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Mongol Mythology
The Mongol mythology is the traditional religion of the Mongols. Creation There are many Mongol creation myths. In one, the creation of the world is attributed to a Buddhist deity Lama. At the start of time, there was only water, and from the heavens, Lama came down to it holding an iron rod with which he began to stir. As he began to stir the water, the stirring brought about a wind and fire which caused a thickening at the centre of the waters to form the earth. Another narrative also attributes the creation of heaven and earth to a lama who is called Udan. Udan began by separating earth from heaven, and then dividing heaven and earth both into nine stories, and creating nine rivers. After the creation of the earth itself, the first male and female couple were created out of clay. They would become the progenitors of all humanity. In another example the world began as an agitating gas which grew increasingly warm and damp, precipitating a heavy rain that created the oceans. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jamsaran
Begtse (; "Begtse the Great Coat of Mail") is a dharmapala and the lord of war in Tibetan Buddhism, originally a pre-Buddhist war god of the Mongols. Name The name Begtse () is a loanword from Mongolian , meaning " coat of mail". He is also given the name and epithet Jamsaran (), meaning "Great Coat of Mail", which is a translation of the Mongolian. Description Begtse has red skin and orange-red hair, two arms (as opposed to other Mahākālas, who have four or six), three blood-shot eyes and is wielding a sword in his right hand. He also holds a human heart in his right hand. In the stock of his right arm, he holds a bow and arrow and a halberd with bannet. He wears a chainmail shirt, which gave rise to his name, ''Jamsaran''. He wears a Mongolian helmet with a crown of five skulls and four banners in the back. He is also accompanied by his consort, Rikpay Lhamo, and his main general, Laihansorgodog. They are surrounded by Jamsaran's satellites, the twenty-nine butchers. C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manchu Shamanism
Manchu folk religion or Manchu traditional religion is the ethnic religion practiced by most of the Manchu people, the major Tungusic group in China. It can also be called Manchu shamanism because the word "shaman" being originally from Tungusic ("man of knowledge"), later applied by Western scholars to similar religious practices in other cultures. It is an animistic and polytheistic religion, believing in several gods and spirits, led by a universal sky god called ("Sky God" or "God of Heaven"), also referred to as ("Sky Khan" or "Khan of Heaven") and ("Sky Father"), originally ("Sky Woman", by extension "Sky Mother") who is the source of all life and creation. Deities () enliven every aspect of nature, and the worship of these gods is believed to bring favour, health and prosperity. Many of the deities were originally Manchu ancestors, and people with the same surname are generated by the same god. Shamans are persons of unusual ability, strength and sensitivity, capabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epic Of Manas
The ''Epic of Manas'' is a lengthy and traditional epic poem of the Kyrgyz people of East and Central Asia. Versions of the poem which date to the 19th century contain historical events of the 8th century, though Kyrgyz tradition holds it to be much older. Manas is said to be based on Bars Bek, the first khagan of the Kyrgyz Khaganate. The plot of Manas revolves around a series of events that coincide with the history of the region, primarily the interaction of the Kyrgyz people with other Turkic, Mongolic and Chinese peoples. The government of Kyrgyzstan celebrated the 1,000th anniversary from the moment it was documented in 1995. The mythic poem has evolved over many centuries, being kept alive by bards called ''manaschy'' or ''manaschi''. The first written reference to the eponymous hero of Manas and his Oirat enemy Joloy is to be found in a Persian manuscript dated to 1792–93.Tagirdzhanov, A. T. 1960. "Sobranie istorij". Majmu at-tavarikh, Leningrad. In one of its doze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpamysh
Alpamysh, also spelled as Alpamish or Alpamis (, , , , , , Kazan Tatar: ''Аlpamşa'', Altay: ''Аlıp Мanaş''), is an ancient Turkic epic or dastan, an ornate oral history, generally set in verse, and one of the most important examples of the Turkic oral literature of Central Asia, mainly the Kipchak Turks. History Among the Uzbeks the epic is known as "Alpomish", Kazakhs and Karakalpaks as "Alpamis", Altay mountaineers as "Alip-Manash", Bashkirs as "Alpamisha and Barsin khiluu", and Kazan Tatars as the tale of "Alpamşa". It is also known among other Turkic people, as well as Tajiks. According to scholars Borovkov, Hadi Zarif and Zhirmunskiy, as well as earlier writings by academician Bartold, all specialists in Oriental and Turkic studies, the dastan Alpamysh "existed probably in the foothills of the Altai as early as the sixth-eighth centuries at the time of the Turkic Khaganate." The tale of Alpamish was supplanted in ninth-tenth centuries from Altay mountains to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tengriism
Tengrism (also known as Tengriism, Tengerism, or Tengrianism) is a belief-system originating in the Eurasian Steppe, Eurasian steppes, based on shamanism and animism. It generally involves the titular sky god Tengri. According to some scholars, adherents of Tengrism view the purpose of life to be in harmony with the universe. It was the prevailing religion of the Göktürks, Xianbei, Bulgars, Xiongnu, Yeniseian people, Yeniseian and Mongolic peoples, Mongolic peoples and Huns, as well as the state religion of several medieval states such as First Turkic Khaganate, the First Turkic Khaganate, Western Turkic Khaganate, the Western Turkic Khaganate, Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, Old Great Bulgaria, First Bulgarian Empire, the First Bulgarian Empire, Volga Bulgaria, Khazaria, and the Mongol Empire. In the ''Irk Bitig'', a ninth century manuscript on divination, Tengri is mentioned as (God of Turks). According to many academics, Tengrism was, and to some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mongol Epic
Epic poetry, or ''tuuli'' in Mongolian, is an important genre of Mongol oral literature, with features reminiscent of Germanic alliterative verse. The two most well-known epics are the '' Jangar'' and the '' Geser''. These ''tuuli'' are commonly sung with instruments such as the ''Morin khuur'' (horse-head fiddle) and the ''Tovshuur'' (lute). Most epics deal with topics of the history of the Mongols, their ideal worlds and heroes, and the acquisition of new lands. Epics are performed mostly as celebrations or during important events. Mongol epic poetry has, as of 2009, been on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. History Epics were, until the 17th century, not put in writing. Although epics are still passed down orally, they have been written down, and some performers add to their own performances through reading the written versions of the epics. Epics such as the ''Geser'' were passed to the Mongols through writing (the first edition of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups such as Mongols, Monpa people, Monpa, Tamang people, Tamang, Qiang people, Qiang, Sherpa people, Sherpa, Lhoba people, Lhoba, and since the 20th century Han Chinese and Hui people, Hui. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of . Located in the Himalayas, the highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain, rising above sea level. The Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century. At its height in the 9th century, the Tibetan Empire extended far beyond the Tibetan Plateau, from the Tarim Basin and Pamirs in the west, to Yunnan and Bengal in the southeast. It then divided into a variety of territories. The bulk of western and central Tibet (Ü-Tsang) was often at least nominally unified under a ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Persian suffix "-stan" (meaning ) in both respective native languages and most other languages. The region is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the southwest, European Russia to the northwest, China and Mongolia to the east, Afghanistan and Iran to the south, and Siberia to the north. Together, the five Central Asian countries have a total population of around million. In the pre-Islamic and early Islamic eras ( and earlier) Central Asia was inhabited predominantly by Iranian peoples, populated by Eastern Iranian-speaking Bactrians, Sogdians, Khwarezmian language, Chorasmians, and the semi-nomadic Scythians and Dahae. As the result of Turkic migration, Central Asia also became the homeland for the Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Volga Tatars, Tatars, Turkmens, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epic Of King Gesar
The Epic of King Gesar (), also spelled Kesar () or Geser (especially in Mongolian contexts), is an epic from Tibet and Central Asia. It originally developed between 200 or 300 BCE and about 600 CE. Folk balladeers continued to pass on the story orally; this enriched the plot and embellished the language. The story reached its "final" form and height of popularity in the early 12th century. The epic relates the heroic deeds of the culture hero Gesar, the fearless lord of the legendary kingdom of Ling (). It is recorded variously in poetry and prose, through oral poetry performance, and is sung widely throughout Central Asia and South Asia. Its classic version is found in central Tibet. Some 100 bards of this epic (, "tale") are still active today in the Gesar belt of China. Tibetan, Mongolian, Buryat, Balti, Ladakhi, and Monguor singers maintain the oral tradition, and the epic has attracted intense scholarly curiosity as one of the few oral epic traditions to survive as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, '' Eohippus'', into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began domesticating horses around 4000 BCE in Central Asia, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BCE. Horses in the subspecies ''caballus'' are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. These feral populations are not true wild horses, which are horses that have never been domesticated. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior. Horses are adapted to run, allowing them to quickly escape predator ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
