Mongolian Studies Research Articles

G. Roerich’s Contribution to Russian Indology

G. Roerich is an important figure for the history of oriental studies. His contribution to the development of Tibetology, Mongolian studies and the history of Central Asia is prominent. This article deals with G. Roerich’s contribution to Russian Indology. G. Roerich has graduated from the best Western universities: London University, Harvard and Sorbonne, where he received classical indological education. He followed the principles of the classical Indology during his entire scholarly career.G. Roerich understood the field of Indology broadly: not in a geographical sense, but rather as a cultural-historical unity, including not only India (South Asia), but also Central Asia, Tibet and Mongolia. This view (approach) originated in the tradition of Russian oriental studies, in which Shcherbatsky’s school of Buddhology prevailed until the 1930s. According to this view (approach), the subject of Indology included the study of the whole space of the Indian Buddhism.In this paper the following works by G. Roerich are analysed: “Professor Charles Rockwell Lanman and His Work in the Field of Indology” (1931), “The Story of the Rama in Tibet” (1960), “Indology in Russia” (1945).In the 1930s, in Russia, oriental studies suffered from severe repressions. Schools of Buddhology and especially of Tibetology almost disappeared. On his return in Russia in 1957, G. Roerich began to revive the lost scientific school. G. Roerich’s contribution to the training of young soviet indologists as well as buddhologists and tibetologists is most significant. Many of his students later became the gems of Russian scholarship. After the breakup of the USSR, they kept the scholarly traditions of the classical Indology and handed them over to their students and so on. In such a way, the succession of Russian Indology was maintained. This could not have happened without G. Roerich.For Indology in Russia G. Roerich was not only a scholar who returned from emigration. He has not only enriched Russian Indology with his scholarly works. He has become the symbol of the revival of Oriental Studies in this country, the necessary link in the long chain of the scholarly succession.

Нижнетунгусская этнографическая экспедиция 1930 г. (по материалам личного архива П.П. Хороших)

The article introduces written and visual materials from the center for Oriental Manuscripts and Woodcuts of the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the SB RAS archival collections related to the 1930 expedition to the Evenks of Lower Tunguska. Ethnographers Poltoradnev P.G. and P.P. Khoroshikh from Irkutsk worked as the members of the expedition. In the personal archive of P.P. Khoroshikh a map-scheme of the route, field records about the material, ritual and everyday culture of the Evenks, drafts of articles on the results of the expedition, as well as photographs and drawings with explanations by the author were revealed. The narrative part of the travel diary is compiled in chronological order of visiting camps and localities, contains various details of a complex and long journey. For the first time, the text of travel notes “Under the Arctic circle” is published, compiled in chronological order of visiting camps and localities and revealing various details of a complex and long journey. The subject matter of the identified materials fully reflects both the tasks set for the expedition and the professional interests of the team members – this is an information about the settlement of families, the peculiarities of making homes (chums), boats, utensils, clothing, crafts, rituals, etc. The collected information is supplemented by numerous photos of the region's aborigines, objects and localities, as well as drawings and diagrams of the location of objects with dimensions, orientation to the cardinal directions, location relative to each other, Evenk names and translation into Russian. The authors have formulated the questions, the answers to which have not yet been found in the archive materials – about the future fate of the collected collections, about the actual distribution of the responsibilities in the expedition, about a small number of publications on its results.

Eine unveröffentlichte Rezension des Akademikers Isaak Jakob Schmidt über zwei kalmükische Grammatiken (1847)

Isaak Jakob Schmidt (1779–1847), the founder of Mongolian studies in Europe, hoped to win a young linguist, Bernhard Jülg (1825–1886) who had just received his doctorate with a thesis on Calmuck grammar at Kiel University. Schmidt was pleased with the work and wrote a very positive review including a recommendation to appoint Jülg adjunct at the Petersburg Academy of Sciences. But Schmidt passed away before decisive action could be taken and Jülg had to make his living as a classical philologist. So far this story was considered just oral tradition; besides, Jülg's thesis was lost, both in Kiel and in St. Petersburg. Now Schmidt's handwritten review came to light in the Academy Archives in St. Petersburg and is published here for the first time.

КОМПЛЕКСНЫЙ МЕТОДОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ ПОДХОД К АНАЛИЗУ БУДДИЙСКИХ ХРАМОВ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ ХРАМА ЛАВРАН В МОНГОЛИИ)

The article is devoted to a relevant problem of the modern Mongolian studies - the description and semantic analysis of the temple architecture. The author considers the step-by-step formation and application of the integrated methodological approach, which allows revealing the semantics of the temple architecture. The analysis is focused on a mandala image, which is a key concept of the Buddhist architecture. The paper tries to reconstruct the original mandala and, relying on its symbolism, semantics and on the temple graphical analysis, proposes an interpretation of the compositional structure of the temple and its key elements. This methodological approach is applied to describe and analyse the Lavran temple of the Erdene Zuu monastery.

Квазисинонимические уступительные конструкции в бурятском языке

Introduction. The syntax of the complex sentence in Altaic languages is characterized by a large number of synonymous constructions. Goals. The paper seeks to differentiate the synonymous constructions, firstly, to systemically identify important oppositions and, secondly, to determine development vectors of certain constructions. The study hypothesizes such constructions as actually quasi-synonymous, i.e. those are not complete synonyms and differ in shades of meaning or style. For the first time in Mongolian studies, the paper attempts to differentiate quasi-synonymous poly-predicative constructions with concessive meanings. In modern Buryat, concessive-adversative relations are expressed by four structurally different constructions, namely: ones containing adverbial participles ending with –bashye (-бАшье), ones with the particles γaa and -shye (hаа, -шье), ones with the concessive-adversative particle aad (аад), and ones containing the bifinite construction with particles on the basis of the service verb of saying –ge (гэ-). The study investigates examples from Buryat imaginative literature placed in the online Buryat corpus. Methods and results. The use of methods of contextual analysis, introspection and linguistic experiment makes it possible to identify various semantic shades, such as principal mono-subjectivity, an extended time interval between events, and a complication with the modus component. Thus, the differentiation of quasi-synonymous constructions contributes to the refinement and rationing of relations between them.

Section «Lam-rim» of tibetan literature collection "Choira". Oriental manuscripts and xylographs center IMBTS SB RAS

The article discusses the “additional” course of Buddhist education lam-rim, which was taught in the monasteries of Northwest China, Mongolia and Transbaikalia (19th – early 20th centuries). The databases of the Buddhist scholastic collection “Choira” of the Center of Oriental manuscripts and xylographs in the Institute of Mongolian Studies, Buddhology and Tibetology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMSBT SO RAN), as well as traditional bibliographic handbooks – “garchaks”, make it possible to understand that the texts of lam-rims are an integral part of the Buddhist book culture of this region. Our analysis has demonstrated that the study of this scholastic subject in the monasteries of Northwest China, Mongolia and Transbaikalia (19th – beginning 20th centuries) was based on a variedTibetan Buddhist literature from fundamental works of Indian classics to popular works of local scholastics. It is also necessary to emphasize that if to compare this section (lam-rim) of Tibetan scholastic literature “Choira” (in IMBT SB RAS) with the other sections (Pramana, Prajna-Paramita, Madhyamika Vinaya, Abhidharma) we find that the largest number of works of local authors are found in lam-rim. An important result of the research is the historical fact that the books of the Buryat monastic printing houses (Aga, Tsugol, Egita, Ana datsans of Trans-Baikal region) make it possible to understand the level of development of lam-rims literature in this region (19th – beginning 20th centuries) in the field of writing and publishing scholastic works in Northwest China, Mongolia and Transbaikalia. The study of authorship of lamrim texts stored in the IMBT SB RAS can confirm that, thanks to the works of representatives of these cross-border regions, a kind of Renaissance of Tibetan scholasticism took place in the Buddhist culture of the entire Inner Asia. A special role in this process was played by the Amdo, Mongolian and Buryat monasteries. It may be assumed that representatives of the historical Amdo region (the territory where Tibetans and Mongols lived together), Mongolia and Transbaikalia in these centuries created a culture of mass writing of Buddhist educational and philosophical literature.

On the Fragment of the Naran-u Gerel Catalogue Preserved in IOM, RAS

Until recently the manuscript entitled Naran-u Gerel in the collection of St. Petersburg State University was considered to be the only extant catalogue of the 17thc. recension of the Mongolian Kanjur. The article presents a fragment of the Kanjur catalogue discovered among the manuscript fragments from Dzungaria preserved in the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences. Its textual similarity to the Naran-u Gerel and structural proximity to the manuscript copies of the Mongolian Kanjur indicate that having been reflected in more than one catalogue the repertoire and structure of the 17th c. recension were not that random as it was previously represented in Mongolian studies.

Cooperation between the Buryat-Mongolian scientific committee and mongolian scientific institute in forming research libraries

The article discusses international relations between the Buryat-Mongolian Scientific Committee (Buruckom) and Committee of Sciences of Mongolia (Mongolian Scientific Institute (Monuchcom or Sudar bichgiin khyreelen). They were the first research institutions in Mongolia and Buryatia and formed the bases of the modern Academy of Sciences of Mongolia, and the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMBTS SB RAS). It is actual and quite important to study the formation history of these research institutions in general, and research departments, in particular, libraries playing a great role in the history of modern science development, in relation to their upcoming 100th anniversaries. Such researches fill in the gaps in the countries’ historical past, draw attention to national cultural traditions and are connected with the problems of preserving written historical and cultural monuments. The authors used archival documents kept in the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs of IMBTS SB RAS to highlight the history of forming and developing the collections of Buruchkom’s Manuscript Department and Monuchkom’s Research Library. They are the correspondence of the Buryat-Mongolian Scientific Committee leaders with Monuchcom scholars, datsan councils, khoshun executive committees and lamas on the issues of xylographing Buddhist treaties and supplementing library funds stored in the archive of the Center for Oriental manuscripts and xylographies of IMBT SB RAS.

Археологические коллекции Института монголоведения, буддологии и тибетологии СО РАН: история формирования и источниковый потенциал

Проанализирована история формирования археологических коллекций, хранящихся в Институте монголоведения, буддологии и тибетологии СО РАН. Рассмотрены основные дефиниции: коллекция, археологическая коллекция; приведен обзор публикаций об археологических коллекциях в сибирских регионах. Автор констатирует, что в Бурятии внимание к коллекциям в источниковедческом контексте незначительно. Установлена взаимосвязь тематического и территориального расширения археологических исследований с изменениями качественного и количественного состава коллекций института. Показана динамика развития полевых изысканий на территории Бурятии с 1960-х гг. по 2018 г., приведены сведения о числе открытых памятников по десятилетиям. Отмечая различные периоды активности и спада, автор сформулировал вероятные причины этих изменений — нехватка или прием квалифицированных кадров, недостаточное (зачастую — полное отсутствие) финансирования или получение гранта на исследования и т.д.
 Выявлена неполнота археологического собрания Института монголоведения, буддологии и тибетологии, так как часть артефактов, причем наиболее интересных с научной точки зрения, в 1970-2000-х гг. была передана для хранения в музеи, в настоящее время не всегда доступна для новых методов исследований. Автор поднимает вопрос о необходимости «виртуального» восстановления целостности коллекций для достижения комплексности источниковой базы исследований. Сделан вывод о дуалистическом характере археологических коллекций Института, во-первых, как источника по истории науки в Бурятии, во-вторых, как источниковой базы для историко-археологических построений и гипотез.

Монголоведение России во второй половине XIX века: традиции и преемственность в подготовке востоковедов. К. Ф. Голстунский

Монголоведение России во второй половине XIX века: традиции и преемственность в подготовке востоковедов. К. Ф. Голстунский

II МЕЖДУНАРОДНАЯ МЕЖДИСЦИПЛИНАРНАЯ КОНФЕРЕНЦИЯ «МОНГОЛЫ: ТРАДИЦИИ И СОВРЕМЕННОСТЬ» (РГГУ, 11-13 СЕНТЯБРЯ 2019)

The second international conference “The Mongols: traditions and modernity” took place in the Russian State University for the Humanities, on September 11-13, 2019. This conference was initially established as an international research forum convening once in 3 years and connecting scholars in various aspects of Mongolian culture. The event aims to facilitate the exchange of knowledge regarding new ideas, topics, approaches and projects concerning Mongolian studies and related academic fields. The thematic frame of this event includes a number of topics concerning cultural, religious, ritual and mythological, folklore, literary, artistic and other traditions of the Mongolian people, the past and present forms of said traditions.

Этапы формирования фольклорной коллекции Общего архивного фонда Центра восточных рукописей и ксилографов Института монголоведения, буддологии и тибетологии СО РАН

Этапы формирования фольклорной коллекции Общего архивного фонда Центра восточных рукописей и ксилографов Института монголоведения, буддологии и тибетологии СО РАН

Religious and philosophical libraries of East Siberian Buddhists: Tibetan «pocket» books

The problem of studying private book collections of the Siberian peoples is the most urgent in understanding the cultural diversity of Russia. In this context, the book culture of East Siberia Buddhists is of interest. The article objective is to analyze the book repertoire of Buddhists private libraries. Analysis of this repertoire allows us to reconstruct not only its structure but the level of book culture among local Buddhists in the XIX-XX centuries as well. The material for reconstruction is a collection of small-format Tibetan-language publications (SFTP) from the collections of the Center for Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs of the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This collection is an aggregation of numerous private libraries (PLs), widely distributed among the Buddhists of Transbaikalia and Prebaikalia. Books from the PLs are related to different areas of Buddhist knowledge: religious doctrine, philosophy, philology, astrology, medicine. The largest fields are religious doctrine and philosophy. The research results show that due to the texts of «Diamond Sutra» and Pramanavartika, it is possible to reconstruct not only the repertoire of Buddhists PLs in East Siberia, but elements of everyday Buddhist culture. In this culture, religious-doctrinal texts were involved in the daily ritual activity of laypersons, and philosophical texts in the system of monastic education. The texts ratio of Pramanavartika (5 copies) and «Diamond Sutra» (48 copies) available in SFTP is about 10%. This parameter can indicate both the approximate correlation of religious-doctrinal books to philosophical ones in this collection, and the real ratio of monks and laity number in the pre-revolutionary period in Buryatia. Thus, it can be argued that the «pocket» religious and philosophical libraries of Buddhists (each bundle of the studies collection) is the most interesting source of various scientific information on the book realities of Buddhist culture in East Siberia.

«Открылось то, что хранится в золотом сундуке…»: к вопросу об источниках и назначении «Правдивых записей о династии Цин»

The article analyzes a corpus of sources that formed the basis of the most notable record of the Qing Empire, the ‘Truthful Record of the Qing Dynasty’ (Qingshilu). The analysis is based on a careful study of Russian, Chinese and Mongolian scholarship. A historical treatise ‘Truthful Record of the Mongols under the Qing Dynasty’ based on the Qingshilu and written in the Old Mongolian script was published in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China in 2013. A team of researchers from the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN) has been working on its translation, source studies and historical analysis, as its materials supplement the available data on the purport and sources of the Qingshilu. Review of its sources allows a better assessment of the veracity of the historical data of the ‘Truthful Record of the Qing Dynasty’ and a deeper understanding of its rich historical material on the Manchu dynasty ruling China, as well as Inner Asia during the Qing period. The article reviews the sources of the Qingshilu as listed in the ‘Truthful Record of the Mongols under the Qing Dynasty.’ Information on the Man Wen Lao Dang (‘The Old Archive of the Manchu Language’) is amassed and analyzed. The Man Wen Lao Dang was one of the sources used in compiling of early chronicles of the deeds of the first Manchu rulers into the ‘Truthful Record.’ The official historiographical and record-keeping tradition was then emerging in China under the Manchu dynasty. The authors assess the purport of the ‘Truthful Record of the Qing Dynasty’ throughout the spectrum of historical and political functions of the treatise. Analyzing of the sources of the ‘Truthful Record of the Qing Dynasty,’ including official documents untainted by compilers’ interpretation, and studying the import of the text in the political life allows to contend great value and veracity of the Qingshilu. The authors see new possibilities for studying international relations in the history of Inner Asia.

Mobility, Empire and Cross-Cultural Contacts in Mongol Eurasia (MONGOL)

This essay reviews the ERC-funded project Mobility, Empire and Cross-Cultural Contacts in Mongol Eurasia conducted at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1/2013-12/2017). The project has studied the impact of the Mongol Empire (1206-1368) on world history through the prism of mobility. It aimed to explain why, how, when, and to where people ideas and artifacts moved across Eurasia and what were the outcomes of these population movements. Guided by »the humanistic approach to world history«, namely combining a world history perspective with a close reading of multilingual primary sources, the project has created a sophisticated prosopographical database for studying these movements. The database records multilingual information about people who were active in Mongol Eurasia, currently indexing more than 13,500 persons. This unique resource enables the study of various groups of migrants (tribes, captives, experts, etc.); networks of economic and cultural transfer; and various imperial institutions (army, diplomacy, imperial sons-in-law), thereby illuminating the era’s social and cultural history. Stressing the pivotal role of the nomadic Mongols in initiating population movements, it analyses how these movements created multiple cross-cultural contacts; triggered massive ethnic, religious and geopolitical transformations, and led to a closer integration of the old world. The enhanced connectivity created both a common imperial culture – material, political, administrative – across Eurasia, and relativism of knowledge and religions. These, in turn, left a considerable imperial legacy to later polities, and helped shape the transition from the medieval to the early modern world. Yielding more than 80 publications so far, while various books, volumes and dissertations are in the making; training and grooming a considerable portion of the next generation of Mongol Empire scholars; and contributing significantly to the globalization of Mongolian studies worldwide, the project’s main legacy has been the study of the Mongol Empire on its own terms and within its full Eurasian context.

A Contemplation of Mongolian Studies in Hungary

A Contemplation of Mongolian Studies in Hungary

Studies on Mongolia: Proceedings of the First North American Conference on Mongolian Studies

Studies on Mongolia: Proceedings of the First North American Conference on Mongolian Studies

Словообразовательное гнездо в китайском и российском монголоведении

Словообразовательное гнездо в китайском и российском монголоведении

Ulan-Ude Manuscript Kanjur

This study investigates the Mongolian manuscript Kanjur preserved at the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs of the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The manuscript previously belonged to the Chesan Buddhist monastery of Central Transbaikalia and was brought to the Buruchkom, a first academic institute of the Republic of Buryat-Mongolia (Ulan-Ude) by the eminent Buryat writer Khotsa Namsaraev. The manuscript is an almost complete copy of the Ligdan Khan’s Kanjur presumably made in the late seventeenth to early eighteenth century in Beijing. The article presents a description, analysis and brief catalogue of Ulan-Ude manuscript Kanjur.

Research on Reasoning Logic in Mongolian Medicine

Mongolian medicine is one of the basic disciplines of Mongolian Studies. Mongolian medicine plays an important role in prevention and treatment of diseases in northern ethnic minorities, particularly the Mongol nationality. As an important research field of Mongolian Studies and an important part of the traditional Mongolian culture, Mongolian medicine has its own unique position. Nowadays, Mongolian medicine is the mainstream medicine in the minority areas due to its uniqueness and practicability and its inheritance depending on scientificity during development and improvement of the medicine. In addition, it stands out from various types of medicine in the minority areas and is generally accepted by the public. Thus, it is arousing attention from the domestic and overseas medical circles and the relevant professionals. The long history of Mongolian medicine is highlighting the important of the logical thinking method. The Mongolian medicine makes great contribution to medicine. The thinking mode and reasoning method of Mongolian medicine play a notably important role in diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. The paper aims to explore the thinking and reasoning connotations of Mongolian medicine. The paper preliminarily investigates the significance of logic in Mongolian medicine, the theoretical system and logic thinking in Mongolian medicine, dynamic treatment and comprehensive reasoning in Mongolian medicine.