The Mongols
Environment:
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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 20th
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:
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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 21st
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:
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| 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
1/10th 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
In general, very good post. I especially enjoyed reading your great description on gender roles.
ReplyDeleteThe only point I want to highlight is that an ethnography addresses the organization of a culture. Sometimes you veered off into discussions of the organization of the Mongol nation. There is a difference. In particular, this happened in the section on economics and politics. Don't think national... think population. But those two digressions were minor compared to the overall post, which was quite good.