The Mongols
Environment:
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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 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:

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:

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.
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:

Kinship:

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:
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.

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:


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