Ethnic Minorities in China and Their Cultures - Mongols (3) Mongolian Ethnic Culture, by China Report.com

Social Life and Customs :

Much of the traditional lifestyle of the Mongolians revolved around horses and other lifestock. As a result, especially in area's where Mongolians active in pasturing and hunting, Horseback riding still plays an important role in the daily life of Mongols in China.

Eventhough modern modes of transportation are increasingly adopted, the skill of horseback riding is still regarded highly as a matter of cultural pride as well as bare necessity. Many Mongolian Boys and Girls still learn to ride on a horses' back as early as age 6 or even younger.

Another traditional part of life is the hunting. Traditionally, after a Mongol boy brings down his first kill in a hunting expedition, the fat and flesh of the kill is rubbed on his thumbs. This ritual ensured that he would always be a fortunate hunter, and that his arrows would always fly true. Traitionally the Mongolian Bow played a large part in this important Mongol coming of age ceremony, however naturally rifles are often used today.

In Daily Life Mongolians are unconstrained and warm-hearted people and they treat others warmly and politely. This is mainly expressed in the way they greet everyone they meet during their travels even when they do not know the other persons.

Another traditional custom of the Mongolians is the presentation of a special gift necklace, a piece of silk used as a greeting gift, to their Guests. The traditional way of doing so is known as presenting Hada. To present hada is in essence a holy ritual which represents a wish of auspice and good fortune. To hang the gift (Hada) onto the guest's neck means that they consider themselves highly honored guests with the visit. In the proper response, guests - equally grateful- are expected bend forward as a way to express their gratitude.

When visitors are invited into a Mongolian's home, they will be treated very well by being given wine. But they must fully respect their hosts' customs such as: they will not step on the threshold, sit beside the niche of Buddha, and touch children's heads, etc. They admire fire and water so guests should not dry their feet or boots on the stove, nor should they wash or bathe in the river, as it is holy and clean in their eyes. In the Mongolian culture, colors are significant. At a Mongolian funeral, red and white should be avoided, whereas during their festivals, black and yellow should not be used.

Residence :

The Mongols used to move from location to location in search of the best grazing grounds and tall grass for their herds. In doing so they developped a very mobile style of home, the Yurt, a circular easily assembled and light weight tent, the traditional house of the Mongolian Tribes and members. A Yurt measures about seven to eight feet high and ten feet in diameter and is hung on flexible and foldable racks as an ambulla-shaped wall and roof.

The Yurt functions as the Home and Base of all family members. Cooking, eating and sleeping is done inside the velten safety of the Tent Walls. The Yurt has one doorway with a tent-flap and a central opening in the roof to allow for ventilation of smoke from cooking.

Most of the Traditional Mongol Homes in China are disappearing with many Mongol Families converting to more modern earthen homes or even brick buildings including facilities. Many others however retain their Nomadic lifestyle, especially those living in the Manchurian Plains and near the border with the Republic of Mongolia.

Traditional Dress :

The Mongols have a traditional wear of colorful gowns underneath of which they ware Felt Boots. The traditional dress is very suitable for horse-riding.

Among Mongolians in the vast grazing lands a style of wear with fur coats lined with satin or cloth is common as winter clothing. For the Summer loose, long-sleeved cotton robes are the traditional norm.

Mongolian costume is generally red, yellow or dark blue in color. A red or green waistband, flint steel, snuffbox and knife in an ornate sheath for cutting meat are accessories common to all men and women. Knee-high felt boots are a type of common footwear. Mongolians, men and women, wear cone-shaped hats in winter; they also like to wear silk or cloth turbans. Girls wear their hair parted in the middle, embellished with two large beads and agate, coral and green jade ornaments.

Traditional Dress however is growing less and less popular, with the far majority of Mongolians adopting modern (Chinese Style if you will) more practical dress such as trousers, leather jackets and non-traditional boots. The traditional dress is mainly found at the large traditional festivals, mongolian cultural performances (for tourists or abroad) and worn during important family occasions.

Diet / Food :

As a result of their Nomadic Lifestyle and great dependance on their lifestock and natural resources, the Mongolian community traditionally have a staple diet of milk (dairy products) and meat. The meat is mainly either beef or mutton. Horses are not eaten by the Mongolians.

Depending on residence and substainance, some Mongolians enjoy a rich diet of fish and are engaged mainly in fishing and (small scale) fishing industries.

Mongolians everywhere further enjoy drinking the milk of sheep, horses, deer and camels.

The second Mongolian drink is similar to the Tibetan habits, they drink lots of Tea, always with Milk. The Milk however is not the milk of the Tibetan Yak.

Kumiss, a traditional Mongolian brew fermented out of horse milk, is a kind of distinctive wine which is used with the function of driving out coldness and as well as strengthening the stomach. Of course, the alcohol can be enjoyable as well.

Tender, boiled mutton, 'Shouzhua Rou' in Chinese, is a traditional Mongolian Dish as well.

It is said that in the past Mongolian people were so skilled in their cooking that they were able to cut their meat into small pieces without using knifes or chopsticks.

Religion :

The earliest Mongol Religion was Shamanist, however the Mongolians were converted to Tibetan Buddhism-Lamaism during the Yuan Dynasty Era (1271 AD - 1368 AD). The Tibetan-Lamaist version of Buddhism was conversed into a Mongolian version with firece deities. Temples and Monasteries doted the land, forming way-points along roads and trade-routes which led back and forth between important points. Buddhism remained the main religion of the Mongolian Peoples and they had their own Lama Religious King well into the 20th century until the arrival of Communism and the Russian and Chinese Revolution. Heavily suppressed in the soviet stooge Republic of Mongolia and almost equally harshly in the northern Provinces of the Peoples Republic during the period 1950-1985, Buddhism was virtually destroyed among the people only living on through secret ceremonies and in the heart of the aging who had known the practice of the faith. With Monks imprisoned or executed, and virtually all monasteries destroyed and robbed of their means, the religion suffered a serious decline. However, by now considered as an ancient cultural heritage of the Mongolian people, today Buddhism has reappeared among the Mongolians in Mongolia as well as in China (P.R.C.). In slow strides, the heavily damaged ancient traditions are finding new appreciation and studies of documents or other information where still available is seeing renewed efforts. Several Monasteries are again operational within Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the PRC, the most visited among them near Baotou and Hohhot. Many more Buddhist Temples and Monasteries exist in remote corners hardly visited by foreigners today.

During the festival Mongolian people from all area's and Provinces come down to the Festival location to gather and celebrate their traditional Culture. Nadam (эрийн гурван наадам in Russian) translates as "Games" and is short for Eriyn Gurvan Naadam, which literally translates as "three manly games" (or entertainment) in Mongolian Language and the festival is the most renowned and lately also the most internationally visited Festival and Celebration of Mongolian Culture in the Nation. The festival has its roots in the nomad wedding assemblies and hunting extravaganzas of the Mongol Army and therefor the opening ceremony of Nadam features marches and music from soldiers, monks and athletes before the actual competitions commence. It is a unique, colorful, noisy and grandiose spectacle. Nadam is also known as "eriin gurvan naadam", meaning three games of the Men. The Three Games are Horse-Riding, Wrestling and Archery.

At the Time of the Nadam Festival, the Main Holiday for Mongolians, all, among whom many Mongolian herdsmen and their families come from afar. Festival goers dress in their best and newest clothes, traditional garments abound and apart from the main theme of hunting and horse-riding games there is abundant dancing and signing all day and each evening. The Nadam Festival furthers serves as a large Bazaar or market place for local commodities, necessities for herding, riding and other traditional Mongolian activities and of course plentiful ethnic Mongolian Cultural Wares among which Colorful Robes, Blankets, Boots, Knives, Fur Hats, Buddhist-Lamaist Deities and paraphernalia and of course Mongolian Foods. There are cultural exhibits and even a livestock fair and the latest, a dairy cow competition.

The Men from the villages will participate in the exciting competitions of archery, wrestling, and various demonstrations of horse-riding.

All Mongolians are passionate about horse-riding and it is a great honor to win the Nadam Competition(s). In their Class, the Nadam Events show some of the most impressive skills in the world and are basically the Mongolian Olympic Games of Horse-Riding.

In modern times, apart from the main event of cross country horse-racing more activities have been added, such as polo, horsemanship, track and field, and ball competitions, so many skills are tested and demonstrated. Throughout the events horses compete for speed, resistance, steadiness and in some cases beauty and elegance. In these last mentioned tests horse perform various modes of walking such as walks and runs while doing side steps, alternating between the front and rear hooves and more.

Mongolian horse racing as featured at Naadam in Hohhot in Inner-Mongolia Autonomous Region is a

As an interesting modern development, in the last few years Women have been competing in the horse-riding events of the Three Men's Games. The women have become equally involved in traditional Mongolian Archery. However, there is no inclination to have them participate in wrestling which remains the sport of the men-among-men.

The Naadam Grasslands Festival has history that dates farther back than to the Yuan Dynasty (1279 AD -1368 AD), during which times the first instance of the term, Eriyn Gurvan Naadam, was recorded in writings. Earlier, Temujin or Genghis Khan, the first Leader to Unify all Mongols in 1209 AD and subsequently establish a Vast Empire, had established wrestling as the unofficial sport of his empire. The reason for the Great Khan doing so was that he believed that it kept his warriors fit for a fight, both physically and mentally.

Naadam-like games became a tradition and popular culture during and after the life and reign of Genghis Khan (1162 AD –1227 AD), during which times these type of games might form part of the celebration of a successful military campaign, the inauguration of a clan leader, and of course the enthronement of a khan.

Although all hunting in Mongolian Territories was forbidden during (most of) the Qing Dynasty (1644 AD - 1911 AD) Era, Nadam Games continue today as a mainstay of Mongolian Culture. Rooted in the mists of mongolian antiquity, the three events once served as official tests of male courage and expertise. They maintain a similar function today and are extremely popular among Mongolian men on the grasslands.

Other than the Nadam Festival, the Mongolian Minority in China have mainly adopted the (Han) Chinese Festivals of Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), Mid-Autumn Festival or Autumn Harvest etc.

cross-country event, with race distances of 15 to 30 km. The length of each race is determined by age class. For example, two-year-old horses race for ten miles and seven year old for seventeen miles. Up to 1000 horses from any part of Mongolia can be chosen to participate and gaining entry alone is considered a National Honor.

In advance of the Race, the audience sings traditional songs and the jockeys sing a song a traditional type of song called Gingo. After the endurance race Prizes are awarded to horses and jockeys. Where traditionally Winners of the competitions received gifts in form of livestock such as goats, camels and horses or brick tea and silk , in modern days the top five horses in each class earn the title of airgiyn tav and the top three horses are awarded official gold, silver, and bronze medals.

As for Archery, this is another Sport or Skill the Mongolians are masters in with their unique lifestyle, environment and history as nomadic warriors and archers on horse-back.

Mongolian archery is unique for having not only one target, but hundreds of beadrs or "surs" hung on a huge wall. Traditionally a sport reserved for Men Warriors, in modern times the Nadam Archery competitions have adopted a new style, allowing for the women to show their archery skills off as well.

In the modern era, many traditional skills have been lost and therefor, any culture bearer, man or woman is mobilized to sustain the Culture in all its aspects. Many women are skilled archers and horse-riders as well.

During the modern archery competition both men and women participate. There are two types of archery; shooting arrows when standing still, or when riding a horse. There are no restrictions on the arrow's pattern, weight or length.

Bows used in standing archery are virtually equal to the Mongol Bow renowned if no notorious for its military effectiveness. A Modern Mongol Bow, just as its ancient predecessors are recurved composite bows. However, they are larger in size than the historic original bows (used on horse-back not while standing in the field) and have string bridges. The number of arrows fired by the contestants depends on the event involved. Sometimes only four, often a standard 9 are given out.

The main event in the archery competition is played by ten-men/women teams whom are given 4 arrows each, the team has to hit 33 "surs". Men fire their arrows from 75 meters to away while women fire theirs from 65 meters away. When the archer hits the target the judge says "uukhai" which means "bulls eye". The winners of the contest are granted the titles of "National marksman" and "National markswoman".

The Mongolian wrestling matches are another way to prove Masculinity.

Mongolian wrestling is different from both Chinese wrestling and Japanese sumo wrestling. It is distinguished from other forms by its rules, methods, uniforms and fields. For instance: there are no weight or age distinctions, nor are there fixed numbers of competitors, as long as the numbers are even numbers such as two, four, six, eight and so on. In the Nadam wrestling events hundreds of Mongol Men participate in what can be considered the largest wrestling match in the Nation.

Wrestlers wear two-piece costumes consisting of a tight shoulder vest (zodog) and shorts (shuudag).

Before the match, contestants shake hands, however immediately after the fight is on. There is no time limitation and the opponents can tick, pull, kick, trip, push and hold. However, one is not allowed to wrestle while holding the other's legs, kick arbitrarily, or pull the other's trousers. The person who touches the ground with any part of the body above the knees is the loser.

In the resulting lengthy wrestling matches various titles can be won, depending on how many rounds the contestant lasts in this exhaustive wrestling match. In the process, each wrestler has a special assistant as well as an "encourager" named the zasuul. The special assistants task is to take minute care of every detail during a tournament. During the Match, the special assistant will stand aside the wrestling ring and hold the contestants felt topped hat. The Zasuul on the other hand are the Mongolian version of the Cheerleader and each Zasuul sings a song of praise for the winning wrestler after rounds 3, 5, and 7. Only at stage seven of the wrestling battle is the first masculine title of zaan, "elephant" bestowed on the contestant. The Men fight on until the last two battle it out in order to claim the highest rank of champions, or the "avrag".

Visitors to the Festival and Celebrations may engage Chinese Chess (Mah Yong) the test of the skills of the Mind, or in dancing, singing and musical performances. A traditionally popular and true Mongolian Custom is the Naadam activity is the playing of games using shagai, sheep knuckles that serve as game pieces and tokens of both divination and friendship.