Week 8 : The Mongols

The Mongols

Environment:

The Mongols, that is the Mongolian people, are central East Asian people, which are mainly situated in Mongolia, Russia and China. The region of Mongolia is bathed in extreme climate changes and annual weather changes, ranging from the arid Gobi desert in the south of Mongolia to the chilling mountainous area to the north. Mongolia has extreme continental climate, with average summer temperatures of 65 digress Fahrenheit and 13 below zero degrees in the winter its no surprise that Mongolia would have an annual average of 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which is water-freezing temperature. Due to its surrounding location Mongolia is at two extremes when it comes to the precipitation it receives, higher precipitation (8-14 inches) in the north and lower (4-8 inches) in the south. Presently the Mongolia people live mainly in providences, within urban setting. The predominant one being, Ulaanbaatar that houses over 40% of the population.

            Traditionally the Mongolian peoples economy was based around agriculture and herding, close to 30% of present day Mongols still obtain their income from breeding livestock. In the last decade there has been a steady boom in the mineral industry, presently accounting for 80% of Mongolia’s export. It could be due to their location or unforeseen opportunity but presently Mongolia, within the mining industry, holds the worlds largest untapped coal deposit.

            The area that houses Mongolia is covered in extremes from the mountain areas of the north to the desert regions of the south, Mongolia is a proud inhabitance of some of the worlds dying species. The Argali sheep, Ibex, Snow Leopard, Rock Ptarmigan, Altai Snowcock, Dwarf Siberian Pine and White Gentiana are some of the endangered inhabitants that proudly call Mongolia “home”.

            The Mongols of have to endure the mountainous area of the north, covered in never ending snow and glaciers, ice cold temperatures, forest and strong winds while any providence in the south had to endure the arid climate of the Gobi desert. Due to its location, Mongolia is extremely cold, reaching subarctic temperatures during the early part of the year, which has reproductions in the following months where lakes and rivers remain frozen for the majority of the year.

Climatic Adaptation:

            In order to survive the Mongols had to develop specific traits, one of them being the epicanthic fold around their eyes. The epicanthic fold developed to aid the Mongols in the protection from the harsh winds and cold weather. Further more due to the extreme weather attributed to central East Asia, the Mongols developed shorter body limbs and overall smaller size to combat the cold.

            Due to the surrounding environment the Mongolian people of maintained many of their adaptations unchanged for the past few decades. A meat rich diet aided them in producing the necessary protein and fats needed to live in the cold climate, due to the unwavering chilling conditions vegetables could not be easily cultivated, furthermore the Mongols had strong nomadic influences so the ability of settling in one place and waiting for the years harvest to produce edible vegetables wasn’t an option fondly dwelled upon by Mongols. Furthermore due to their nomadic tendencies and climate their clothing was required to serve multiple purposes. It had to aid the wearer in maintaining him/her warm without constraining or preventing mobility in the desert, mountain or forest areas. The Mongolian deel can be viewed as a present day overcoat, with the slight differentiation that and over coat closes down the middle front and the deel would close to the wearers right, fastened by a handful of clasps and a silk sash. Lastly, the Mongols have always been a nomatic people group, this aided them in either following their food source to feed themselves or it helped them find favorable climate to live in.

Language:

            Mongols, that is people from Mongolia, main language used by close to 95% of the people is Mongolian, from the Mongolic language family.  Lacking gender assignment and containing vowel harmony characterize the Mongolian language. Presently there is a written form of Mongolian knows as Mongolian script and Mongolian Cyrillic, the second being introduced in the early part of the 20^th century by soviet influence. The introduction of a written language would dictate that the Mongolians where more than savages running around in deels and horses conquering everything in sight. This showed a high level of intelligence and the ability for them to come together as one group and instruct future generations. Furthermore, the fact that the Mongolian people haven’t yielded to using the Mongolian Cyrillic version of their language, one that was introduced as a new an improved alternative to the Mongolian script shows that the Mongols have a strong foundation in their believes and their traditions.

Gender Roles:

            Although it is erroneously believed that in Mongolia the man is the all-supreme reigning power nothing could be father from the truth. There is a discrepancy in the eyes of the historians and scholars that have written historical accounts of the Mongolian people. Notably the fact that it was encouraged that a man look for a suitor that was older than he was, and that it was positively perceived when a man took the advice of his wife. A man was encouraged to look for an older spouse so that she could aid him in making life decisions. This concept rarely attributed to Mongolian men, furthermore among the Mongols their shaman where of both male and female sex, the female counterpart many times holding a coveted seat that their male counterpart couldn’t occupy. These traits, vastly unchanged from their initial conception, are traits passed down to new generations thru first hand experience and examples. Women have always partaken in a high level of social status and freedom, not common in other places in Asia. It would be slightly fround upon that a Mongolian man would execute the female role, traditional there was a significant distinction in the roles that the man and women played, although many freedoms where given to women they where still required to labor around the house. In regards to the protagonist of “The Blessed Curse”, it is difficult to predict if they would be accepted among the Mongols. There is a defined line between the sexes and their roles and the way society views those roles so most likely they wouldn’t be accepted. Although an argument could be made that within the Mongolian dynasty, there are characters that have executed tasks and duties not common to their gender roles and they’ve been accepted. Most notably a Mongolian princess that was said to be stronger than any man and fierce beyond measure. She would go to war with her father and she was untamable by any man.

Subsistence:          

The staple of a Mongols diet is meat and dairy, due to their environment where harvesting is difficult task Mongolian diets revolve around the consumption of domesticated animals. In the past few decades the Mongolian diet has shifted somewhat and has slowly began adopting and including the use of vegetables. Because of the food source they choose to consume the Mongolian diet can be sustained year round, provided that the head of household notably the male executes their duties and cares for the livestock and herd and the mother takes care of household necessities. Partially due to the nutrition Mongolian children are presently only about 6% for children under the ages of 5 years although there is still a deficiency in micronutrients, vitamin D, and iron.

            The Mongolian people don’t necessarily produce a surplus of food, their main food source being the livestock and herd of animals they have. With the excess of animals they easily can produce the dairy that is a cornerstone of their diet and culture. Traditionally the Mongolian people have always been nomads with a specialization in the domestication and expansion of herds.

Economic System:

The Mongolian tögrög is presently Mongolia’s form of currency, replacing the Mongolian dollar in 1925.  Although it was the best performing currency in 2010, Mongolia is still classified as a lower middle-income economy. Presently the biggest foothold Mongolia has is its mining capability and untapped coal resource, truly a diamond in the rough, the largest in the world. Due to the vastly untouched natural resources that Mongolia has its lead the environment unchanged for the past few decades, this could drastically change with the change to a more industrial train of thought.

           

Marriage:

Mongolians are monogamous, many times choosing their partners from the same social group. This was due to the fact that herding families would associate with neighboring herding families or young professionals would associate with young professionals. This would reinforce the social infrastructure. It wasn’t uncommon for the groom to pay a dowry for his wife, many times providing livestock, jewelry, clothing etc. etc. This clearly speaks to the worth of a female counterpart in the Mongol society. Women are viewed with great value, where fertility and family was the outcome that a husband’s dowry was buying. The newlyweds would move to the groom’s family camp, where a “ger” would be built for them. Pertaining to homosexuality, this was an illegal act greatly fround upon by the communist Mongolian leadership. Not until the turn of the 21^st century was this law abolished. Although in present day there is no law that prohibits homosexuality and the community, as a whole isn’t plagued by homophobia, this is a topic that isn’t publically acknowledged.

Kinship:

            The Mongolians focus on a patrilineal descent, this clearly outlines how greatly Mongolians view the male role in their society, whereas all other descent lines are simply ignored. It could be argued that the person that holds the power within the Mongols would be the male, but tradition clearly dictates that a man should find a women to guide him and provide help in life. In the Mongolian descent line inheritance patterns do in fact follow descent patters, a portion of the families herd is always given to the sons of the family. The Mongolian people have a tendency to use patronymic last names, this would pay tribute to past ancestors but beyond that it inhibits an accurate tracing of lineage.

Social Organization: Political Organization:

President of Mongolia on left

            Presently I believe that Mongolia is egalitarian, traditionally women always held a position of power and freedom not common in other places and people groups. Furthermore the present political structure (parliamentary system) lends itself to attributing more rights and equal opportunities to both sexes. The political structure of Mongolia is a parliamentary system, having a president, parliament and prime minister. These positions are elected by the people thus the transfer of “power” is not decided by a “birth-right” or inheritance. Parliament is the entity that dictates the laws but are governed by the Mongolian constitution that secures freedom of expression and religion. Furthermore the president holds the ability to block a decision made by Parliament. Any breaking of the law will be enforced by the National Police Agency of Mongolia, a similar system used worldwide where imprisonment or fines are used to punish any violations of laws.

Role of Violence:

            A few problems that plague Mongolia are attacks on inter-racial couples where foreign men are targeted and assault/pickpocketing on foreign visitors. This in turn causes a few things, one it causes a lack of trust on visiting people groups in fear that they might be targets for the next random act of violence and it also breeds anger between people groups. The Mongolians view this as a negative aspect of their society, traditionally always living in a close knit group the present need to expand their social circles are inhibited by the narrow mindedness of people that view anything or anyone that is not like them a threat.

Religion:

            The predominant religion in Mongolia would be Buddhism (particularly Tibetan Buddhism). Tibetan Buddhism is neither monotheistic nor polytheistic, instead Buddhism focused on ways of living life and ways to achieve enlightenment omitting God or gods.  They acknowledge the existence of other gods and religions but also believe that they hold no power over the outcome of their lives, instead karma is the one that dictates their outcome.

            In a nut shell Buddhism is as followed, a young prince Gautama was prophetically chosen to either be a king or a holy man. Upon seeing the suffering of people he chooses to end the suffering and renounces his royal throne. He thus finds various methods that teach him life lesson yet unsuccessfully does not end peoples suffering. Upon reaching a level of lack of satisfaction he sits below a tree an refuses to leave until he’s obtained an enlightened mind. After many days he is able to transcend his earthly body and resurrects and enlightened man, teaching followers a way of life.

            Some key traits that are attributed to Buddhism is the usage of meditation, good will towards others and the acknowledgement of other religious gods as deity’s. For the Mongolians Buddhism is interlaced with their everyday way of life even if its not apparent. The sole fact that close to 50% of the population claims that Buddhism is their religion speaks vastly about the cultures discipline and mentality. Mongolians have always been knows for the kindness and good will towards other people, this is a key trait in Tibetan Buddhism. Furthermore the tolerance in their constitution for other religions goes hand in hand with Buddhism’s acceptance of other religious figures.

Art:

            For Mongols, due to the nature of their nomadic lifestyle many of the art forms had to also have practical applications, a marble statue did not serve a purpose whereas a embroilment on a garment of clothes could be used to demonstrate power or wealth. In regards to music no celebration would be complete without the festive sounds of Mongolian music and singing, some of the most notable aspects would be overtone singing where the individual produces two notes at the same time. Again, music is an integral part of the Mongolian culture that it’s a form of conveying raw emotions, whether it’s a long song comprised of 10 words expanded over 4 minutes or the enchanting melodies of Mongolian music the usage of music is always around the corner.

A common and known dance among the Mongols is the Mongolian Waltz. The Mongolian waltz itself requires that a mounted man and women circle each other at the tempo of a traditional Mongolian song, a characteristic is that as they circle each other the songs tempo increases thus the movements transfer from a slow passionate dance into a frenzied ball of laughter and fun. Just like singing and music, the usage of dancing was yet another way the Mongols celebrate, it’s a way of having fun. Prior to the 1900’s most art in Mongolia had some kind of religious function, it served as a way to pay tribute to a Buddhist deity.

Conclusion:

            Like any culture, its interaction with neighboring people always comes at a price, whether the price favors or is deleterious to the people group is sometimes immeasurable until the passing of time. With the Mongol people, they’ve been plagued by strokes of bad luck, the soviet nation made it a point to eradicate the Buddhist religion. Coming close to a vanishing 1/10^th of a percent the Buddhist monks nearly disappeared from the Mongolian region due to the eradication on behalf of communist governments. Furthermore the aggressive climates and unfavorable environment conditions could of easily of removed a lesser society. Even with all this, the Mongolian people are in no danger of loosing their identity. After the disbandment of the communist control Mongolian Buddhist flourished furthermore the contact with other nations have led Mongolia to establish a democratic political party. Rights and freedoms are all a commodity that one can enjoy in Mongolia. Although presently Mongolia doesn’t seem to have a significant influence in the economical market of today it can be foreseen that in the next few years given that they have the worlds largest coal source and many of their sources have been untapped it could easily become a nation and a people group that would cement their name in our history books once again.

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongols

http://www.selenatravel.com/about-mongolia.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia#Geography_and_climate

http://www.discovermongolia.mn/country/Climate.html

http://www.discovermongolia.mn/country/music_songs.html

http://gobidesert.org/content/facts

http://www.coldsiberia.org/monwomen.htm

http://www.unicef.org/mongolia/activities_2187.html

http://www.country-studies.com/mongolia/kinship,-family,-and-marriage.html

http://www.interpol.int/Member-countries/Asia-South-Pacific/Mongolia

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_973.html

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~greg.c/tibet.html

http://www.face-music.ch/bi_bid/historyofart_en.html

Week 7: Art as a Culture

1: Functions of Early Art:

a. What were the cave artists trying to say?

I believe the artist where trying to convey every day life, what they saw around them, what truly mattered to them. The animals could have been herds of animals that they needed for survival or that served a specific spiritual symbolism to their people.

b. Why do you think that there were so many animals and not as many people in the paintings?

                  If the wall painting where instructions on what animals where needed to survive, then it would make sense to depict animals more than humans. Furthermore if these where some kind of record keeping then a depiction of “man” might of not been needed.

c. What can the paintings tell us about other aspects of the life of cave dwellers or Paleolithic people?

                  The paintings let us know that Paleolithic people where more than savage people running around trying to only survive. There is a strong undertone of understanding of their environment and the need to make some kind of record.

d. What difficulties did these early humans navigate in order to paint these pictures?

                  The painting of caves is never ideal, the walls aren’t flat like a canvas nor is there adequate lighting. Early humans had to go out of their way to light their workplace, furthermore the paintings are spread over the celling of the cave, again this is not an ideal location as the cave ceiling might of not been easily at an arms reach.

e. Speculate as to three (3) possible functions of this art to early humans

·       It could of provided instructions to future people of the animals that lived in the areas.

·       It could have been a way of passing down stories or sharing stories with more than the immediate people group that they lived with.

·       The paintings could have been a tribute to the spirit world, maybe a way of immortalizing and idea.

2: Commonalities in Function:

            I think that a predominant commonality in the art from the Lascaux Caves and modern art is the desire of the artist to capture moments that have some kind of significance to them.  Whether it is an internal emotion that the artist wishes to convey as a painting or the images immortalized on a cave wall, these images are moments in the artist mind that need to be shared that need to be expressed.

3. Introduce Us to Your Favorite Art:

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaCjPdtDBxo

Joe Bonamassa – Ballad of John Henry

·      For blues guitar and “blues” style music I believe there is always a story trying to be told. In the past this form of music was used to convey extream emotion, something that maybe jazz or easy listening couldn’t do for the musicians.

·      The blues, thankfully, is no longer limited to one certain people group or social class, presently this style of music can be enjoyed by people of all creed and age. Although one very important aspect of the blues is the chord progression used and the shuffle like rhythmic feel of the music. This aspect of the music cannot be omitted; it is what gives the blues its specific audial characteristic.

·      I don’t really see any detrimental affects of this type of music, although because of my great like for it my opinion is somewhat biased. It is a form of story telling much like old country songs or short stories. This is just another way of conveying ideas in hopes of keeping them alive for as long as possible.