Mongolia Culture Part 1

The cultural self-image of the Mongols, including that of the city dwellers, is still closely linked to the traditions of a nomadic cattle herding society. They have shaped the material and spiritual culture of the country and its people over thousands of years and have been supplemented and enriched by current trends and developments as well as the constant exchange with agricultural cultures.

According to programingplease, the Mongolian ger (round felt tent, yurt), a dwelling optimally adapted to the nomadic way of life, has been included in the UNESCO cultural heritage.

Even before Chinggis-Khaan, not only eastern, Chinese, but also western influences reached the Mongols via the caravan routes. Since the 16th century, however, the Tibetan Buddhist influences have become overwhelming in all areas, in handicrafts, handicrafts, architecture and painting.

Extensive nomadic cattle farming did not have a strict division of labor; this also applied to handicrafts, arts and crafts. All commodities and cult objects, jewelry, work tools, saddlery and weapons were made by the cattle farmers. For the Russian Mongolist Eleonora Novgorodowa, this explains the long-term unchanged shapes and patterns when working with bones, felt, wood, leather and metal, as well as the longevity of the ” animal style “.

The first artist in Mongolia known by name was I. Bogd Jabzundamba Khutagt Undur Gegeen Zanabazar (1635-1723), a son of the Tusheet Khan Gombodorj. The number of gilded bronze statues of Buddhist deities he created can no longer be determined today. His most famous works can be found in the Museum of Fine Arts in Ulaanbaatar, named after him, in the Erdene Zuu Monastery and in the Gandan Monastery.

“The historical and cultural monuments above and below the earth of Central Asia are mirrors for the wisdom and the rich cultural heritage of our ancestors”, says the commemorative publication on the 800th anniversary of the Mongolian state in 2006.

Not only in Ulaanbaatar, also in the aim centers and in some Sums museums await their visitors. Domestic and foreign guests have free admission to International Museum Day every third Sunday in May. In 2014, the Mongolian museums recorded more than 271,000 visitors, 9.9 percent more than in the previous year.

Prof. Dr. hc Bernhard Wulff, composer, conductor, drummer, musicologist and university lecturer, has been Mongolia’s cultural ambassador in Germany since 2010.

After the then Foreign Minister Ts. Munkh-Orgil reappointed him as cultural ambassador in September 2016, the Mongolian Ambassador to Germany Ts. Bolor presented him with the certificate of appointment on December 20.

The culture has an extremely important role in Mongolia, a country in transition. Culture is important for the Mongols’ self-image, it gives the country stability and will also serve economic development in the long term. “Culture is not an ornament of everyday life, it belongs to survival, it is the heart”.

Among other things, Prof. Wulff has the internationalMusic festival “Dröhnende Hufe” was launched. Musicians from Spain, France, Mexico, Russia, Kazakhstan, the USA, France, Germany, Poland and many other countries make music together not only in Ulaanbaatar, but also in the steppe can produce on traditional Mongolian instruments on classical instruments, ever on all items that sounds or noises listed.

Since 2016 no longer appointed only foreign cultural ambassador, also Mongolinnen and Mongols can be appointed to this function.

the artistic and cultural manager and Media designer Oyunjargalyn Oyuntuya, who received her certificate of appointment in August 2016, is looking forward to working with Wulff.

“In addition, we will celebrate 800 years of the Karakoram in 2020. On this occasion we are planning an exhibition with finds from the German-Mongolian archaeological expeditions”. After the exhibition “Chinggis-Khaan and his heirs” in 2005 in the Bonn Kunsthalle, that would be a second milestone in the cultural relations of our countries in this millennium. “2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the EU”.

A total of 30 cultural ambassadors from Mongolia have been active so far, the cooperation and the exchange of ideas are developing positively.

After the singer and cultural manager Samdandambagiin Badamkhorol, the dancer and communication manager Gerlee Tsegmid-Roesch, the founding member of the pop group “Dschingis-Khan” Wolfgang Heischel and the economist Rudolf Wagner were also appointed cultural ambassadors of Mongolia in 2018, who presented the certificates of appointment the Mongolian Ambassador to Germany HE Dr. D. Ganbat.

Literature

The national library in Ulaanbaatar preserves rare written monuments such as a 2,500 year old birch bark inscription or the Mongolian translation of over 200 volumes of the Buddhist textbooks Tandschur and Kanjur from the 11th century.

Heroic epics, fairy tales, legends, riddle poems, proverbs and ballads were the main Mongolian literary genres. Mongolian poets and writers devoted themselves to the novella or novel only since the 1920’s. In the meantime, more than 1,000 works from 100 Mongolian scriptures have been translated into 20 languages. Since 2012, according to a decree by President Ts. Elbegdorj, every third Sunday in September has been celebrated as “Book Day”. The monument to one of the most famous Mongolian writers and scientists Byambyn Rinchen(1904-1977) was erected in its place after the Stalin memorial in front of the National Library was demolished in 1990. Only recently had the Lenin monument in front of the Ulaanbaatar Hotel make way. Now the monument to the co-founder of modern Mongolian literature Dashdorjiin Natsagdorj (1906-1937) stands in its place in the center of the Mongolian capital.

The oldest and most important surviving historical and literary monument of the Mongols is the ” Secret History ” from 1240. “The wind of the steppe still blows through it”, writes Erich Haenisch in the preface to his translation from 1948 and on: “About the war campaigns to the west we only speak very summarily … But we get to know the life of the steppe, the robbery of women and horses, alliances and betrayal, raids, struggle and friendship, ruthless slaughter of the enemy, booty and enslavement of the prisoners the picture in the yurt… emerges before our eyes “.

The story “The Spurned Girl” by Tsendiin Damdinsuren (1903-1986) from 1926 is considered the first work in modern Mongolian prose.

The Mongolian-Tuvinian writer and Germanist Chinagiin Galsan, born in 1943, made famous in Germany and Europe and honored with numerous awards. His works do not have to be translated into German, he writes them in the language of his country of study. However, translations are also available in French and English.

In his homeland, the writer is primarily involved in nature conservation, he supports school projects in his Tuvan homeland in western Mongolia, and organizes adventure and study trips.

“I am a wanderer between worlds. I live a third of the year in Tuwa, a third in Ulaanbaatar, and a third in the west”.

On March 16, 2018, he presented his new book “Know the Land – Leipzig Apprenticeship Years” at the Leipzig Book Fair.