Among the topics that are mentioned from the oldest works of Mongolian
literature to modern soft pop songs are love for parents and
homesickness, a longing for the place where one grew up. Horses
have always played an important role in daily life as well as in the
arts. Mongols have a lot of epic heroes from the ancient time. Hospitality is so important in the steppes that it is traditionally taken for granted. The Mongolian word for hero,
baatar, appears frequently in personal names, and even in the name of Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar (Mongolian:
Улаанбаатар,
Ulan Bator).
The word was introduced in the Middle Ages to many non-Mongolic
languages by conquering Mongol-speaking nomads, and now exists in
different forms such as the Bulgarian language, Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Persian, North Indian and Georgian. Traditional words such as
temul signified a way to describe creativity and passion;
temul
was used in several Mongol words and had the meaning to: "rush
headlong, to be inspired or to have a sense of creative thought, and
even to take a flight of fancy. It can be seen from Mongolian
perspective as “the look in the eye of a horse that is racing where it
wants to go, no matter what the rider wants."
Yurts (ger)
The ger (yurt
) is part of the Mongolian national identity. The
Secret History of the Mongols mentions Genghis Khan
as the leader of all people who live in felt tents, called gers, and
even today a large share of Mongolia's population lives in ger, even in Ulaanbaatar.
Ger also means home, and other words are derived from its word stem. For example,
gerlekh means to marry.
Religion
Since ancient times Tengrism was the dominant belief system of the Mongols and still retains significant importance in their mythology. During the era of the Great Khans, Mongolia practiced freedom of worship and is still a defining element of the Mongol character. In the 17th century, Tibetan Buddhism became the dominant religion in Mongolia. Traditional Shamanism was, except in some remote regions, suppressed and marginalized. On the other hand, a number of shamanic practices, like ovoo worshiping, were incorporated into Buddhist liturgy.
Tibetan Buddhism is a ritualistic religion with a large number of
deities. This inspired the creation of religious objects including
images in painting and sculptures.
After the Stalinist purges in the 1930s, both Buddhism and Shamanism were virtually outlawed in the Mongolian People's Republic. In Inner Mongolia, traditional religion was heavily affected by the Cultural Revolution.
[1] Since the 1990s, a number of Christian sects are trying to gain a foothold in Mongolia. About 4% of the Mongolian population is Muslim.
Festivities
The most important public festivals are the Naadam (English: game). The biggest one is held each year on July 11–13 in Ulaanbaatar, but there are also smaller ones on aimag and sum levels. A Naadam involves horse racing, wrestling, and archery competitions.
For families, the most important festival is Tsagaan Sar (English: white month), which is roughly equivalent to the Chinese New Year
and usually falls into January or February. Family members and friends
visit each other, exchange presents - very popular presents for all
opportunities are the khadag - and eat huge quantities of buuz.
Under the Soviet influence, New Year became a big event, and it is one of the biggest celebrations, comparable to Christmas in the West.
Music
Main articles: Music of Mongolia and List of Mongolian musical instruments
Mongolia has a very old musical tradition. Key traditional elements are throat-singing, the Morin Khuur
(horse head fiddle) and other string instruments, and several types of
songs. Mongolian melodies are typically characterized by pentatonic
harmonies and long end notes.
In the 20th century, western style classical music has been
introduced, and mixed with traditional elements by some composers. Later
on the full palette of Pop and Rock music has also been adopted by
younger musicians.
The Mongolian Waltz is a dance unique to Mongolia. Typically, one
mounted horseman and one mounted horsewoman circle each other in time to
a traditional song, which speeds up as it progresses. The three step
gait of the horses, as they circle, gives the dance its name.
[8]
Clothing
Mongolian dress has changed little since the days of the empire,
because it is supremely well-adapted to the conditions of life on the
steppe and the daily activities of pastoral
nomads. However, there have been some changes in styles which distinguish modern Mongolian dress from historic costume. The
deel, or
kaftan,
is the Mongolian traditional garment worn on workdays and special days.
It is a long, loose gown cut in one piece with the sleeves; it has a
high collar and widely overlaps at the front. The deel is girdled with a
sash. Mongolian deels always close on the wearer's right and
traditionally have five fastenings. Modern deels often have decoratively
cut overflaps, small round necklines, and sometimes contain a Mandarin collar.
Depictions of Mongols during the time of the empire, however, show
deels with more open necklines, no collars, and very simply cut
overflaps, similar to the deels still worn by lamas in modern Mongolia.
In addition to the deel, men and women might wear loose trousers
beneath, and men may have worn skirts during the later Buddhist period,
and women might wear underskirts, but in fact it appears on some Mongol
paintings women wore wide trousers gathered at ankle, similar to shelwar
or Turkish trousers. Skirts
of the same style are still worn in part of Mongolia and China today;
they have plain front and back panels with closely pleated side panels.
Paintings of Mongols from Persian
and Chinese sources depict men, and often women, wearing their hair in
braids. The hair would be divided into two pigtails, each of which would
be divided into three braids. The ends of the braids would then be
looped up and bound to the top of the braid behind the ears. Men shaved
the tops and sides of their heads, usually leaving only a short
"forelock" in front and the long hair behind. The famous bogtag headdress worn by women seems to have been restricted to married women of very high rank.
[12]
Each ethnic group living in Mongolia has its own deel design
distinguished by cut, color, and trimming. Before the revolution, all
social strata in Mongolia
had their own manner of dressing. Livestock breeders, for example, wore
plain deels, which served them both summer and winter. The priests wore
yellow deels with a cape or khimj thrown over it. Secular feudal lords put on smart hats and silk waistcoats.
More Ethnic Groups in Inner Mongolia:
