Todo bičiq among Altai Urianhai in Mongolia: Oral Histories of its Transmission and Decline
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| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | During Qing period, todo bičiq (clear script) was used as the official administrative script in banners belonging to military governors in Ghulja and Tarbagatai, but in the area subordinated to Khovd ambanate Mongolian script was in use. Knowledge of Mongolian script was also required from Altai Urianhai governors (amban and bügüde-yin daruG-a). The use of todo bičiq was limited there to the private religious sphere. A research of oral history among Altai Urianhai in Xinjiang proved that there once existed a similar tradition of non-monastic religious specialists hara bagši as attested among Ööleds in the upper reaches of Ili river. But among Altai Urianhai in Mongolia, the term hara bagši is scarcely known and it seems that no villager (except a few university graduates) is now fluent in todo bičiq. This contribution based on oral historical research would like to reconstruct images of three outstanding bearers of the clear script literary tradition among Altai Urianhai in 20th century. In the Left Wing Amban's Banner, Menddavaa has been described as a hereditary hara bagši who came to Mongolia (present Altai sum, Bayan-Ölgii) from Xinjiang during 1930s migration. In the Right Wing Amban's Banner (presently Bulgan sum, Bayan-Ölgii), T. Togtoh and her daughter D. Muuža represent female lay devotees (usanz) who practised regular reading of the most popular clear script sutras as the most noticeable act of their praxis pietatis. A dependent of the same banner, recently citizen of Mönhhairhan sum, Hovd aimag, S. Naadgai, personifies the intellectual legacy of the old banner nobility surviving until the end of 20th century. |
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