhou ancient city in Songpan County as the object, which is a representative of local Hui people’s traditional dwellings with a history of three hundred years. Many factors have led to unsystematic protection and renovation to it, and the traces of time was superimposed on it. Therefore, starting from the authenticity degrees of historic building, this paper identified and analysed the timeliness value and spatial value of the Ma house by combining the full information cycle of historic building, which provided a new method and more rational view for the research of historic dwellings.

The Mongolian National Factor in the PRC and Sino-Mongolian Relations

The article examines the influence of the Mongolian national factor on Sino-Mongolian relations, as well as its repercussion in PRC domestic policy, primarily in the Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia. Particular attention is paid to ethno-cultural reasons and conditions that hinder the stable development of bilateral relations between China and Mongolia: the existence of world pan-Mongolian and nationalist movements, the dispute over the status of the XIV Dalai Lama, China's actions to appropriate the symbols of traditional Mongolian culture and the commercialization of Genghis Khan's personality. In the study of Beijing's national policy in Inner Mongolia, the historical prerequisites that served to complicate the Mongolian issue in the modern PRC were identified, and the features of the policy of forming the "consciousness of the community of the Chinese nation" in relation to the IMAR were discovered. Special attention is paid to Beijing's attempts to acculturate the Mongols living in the PRC by translating educational programs from Mongolian into Chinese, regulating the rituals of Buddhism, and appropriating common Mongolian intangible cultural heritage sites to China.Separately, the growing economic interaction between China and Mongolia, which results in China's leading position in the foreign trade turnover of Mongolia and in foreign investment in the country's enterprises, is considered. The Beijing's sanctions pressure on Ulaanbaatar is analyzed in connection with disagreements on national and religious grounds, as a result of which the Mongolian leadership made concessions to the PRC. The study concludes that, from a rational viewpoint, it is beneficial for China and Mongolia to maintain a stable and predictable bilateral political and economic interaction. At the same time, the Mongolian national factor forces both states to treat each other with a certain degree of apprehension. Beijing sees Mongolia as a country bearing the threat of pan-Mongolian separatism, and Ulaanbaatar, based on the historically established Sinophobic mentality of the Mongols, is afraid of falling into total economic and cultural dependence on the PRC.

Коллекции раритетной христианской литературы на монгольском языке в хранилищах Забайкальского края и Бурятии

Introduction. The paper examines collections of rare Mongolian-language Christian editions housed at depositories of Zabaykalsky Krai and Buryatia. Goals. The study attempts a socioarchaeographic analysis of the mentioned collections at the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies (SB RAS) and the Kuznetsov Zabaykalsky Krai Museum of Local History and Lore. Materials and methods. In terms of methodology, the work rests on ‘cognitive history’ and some aspects of historical phenomenology. The paper assumes a content analysis of the collections be instrumental both in identifying Christian Buryat readers’ queries throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, and in revealing specificities of missionary activity among Mongolic peoples in pre-revolutionary Russia. Conclusions. The content analysis of the two collections shows Transbaikalia was witnessing a specific cooperation between Protestant and Orthodox Christian missions. Personal libraries of Buryat Christians were largely compiled from Mongolian translations of the Bible funded mainly by the Protestant missions. The study attests to that the most promising missionary activity among Buryats (and Mongols at large) — dissemination of Christianity via primary education — was not supported by representatives of the missions. Our insights into the history of the collections show that results of Christian missionary translation activities aroused interest of Buryat Buddhists, and the latter tended to include such biblical translations into their libraries. Due to linguistic and historical circumstances, the Russian collections of Mongolian-language Christian publications have remained virtually unattended — both in terms of bibliographic description and scholarly research — for a long time. However, territorial, manufacturing and historical circumstances make the examined editions essentially unique. Our content analysis confirms there is a need for such investigations to reveal a coherent agenda of religious publications once used for the development of Christianity within Mongolian culture.

The Big Five and Big Two personality factors in Mongolia.

Etic psychometric tools work less well in non-Western than in Western cultures, whereas data collected online in the former societies tend to be of superior quality to those from face-to-face interviews. This represents a challenge to the study of the universality of models of personality and other constructs. If one wishes to uncover the true structure of personality in a non-Western nation, should one study only highly educated, cognitively sophisticated Internet users, and exclude the rest? We used a different approach. We adapted a short Big Five tool, previously tested successfully in 19 countries on all continents, to Mongolian culture. EFA and CFA analyses across a nationally representative sample of 1,500 adult Mongolians recovered the Big Five satisfactorily. A Big Two (plasticity and stability) model was also recovered reasonably well. Correlations between personality traits and age, as well as gender differences, were not different from those reported for Western samples. Respondents with higher education, or higher-than-average socioeconomic status, or urban dwellers, or Internet users, did not yield a clearer Big Five than the whole sample. Our method (tool adaptation to a local cultural context) may be preferable to exclusion of specific demographic groups in Big Five studies of non-Western populations.

Self-assertive interdependence in Mongolian culture: evidence from cognitive anthropology

Self-assertive interdependence in Mongolian culture: evidence from cognitive anthropology

Lived Experiences of Mongolian Immigrant Women Seeking Perinatal Care in the United States.

There is inadequate information available about many of the smaller minority groups living in the United States. Mongolian culture has unique traditions that warrant understanding to provide culturally congruent care. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of Mongolian immigrants seeking perinatal care in the United States. Using a phenomenological approach, 12 Mongolian women were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The study follows the "consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative studies" guidelines for qualitative studies. Results focus on successes and failures of the health care system in meeting the needs of these women. Cultural communication barriers, disparate health practice beliefs, and limited cultural awareness among providers reduce quality of care. Study findings support practice interventions that enhance provider sensitivity for immigrant women. Improved cultural awareness of Asian cultures increases sensitivity to the needs of Mongolian women and can help providers deliver high-quality care.

The Innovation of Mongolian Folk Song Music Cultural Inheritance Path Based on Intelligent Computing Analysis of Communication Big Data

Cultural inheritance and innovation is an important measure to enhance the vitality of traditional culture and realize the sharing of national culture. Mongolian folk music, as an important part of Chinese cultural resources, plays an irreplaceable role in inheriting Mongolian culture. How to better inherit the music culture of ethnic minorities has been a hot topic in the music education circle in recent years. However, when we focus on the campus inheritance of ethnic minority music, we have to pay attention to the original living space of ethnic minority music and its unique local inheritance method. What is the relationship between them? What are the similarities and differences? The investigation of the relationship between the two is an indispensable content for exploring the inheritance of minority music. This paper aims to study the innovation of the inheritance path of Mongolian folk song music culture, endow Mongolian folk song music with a new era connotation in the new era, and let the folk song music culture be inherited and revitalized in the in-depth contact with the masses. This paper proposes a method to study user needs with the help of dissemination big data, identify malicious traffic with the help of the Internet of Things, find the most touching music and cultural elements of users, innovate and integrate the Mongolian nation, avoid malicious traffic from invading Mongolian folk songs, and enhance the attractiveness of Mongolian folk songs. Experiments have shown that Mongolian folk songs have a strong appeal, and the participation rate of young people in Mongolian folk songs has increased by 20%.

An Analytical Study of Translating Astronomical Technology in the Yuan Dynasty to the West

As an indispensable part of Chinese science and technology, astronomical technology in the Mongol Yuan Dynasty serves as a link between the development of the preceding periods and the following ones. It is a typical representative of splendid Mongolian culture and national history as well. The translation of Chinese science and technology can not only promote the cultural transmission but it is also of academic value. This article discusses the translation problems and strategies in translating astronomical technology in the Yuan Dynasty. Based on the text type of the technological monographs, and combining the two strategies of domestication and foreignization, this article attempts to render a proper way for the translation in the related field, contributing a share to the construction of China’s foreign discourse system and dissemination of excellent Chinese culture.

Approximation and Preciseness: The Traditional Measurement and Cutting of Ethnic Mongolian Costume in China

Ethnic costume involves systematic traditional culture and diverse folk wisdom. While the modernized measurement and standardized size concepts have influenced the conventional measure and transitional sewing technology in the fabrication practice of ethnic Mongolian costume in modern times. The tradition versus modernity have always been the controversial idea among local society and negotiation in inheritance of traditional culture, as well as attracted great academic interests. In earlier times, as part of the collective memory, traditional Mongolian measurement means not only ensuring the social-cultural continuity but also reflects the invisible discipline power in their own communities, in which facilitated the trade with other culture and material abundance. Conversely, today, the transformation of measurement and cutting artistry of Mongolian costume plays an self-healing role in community. Locally, conventional fabricating techniques symbolized the essence of nomadic culture and social values of exquisite handicraft. Traditional sewing and cutting techniques somehow represented the individual experience of self-worth and social wealth in local community. This paper, examines the innovation of traditional ethnic costume culture and dynamic developing costume market, that reconstructed the traditional culture and diversification of essential cultural need. Meanwhile, this paper illustrated the respect to transitional fabricating craftsmanship as an ethnic costume consumer and a member of ethnic Mongolian culture. Also, the paper discussed in terms of case studies of Mongolian costume practitioners in local society who was part of the costume culture.

Жанр жития в бурят-монгольской литературе XVIII – начала XX вв.

The article is devoted to the study of the hagiographic genre in the Buryat- Mongolian literature of the medieval period. The author examines origins of the genre, rooted in the Indo-Tibetan literary tradition and associated with Buddhist “hagiographic” literature. The traditions of Indo-Tibeto-Mongolian hagiography in Buryat literary criticism have not been specially studied, so this is one of the new areas of study that requires comprehensive review. The analysis of the poetic work of Aghvan Dorzhiev, “Entertaining stories about a trip around the world,” undertaken in the article, makes it possible to trace how such a unique author, who has absorbed the primordial traditions of Indo-Tibetan culture, due to the received almost twenty years of education in Tibet, then the experience of teaching Buddhist philosophy to such a student, like the XIII Dalai Lama, managed to creatively synthesize, as a citizen of Russia, who received his initial education at home, two different cultures. His work, although written in the genre of a medieval life, is evidence of the genre transformation under the influence of new historical, literary and other realities. Thus this work can be viewed as a transition from medieval traditions to the new realistic literature in Buryat- Mongolian culture.