There are many cultures in the world. Each one has its own environment, cultural and physical adaptation, and other factors that are unique. The study of a specific culture is extremely important in order to see the physical and cultural struggles they went through. It is also beneficial to be able to know about another culture, different the one we are individually a part of. By studying some different cultures, one can see the similarities and differences within the cultures.
The Environment
The Mongols is a name referring to a culture in Mongolia and North of China. The Mongols actually include almost sixty separate tribes. There are almost six million Mongols that are in northern China. The Mongols live in two different types of geographical areas. To the south of Mongolia, the geography includes the Gobi desert while to the north and the west, the geography includes cold and mountainous regions. However, much of Mongolia actually includes what is called the Steppes. The “steppes” is another word for Grasslands.
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| This is an image of some of the land the Mongols lived on |
The Mongols live through hot summers yet extremely cold winters. In the winter, the temperature experiences a drop of below freezing point. Their summers are short while their winters are long. In the summer, that is when the Mongols have their precipitation. The highest precipitation occurs in the north at about an average of 200 to 350 millimeters while the lowest occurs in the south with the average of 100 to 200 millimeters. In the winter, Mongolia occasionally goes through what is called a “zud”. A zud is a term used by the Mongolians to describe the extremely snowy winters they go through. In this condition, much of the livestock in Mongolia die because of the cold and because of starvation. The zuds have a very negative effect on Mongolia because their economy depends on the farming of the livestock. Since livestock dies during the zuds, their economy also dies during the zuds.
The Mongols live in a country that is dominated by Ulaanbaatar, the capital city. In the 1979 census, it was said that 51% of the Mongolian population was urban. Before the twentieth century, most of the people living in Mongolia were nomads. Even in the 1980s, a percentage of Mongols were still nomadic, with more becoming urban. Up until 2002, about 30% of people living in Mongolia rely on the breeding of livestock. Most of the ethnic population consists of the Khalkha which is about 86%. The other 14% is a mix of other nationalities.
Mongolia, despite the complications of the weather, has a variety of existing livestock and plants. The livestock of Mongolia includes horses, sheep and goats, camels, cows, and reindeers. They also have wild livestock which includes marmots, wolves, Przewalski horses which have been extinct for many years already, snow leopards. Also, 15% of the country’s territory is known to be forests that consist of pines and birches, bushes and shrubs. The steppes they live in have flowers that include edelweiss, gentians, geraniums, eyelets, delphiniums, peas, asters, and more. The deserts in Mongolia have bushes with thorns, very deep roots, and no leaves.
The Mongols endure difficult weather and temperatures which is a stress to them. As mentioned before, since most of people depend on the breeding of livestock, their economy suffers a lot when most of the livestock dies of the cold and starvation. The weather condition such as the zud is one example of what the Mongols have to go through. Also, since their year consists more of the cold winters, it is another stress the Mongols have to deal with. If it was just rain, they can live fine. However, they have temperatures that fall below freezing point, a temperature that is extremely difficult to live in.
Climatic Adaptations
One of the most important ways the Mongols maintained survival was being able to adapt to the stress of the bizarre weather conditions they went through. One of the physical adaptations that enable them to survive the cold winters is having short limbs and noses with flat faces. This was beneficial to their bodies because it decreased the body surface area. Having a smaller surface area was great because the Mongols were able to circulate the warm blood faster in the body as a way to cope with the cold. Another physical adaptation they developed also deals with having a smaller body. The smaller body allows for faster blood circulation which allows the Mongols to survive in the harsh cold.
Having to live in their environment, one of the most important cultural adaptations the Mongols developed was also to help with the cold weather. They used the livestock they herded to make fur to cover their bodies. They used the wool of the sheep, goats, and camels to make cashmere clothing and covers. Another cultural adaptation of the Mongols was the animal herding itself. This allowed them to be able to get food and dairy products that is necessary for a healthy diet. This pastoralist style they developed as part of their lifestyle was due to the environment around them. Another adaptation they developed goes alongside with the pastoralist style. It is their use of horses for transportation and riding. This was important during the cold weathers in order to move from a very cold place to a place that is a bit more tolerable.
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| The horse here shows their source of cover that helps the Mongols deal with the cold |
Language
The Mongol’s main language that is spoken is called Mongolian. It is the language that is spoken by Mongolians in Mongolia. This language alone has about five million speakers in the world. In China, the Mongols dialects are called the Chahar, the Oyirad, and the Barghu-Buryat. Even though Mongolia is a language spoken in China, it is very different from Chinese due to their different grammar and structures. The Mongolian language is part of the Altaic family language, which includes other languages such as the Turkic and Manchu-Tungus languages.
The Mongolian language also comes in written form. However, it has many different writing styles. Foreigners use their own writing style of the Mongolian language. When the Mongols took over China with their empire in the 1200s, Genghis Khan or the Chingis Haan created a writing system for the Mongolian. This writing style was based on the Uyghur script and later on became the first official writing system of Mongolia and in the Mongol Empire. The fact that the Chingis Haan ordered the creation of the writing system shows that he was aiming at full cultural invasion in China. Also, since the Mongols created their own language and their own writing system, it shows their refusal to adopt or to adapt to the Chinese language. This shows their independence and their desire of control.
A foreigner might be able to distinguish this language by the number of vowels it contains. This written language has more vowels than most other languages. Due to the many vowels this language has, it is often difficult to be able to tell apart the different sounds. Aside from the vowels it contains, this language also comes with its own set of rules of how to use the vowels and the consonants.
Gender Roles
In the culture of Mongol in China, there are the two specific genders, male and female, or man and woman. The men were given the responsibility of taking care of all external affairs which include the military, trade, and administrative business. Also, men were given the responsibility of animal herding, hunting, and the slaughtering of the animals. Some of their jobs also included taking care of the animal shelters, fixing and handling tools, carts, and weapons. The women on the other hand were mainly responsible for any housework such as cooking, washing, taking care of the children, and sewing. Other jobs for women include milking the animals and making dairy products.
While animal herding was known to be the men’s main jobs, in the households where it mainly relied on herding, the whole family would take part in taking care of the herds and increase the herds. Still, the older people took care of the repairing of the tools and the cooking and sewing. There was no penalty for the crossing over of the roles. As long as the proper knowledge and training has been achieved, switching of gender roles did not come with any repercussions; although men were looked down upon when performing women’s task. The women were seen as valuable because of their role in producing offspring. In the Mongol culture, fertility was preferred over virginity. This means that the purity of women was not given as much importance like the importance it is given in the Islamic cultures in Asia. This idea of fertility over virginity was the basis for the equality between men and women. Because children helped their mothers at their young age, gender roles were taught by being passed down. Until the appropriate age, a child, whether a girl or a boy, would always be with the mother. This ensured that each child knows their role. When the boys reached the appropriate age, they would begin to take on the role of the man.
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| A woman milking a goat |
The main biology relation to the Mongol’s culture and the gender roles is fertility. One of the most important parts of being born a woman is being able to give life to another child. However, if a woman was to be infertile, then she would live a difficult life. She would have a very difficult time marrying someone as all men seek fertile women. I think the protagonist in “The Blessed Curse” would be accepted in the Mongol culture. This is because this culture placed equality between men and women as long as the woman was fertile. Even though the protagonist did not choose a specific gender to live by, if they chose to be a man, he would have to be responsible for the male’s tasks. The only problem this person would face if they chose to be a woman is if this woman was not fertile. Other than that, I think this person of both sexes would be accepted in the Mongol’s culture.
Subsistence
The traditional subsistence pattern of the Mongol culture is pastoral. This means they attain their living by herding animals and survive off of the products of these animals. Mongols raise the animals in order to be able to get the meat from them. Because of the harsh weather in Mongolia, Mongols have a hard time with agriculture as the temperatures are low most of the time. The pastoral style they live by is the nomadic pastoral. This is because Mongols roam and move around in search of the better climatic conditions. Horses are used not only for riding, but also for food and drink sources. Horses give the Mongols their most preferred drink, the airag, a slightly alcoholic mare’s milk. The cows give the Mongols the meat and the milk. The milk from the cows is made into other dairy products such as yogurt, cheese, or dried cheese which is the main food of their diet in the summer. Sheep are also used for the meat and the milk they give. Hunting was also a part of their subsistence patterns. Therefore, it is concluded that the basic food of the Mongols is meat and milk. Because they have a hard time with agriculture, their diet lacks the fruits and vegetables that are appreciated for the vitamins they provide. Therefore, although they have a lot of sources for protein and milk, they lack the healthy nutrients. They did also use irrigation to grow wheat, corn, potatoes, garlic, onions, and carrots. However, that was seasonal since in the winter, irrigation and dry farming was impossible.
The Mongols divided their labor based on social class, sex, and age. The peasants were the ones in charge of growing the above mentioned food in the land. However, the main division of labor was based on sex. The males were in charge of herding the animals, hunting, caring for the animals, and collecting the hay. They were also in charge of the slaughtering of the animals for their meat. The women and children were in charge of milking the animals, making the dairy by-products, churning the butter, and cooking.
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| The importance of livestock to the Mongols. |
Economic Systems
Due to the fact that the Mongol’s subsistence system is mainly the herding of animals and acquiring their food and goods from the livestock, their economic system also deals with the products of the livestock. Other than the meat and milk the Mongols attain from the livestock they have, they are also able to acquire other animal by- products such as wool, sheep skin, fur, and cashmere. These animal by-products are actually of surplus to the Mongols. Therefore, they are used for trade. In trading, the Mongol’s export the livestock, cashmere, wool, along with copper in exchange for fuel, cars, other food products, chemicals, materials used for building, and machinery and equipment. Up until the 20th century, the former Soviet Union was the main trade country for the Mongols, just as the Mongols were becoming important as the source of animals and animal by-products. China was another trade partner for the Mongols, with other countries contributing to the trade with Mongolia. The main specialization of labor for the Mongols was during the industrial period. During this period, industrial working became the specialized labor, along with the work of the peasants. The currency that the Mongols used was called the tögrög or the tugrik. This tugrik was equivalent to one ruble from the Soviet Union. It was introduced in 1925 and became the main legal currency starting in 1928. The trade that the Mongols engage in was of benefits to them because they were able to acquire the products that they were unable to produce themselves. The main useful product they were able to get was fuel and the machinery as they were necessary for their industrial period.
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| The geographical location of Mongolia make the Soviet Union and China the trade routes Marriage
Marriage is an important aspect for the Mongols. In fact, they place more importance on marriage than on birth and death. That is not surprising as the typical Mongol family is made up of a husband, wife, and the children. The Mongols are monogamous where there is only one partner in the family. The Mongols marry at a very young age; they get married as young as 11 or 12 years old. The marriages are usually arranged as there is not dating traditions. The boy who wanted to marry the girl would live with her and her family for one year as a way to pay for her hand in marriage. After they get married, the new couple lives on their own, but remain close to home. As a way of protection, when choosing the partners, parents usually choose a person of a different tribe in order to be protected from that tribe.
There are various economic exchanges when asking for a person’s hand in marriage. When the boy wants to marry the girl, he first sends her gifts in a handkerchief which include sugar, tea leaves, and pastern. If the family accepts the gifts, is signifies that they accept the request in marriage. However, the proposal does not stop there. Once the family of the girl accepts the gifts, the boy, along with his family, go to the bride’s house with more gifts including hada, milk liquor, and sugar blocks. They do this several times before the proposal is accepted. After that, the groom has to send the family of the bride wine three times and then they will be married. This long process in asking for the girl’s hand in marriage shows that the women are of great value. This is because the Mongol’s place great importance on fertility. Also, marriages are important because the man needs to be the head of the family, occasionally asking for the advice of his wife. It was important to live near the family of the children after marriage.
Homosexuality was not something acceptable for the Mongols. The only accepted marriage pattern for the Mongols was between a man and a woman. In fact, homosexuality was highly discriminated with no laws protecting the rights of homosexual marriage. Even now, there is no public acknowledgement of homosexuality for the Mongols.
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Kinship
The traditional Mongols’ descent was patrilineal meaning it was through the male line in the family. The descent would be passed down from the father to the sons. This shows that the Mongols placed importance on the men of the family to hold the power and control of the family. Also, it shows that the Mongol males came to help the relatives in time of need. However, they do not ignore the women’s value as they are important for their fertility. For the Mongols, the male hold the authority of the family and they have the most power in the house. That is not to eliminate the power of the woman completely as then wife is essential for the man as his source of advice.
While women were able to inherit some of the family property, most of the inheritance went to the sons in the family. The oldest son inherited some of the family’s wealth when he got married while the remaining family wealth was given to the youngest son at the death of both of the parents. The main kinship groups for the Mongols are the nuclear and the extended family.
Social Organizations
The Mongols had a stratified society where not everyone was equal. This was possibly because they were a nomadic culture. Their society was organized with social classes such as nobility, herders, artisans, and slaves as well. However, this was not set in stone as social mobility was possible. This was possible through the increase of the herd size and wealth levels. Social status was seen through the ownership of materials such as headdresses, jewelry, saddles, and other personal objects. In the modern Mongol culture, wealth was shown through the purchasing and displaying of goods from the Western countries. Social classes were also based on gender as men had a higher social status than women.
Political Organization
The government under which the Mongols lived was modeled after the government of the Soviet Union. Until the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Mongols were politically similar to the Soviet Union. For the Mongols, the legislative body with the highest status was the unicameral parliament names the State Great Hural. This parliament had 76 members who were elected. The state was lead by the president while the government head was the prime minister. The president was elected by popular vote and was the president for a term of four years. Local government leaders were also elected at a provincial and district levels. Any crimes that were committed against the state were punished harshly. There were laws created with the name of “yasa” which dealt with military discipline, criminal law, and societal customs.
Role of Violence
The Mongols placed great importance on the violent acts that were committed. One of the most serious violence that was extremely prohibited was violence against women. While there were no laws against rape of the spouse, other violence against women was taken very serious. The person committing the crime is to be prosecuted with formal charges made. Although it is a serious issue, many people see the domestic violence as family problems and don’t do much about it. Another violent action that occurs within the Mongol culture is child abuse. Studies have shown that 70% of child abuse was due to alcohol abuse. Even though women have tried bringing the issue of violence to end, there were no known government actions that were taken against such violent acts.
Religion
There is one main religion that is practiced by the Mongols. The name of the religion is called Lamaism and it is in part the Yellow Sect of Buddhism. However, up until the 16th century, the main religion practiced by the Mongols was shamanism. Shaman was a term that originally referring to medical religious specialists. However, when the Mongols preferred the men to become monks rather than warriors, they changed the religion practice to Lamaism. The religion of Lamaism was important to the Mongols that the importance of temples grew rapidly. Each family had to send at least one of the sons to be raised in the temple in order to become a Lama. In these temples, lamas were able to study astronomy, astrology, mathematics, and medicine. Since this religion that the Mongols practice is a sector of Buddhism, it focused on the ideas of attaining good Karma and being saved from reincarnation.
Though the temples were very important to the Mongols, upon socialism, many temples were destroyed, with some still standing. The importance of the temples was seen during the deaths of some people. Upon a death of a Mongol, the lamas were given gifts in order to the pray for the well-being of the spirit of the deceased. The lamas were important for their consultation which was important in order to prevent future misfortune to the family. Therefore, religion was very significant to the Mongols.
Art
The artwork of the Mongols was influenced by their nomadic lifestyle. Their art includes saddles, horse blankets, storage chests which were very decorative. The other type of art such as paintings and sculptures were found in the permanent buildings such as the temples. Music in the Mongol culture included herding songs and work songs. The purpose of the herding songs was to call the animals back or to have songs while setting up camps. Performance arts for the Mongols include operas, plays, ballet, folk music and dancing. The government was even supportive of the arts of the professional and amateur theatre. The most important instrument that was used was the morin khuur which was a horse-head fiddle. Mongol men were expected to know how to play this instrument. Other instruments include the drums, flutes, cymbals, gongs, and tambourines.
The Mongols also had religious art because they were in the temples. The place to find the most extensive collection of the Lamaist paintings and sculptures is the Museum of Fine Arts in Ulaanbaatar. They had scroll paintings with the name of “tanka” which would depict the gods and saints of Lamaism. The tankas were painted on cotton and on silk. The tankas were popular and it became a tradition to include them in the homes of the Mongols. Poetry was also a form of art that the Mongols had. The most famous poem was called “The Secret History of the Mongols” which was a poem describing Genghis Khan’s rise to power. Literature also contained folktales where the Mongols talked about love, heroism, and supernatural acts.
Conclusion
Just like most other cultures, the Mongol culture was an influence on other cultures while being influenced by others. One of the negative effects of the Mongols were the invasion of China. To the Chinese, the Mongols were seen as a threat and were seen as barbarians. This was because no country or culture desires another one taking over their traditions and the basis of their culture and having to change. However, the Mongols were not only harmful. The trade and the products they exported were of great benefits to the other countries. While trade can have negative impacts such as decrease of needed labor, and other negative effects, trade is mainly beneficial as it provides the country with the products it is unable to produce on its own. Other impacts of the other cultures on the Mongols is the government system they adopted from the Soviet Union.
I don't consider the culture of the Mongols to be healthy as some of its aspects are not thriving. for example, under socialism, the temples were destroyed which is basically a destruction of their religion. Also, since the government does not take much action in response to the domestic violence against women and children, the Mongol culture is definitely not a very healthy one.
Although Mongolia had thrived during the early centuries, it does not play a significant role in the modern world. The main role of the Mongols in the modern world is the trade. It is still a trade source for minerals which is always going to be necessary and beneficial. However, besides that, the culture has no strong influence on other cultures.
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I also studied the Mongolian culture, and I enjoyed read your ethnographic project because your information made me see some aspects of the Mongolian culture that I did not mention in my project. I think that one aspect of Mongolian culture we should copy is to see more important fertility than virginity of women, so they can have a more important value in all societies
ReplyDeleteIt was a great idea that you talk about the old and new Mongolia in some topics of your project because we can have an idea of the old great empire, and actual Mongolia country.
I totally agree with you that we should focus on fertility than virginity because in the end, it is the most important thing! Women deserve more importance, you are absolutely correct!
DeleteThank you, glad I was able to provide some information you did not have! :)
I have read through your essay and I found that there only one point that I disagree with you on and it confuses me what you are trying to say. And this point is "While trade can have negative impacts such as decrease of needed labor, and other negative effects, trade is mainly beneficial as it provides the country with the products it is unable to produce on its own". If the Monogolian Culture is not able to produce it then how is it going to decrease labor? I am a little confused on what you exaclty mean. In my opinion labor has nothing to do with trading if they can not produce it or they do not have the needed sources to produce something. Labor might have a negative effect if the Moglion were introduced to other countries and they are trying to be like them in a bad way (e.g. bad traditions). Rather than this good job.
ReplyDeleteWhen a country depends on another country for the goods they need, this same country will not have to try to produce it on their own, which means there will be less labor. For example, if I was a farmer and I owned a field of wheat but I needed some bananas, if I traded with another farmer who has bananas, then I would need less workers since I will not have to grow bananas on my own. Hope this makes sense, although I can see your point.
Delete"As long as the proper knowledge and training has been achieved, switching of gender roles did not come with any repercussions; although men were looked down upon when performing women’s task." I'm not sure if I misunderstood, but this sentence seemed a bit contradictory? It is stated that crossing over gender roles doesn't result in negative repercussions, but I think frowning on the behavior indicates criticism, disapproval, and shame.
ReplyDeleteI really found it interesting how much fertility is considered to be a valuable asset to a woman's role in the culture. Overall good post! Very informative.
When I thought of negative repercussions, I was thinking more of harsh punishments, imprisonment, etc. Yes, I agree that frowning indicated criticism, but I don't see criticism as being a very negative repercussions. Thank you though! :)
DeleteThe information that you have provide for your project was great. You explained yourself every well in each section. It seems like your culture had alot of varities to read, mine was the Abelam, which the research was very hard to get ahold of. The one thing I liked about your post was the herding, the main job for the men. The animals are the most important, since your soources of milk and food are from animals. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading some other cultures, I found that in most cultures, the herding of animals was extremely important. Therefore, I was not surprised to see that in the other cultures, the men had the higher power! Thank you !
DeleteExcellent job! You were thorough and careful to explore all topics not only from a current perspective but also to include the historical perspective as well.
ReplyDeleteTwo points:
One correction I would make is the section on political structure. Remember we are exploring these topics not from the national/state level from the cultural level. I would have liked to have heard how individual cultural groups chose their political leaders and organized themselves.
The other point is the issue of violence. This is a culture that has a history of war-like behavior (Genghis Khan is famous for it). So while I appreciate your coverage of the attitude of violence against women, what about other types of violence?
Other than those to points, beautifully done.
I found that Ghengis Khan wanted to import his own writing and language system into China and planned this before his invasion. The women seemed esteemed for their fertility but due to the patriarchal system, domestic violence was ignored. This is sad but unfortunately pretty common in most cultures, except the hunter-gatherer.
ReplyDelete