People in the Russian Federation. The number in the Russian Federation is 417425 people. They speak the Buryat language of the Mongolian group of the Altaic language family. According to anthropological features, the Buryats belong to the Central Asian type of the Mongoloid race.
The self-name of the Buryats is "buryad".
The Buryats live in southern Siberia on the lands adjacent to Lake Baikal and further east. In administrative terms, this is the territory of the Republic of Buryatia (the capital is Ulan-Ude) and two autonomous Buryat districts: Ust-Orda in the Irkutsk region and Aginsky in the Chita region. The Buryats also live in Moscow, St. Petersburg and many other large Russian cities.
According to anthropological features, the Buryats belong to the Central Asian type of the Mongoloid race.
The Buryats formed as a single people by the middle of the 17th century. from the tribes that lived on the lands around Lake Baikal more than a thousand years ago. In the second half of the XVII century. these territories became part of Russia. In the 17th century The Buryats made up several tribal groups, the largest among which were Bulagats, Ekhirits, Khorints and Khongodors. Later, a certain number of Mongols and assimilated Evenki clans became part of the Buryats. The convergence of the Buryat tribes among themselves and their subsequent consolidation into a single nationality were historically determined by the proximity of their culture and dialects, as well as the socio-political unification of the tribes after they became part of Russia. In the course of the formation of the Buryat people, tribal differences were generally erased, although dialectal features were preserved.
They speak the Buryat language. The Buryat language belongs to the Mongolian group of the Altaic language family. In addition to the Buryat, the Mongolian language is also common among the Buryats. The Buryat language is divided into 15 dialects. The Buryat language is considered native by 86.6% of Russian Buryats.
The ancient religion of the Buryats is shamanism, supplanted in Transbaikalia by Lamaism. Most of the Western Buryats were formally considered Orthodox, but retained shamanism. The remnants of shamanism were also preserved among the Buryat Lamaists.
During the period of the appearance of the first Russian settlers in the Baikal region, nomadic cattle breeding played a predominant role in the economy of the Buryat tribes. The cattle-breeding economy of the Buryats was based on the year-round keeping of cattle on pasture for pasture. The Buryats raised sheep, cattle, goats, horses and camels (listed by value in descending order). Families of pastoralists moved after the herds. Additional types of economic activity were hunting, farming and fishing, which are more developed among the Western Buryats; on the coast of Lake Baikal there was a fishery for seals. During the XVIII-XIX centuries. under the influence of the Russian population, changes took place in the economy of the Buryats. Only the Buryats in the southeast of Buryatia have preserved a purely cattle-breeding economy. In other regions of Transbaikalia, an integrated pastoral and agricultural economy developed, in which only rich pastoralists continued to roam all year round, middle-income pastoralists and owners of small herds switched to partial or full settlement and began to farm. In the Cis-Baikal region, where agriculture as an auxiliary industry was practiced before, an agricultural and cattle-breeding complex has developed. Here, the population almost completely switched to a settled agricultural economy, in which haymaking was widely practiced on specially fertilized and irrigated meadows - “utugs”, fodder for the winter, and household maintenance of livestock. The Buryats sowed winter and spring rye, wheat, barley, buckwheat, oats, and hemp. The technology of agriculture and agricultural tools were borrowed from Russian peasants.
The rapid development of capitalism in Russia in the second half of the XIX century. affected the territory of Buryatia. The construction of the Siberian railway and the development of industry in southern Siberia gave impetus to the expansion of agriculture, increasing its marketability. Machine agricultural machinery appears in the economy of the wealthy Buryats. Buryatia has become one of the producers of commercial grain.
With the exception of blacksmithing and jewelry, the Buryats did not know a developed handicraft industry. Their economic and domestic needs were almost completely satisfied by home craft, for which wood and livestock products served as raw materials: leather, wool, hides, horse hair, etc. The Buryats retained the remnants of the “iron” cult: iron products were considered a talisman. Often, blacksmiths were also shamans at the same time. They were treated with reverence and superstitious fear. The profession of a blacksmith was hereditary. Buryat blacksmiths and jewelers differed high level qualifications, and their products were widely dispersed throughout Siberia and Central Asia.
The traditions of pastoralism and nomadic life, despite the increasing role of agriculture, left a significant mark on the culture of the Buryats.
Buryat men's and women's clothing differed relatively little. The lower clothing consisted of a shirt and trousers, the upper one was a long loose robe with a wrap on the right side, which was girded with a wide cloth sash or belt belt. The dressing gown was sewn on a lining, the winter dressing gown was lined with fur. The edges of the robes were sheathed with bright fabric or braid. Married women wore a sleeveless vest over their robes - udzhe, which had a slit in front, which was also made on a lining. The traditional headdress for men was a conical hat with an expanding band of fur, from which two ribbons descended onto the back. Women wore a pointed hat with a fur trim, a red silk tassel descended from the top of the hat. Shoes were low boots with thick felt soles without a heel, with a toe turned up. Temple pendants, earrings, necklaces, and medallions were favorite adornments for women. The clothes of wealthy Buryats were distinguished by high quality fabrics and bright colors; mainly imported fabrics were used for their tailoring. At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. the traditional costume gradually began to give way to Russian urban and peasant clothing, this happened especially quickly in the western part of Buryatia.
In the food of the Buryats, a large place was occupied by dishes prepared from milk and dairy products. For the future, not only sour milk was prepared, but also dried compressed curdled mass - khurut, which replaced bread for pastoralists. The intoxicating drink tarasun (archi) was made from milk with the help of a special distillation apparatus, which was necessarily a part of the sacrificial and ritual food. Meat consumption depended on the number of livestock owned by the family. In summer they preferred mutton, in winter cattle were slaughtered. The meat was boiled in lightly salted water, the broth was drunk. In the traditional cuisine of the Buryats there were also a number of flour dishes, but they began to bake bread only under the influence of the Russian population. Like the Mongols, the Buryats drank brick tea, into which they poured milk and put salt and lard.
The ancient form of the Buryat traditional dwelling was a typical nomadic yurt, which was based on easily transportable lattice walls. When installing the yurt, the walls were placed in a circle and tied with hair cords. The dome of the yurt rested on inclined poles, which rested on the walls with the lower end, and attached to the wooden hoop, which served as a smoke hole, with the upper end. From above, the frame was covered with felt tires, which were tied with ropes. The entrance to the yurt has always been from the south. It was closed wooden door and a quilted felt mat. The floor in the yurt was usually earthen, sometimes it was lined with boards and felt. The hearth was always located in the center of the floor. With the transition to settled life, the felt yurt of the herd fell into disuse. In the Cis-Baikal region, it disappeared by the middle of the 19th century. The yurt was replaced by polygonal (usually octagonal) wooden log buildings. They had a sloping roof with a smoke hole in the center and were similar to felt yurts. Often they coexisted with felt yurts and served as summer dwellings. With the spread of Russian-type log dwellings (huts) in Buryatia, polygonal yurts were preserved in places as utility rooms(barns, summer kitchens, etc.).
Inside the traditional Buryat dwelling, like other pastoral peoples, there was a custom-defined placement of property and utensils. Behind the hearth opposite the entrance there was a home sanctuary, where the Buryat Lamaists had images of Buddhas - Burkhans and bowls with sacrificial food, and the Buryat Shamanists had a box with human figurines and animal skins, which were revered as the embodiment of spirits - ongons. To the left of the hearth was the place of the owner, to the right - the place of the hostess. In the left, i.e. the male half, housed the accessories of hunting and men's crafts, in the right - kitchenware. To the right of the entrance along the walls, in order, there were a place for dishes, then wooden bed, chests for household utensils and clothes. Near the bed was a dripping cradle. To the left of the entrance there were saddles, harnesses, chests, on which the rolled beds of family members, wineskins for fermenting milk, etc. were placed for the day. Above the hearth on a tripod tagan stood a bowl in which they boiled meat, boiled milk and tea. Even after the transition of the Buryats to Russian-type buildings and the appearance of urban furniture in their everyday life, the traditional arrangement of things inside the house remained almost unchanged for a long time.
At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The main form of the Buryat family was a small monogamous family. Polygamy, which was allowed by custom, was found mainly among wealthy pastoralists. Marriage was strictly exogamous, and only paternal kinship was taken into account. Despite the weakening of kinship and tribal ties and their replacement by territorial and production ties, tribal relations played an important role in the life of the Buryats, especially among the Buryats of the Cis-Baikal region. Members of the same clan were supposed to provide assistance to relatives, participate in common sacrifices and meals, act in defense of a relative and bear responsibility in the event of an offense committed by relatives; remnants of communal-clan ownership of land also remained. Each Buryat had to know his genealogy, some of them numbered up to twenty tribes. In general, the social system of Buryatia on the eve of the October Revolution was a complex interweaving of the remnants of primitive communal and class relations. Both Western and Eastern Buryats had a class of feudal lords (taishi and noyons), which grew out of the tribal aristocracy. The development of commodity relations in the early twentieth century. led to the emergence of a class of rural bourgeoisie.
In the 80-90s. in Buryatia, there is a rise in national self-consciousness, a movement is unfolding for the revival of national culture and language. In 1991, at the all-Buryat congress, the All-Buryat Association for the Development of Culture (WARK) was formed, which became the center for organizing and coordinating all activities in the field of national culture. Established national cultural centers in the years. Irkutsk, Chita. There are several dozens of gymnasiums, lyceums, colleges operating under a special program with in-depth study of subjects in national culture and language, advanced courses on the history and culture of Buryatia are being introduced at universities and secondary specialized educational institutions.
Russian Civilization
Russian tribes (Shono and Nokhoi) formed at the end of the Neolithic and in the Bronze Age (2500-1300 BC). According to the authors, the tribes of pastoralists-farmers then coexisted with the tribes of hunters. In the late Bronze Age, throughout Central Asia, including the Baikal region, there lived tribes of the so-called "tilers" - proto-Turks and proto-Mongols. Starting from the III century. BC. the population of Transbaikalia and Cisbaikalia is drawn into the historical events that unfolded in Central Asia and Southern Siberia, associated with the formation of early non-state associations of the Huns, Xianbei, Rourans and ancient Turks. Since that time, the spread of the Mongol-speaking tribes in the Baikal region and the gradual Mongolization of the natives began. In the VIII-IX centuries. region a was part of the Uighur Khanate. The main tribes that lived here were the Kurykans and Bayyrku-Bayegu.
In the XI-XIII centuries. the region ended up in the zone of political influence of the Mongol tribes of the Three Rivers proper - Onon, Kerulen and Tola - and the creation of a single Mongolian state. The territory of modern Buryatia was included in the indigenous inheritance of the state, and the entire population was involved in the all-Mongolian political, economic and cultural life. After the collapse of the empire (XIV century), Transbaikalia and Cisbaikalia remained part of the Mongolian state.
More reliable information about the ancestors appears in the first half of the 17th century. in connection with the arrival of Russians in Eastern Siberia. During this period, Transbaikalia was part of Northern Mongolia, which was part of the Setsen-Khan and Tushetu-Khan khanates. The dominance in them was occupied by the Mongol-speaking peoples and tribes, subdivided into the Mongols proper, the Khalkha Mongols, the Barguts, the Daurs, the Khorints, and others. Cisbaikalia was in tributary dependence on Western Mongolia. By the time the Russians arrived, they consisted of 5 main tribes:
- bulagats - on the Angara and its tributaries Unga, Osa, Ida and Kuda;
- ehirites (eherites) - along the upper reaches of the Kuda and Lena and the tributaries of the last Manzurka and Anga;
- Khongodori - on the left bank of the Angara, along the lower reaches of the Belaya and Kitoy rivers and along the Irkut;
- Khorintsy - on the western bank and near the river. Buguldeikha, on the island of Olkhon, on the eastern shore and in the Kudarinsky steppe, along the river. Ude and at the Eravninsky lakes;
- tabunuty (tabanguty) - along the right bank of the river. Selenga in the lower reaches of Khilok and Chikoy.
Two groups of bulagats lived separately from the rest: ashekhabats in the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Nizhneudinsk, ikinats in the lower reaches of the river. Okie. Also, the ovs included separate groups that lived on the lower Selenga - atagans, sartols, khatagins and others.
Since the 1620s. Russian penetration into Buryatia begins. In 1631 the Bratsk prison (modern Bratsk) was founded, in 1641 - Verkholensky prison, in 1647 - Osinsky, in 1648 - Udinsky (modern Nizhneudinsk), in 1652 - Irkutsk prison, in 1654 - Balagansky prison, in 1666 - Verkhneudinsk - stages colonization of the region. Numerous military clashes with Russian Cossacks and yasash ami date back to the 1st half of the 17th century. Especially often they attacked stockades - symbols of Russian domination.
In the middle of the XVII century. the territory of Buryatia was annexed to Russia, in connection with which the territories on both sides of a separated from Mongolia. Under the conditions of Russian statehood, the process of consolidation of various groups and tribes began. After joining Russia, they were given the right to freely practice their religion, live according to their traditions, with the right to choose their elders and heads. In the 17th century The Russian tribes (Bulagats, Ekhirits, and at least part of the Khondogors) were formed on the basis of the Mongolian tribal groups that lived on the periphery of Mongolia. The composition of the ovs included a number of ethnic Mongols (separate groups of Khalkha Mongols and Dzungars-Oirats), as well as Turkic, Tungus and Yenisei elements.
As a result, by the end of the XIX century. a new community was formed - the ethnos. The Buryats were part of the Irkutsk province, which included the Trans-Baikal region (1851). The Buryats were subdivided into sedentary and nomadic, ruled by steppe councils and foreign councils.
Soviet sniper, Buryat Radna Ayusheev from the 63rd Marine Brigade during the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation in 1944At the end of the XIX-beginning of the XX centuries. in Buryatia, a volost reform was carried out, which strengthened the administrative and police oppression. 53% of their lands were confiscated from the Irkutsk people for the colonization fund, and 36% from the Trans-Baikal ones. This caused sharp discontent, the rise of the national movement. In 1904 martial law was declared in Buryatia.
In 1902-1904, under the leadership of political exiles (I.V. Babushkin, V.K. Kurnatovsky, Em. Yaroslavsky, and others), Social Democratic groups arose in Buryatia. One of the active members of the Social Democratic group was the revolutionary Ts.Ts. Ranzhurov. During the Revolution of 1905-1907. the revolutionary movement (railroad workers, miners, workers of gold mines and industrial enterprises and peasants of Buryatia) was headed by the Upper Udinsk and Cape Bolshevik groups, which were part of the Trans-Baikal Regional Committee of the RSDLP. Strike committees and workers' squads were formed at large railway stations. Russian and Russian peasants seized lands that belonged to monasteries and the royal family (the so-called Cabinet), refused taxes and duties. In 1905, congresses were held in Verkhneudinsk, Chita, and Irkutsk, demanding the creation of local self-government bodies and the return of lands transferred for colonization. The revolutionary actions of the working people were suppressed by the tsarist troops.
The social organization of the Mongolian period is traditional Central Asian. In Cisbaikalia, which was in tributary dependence on the Mongol rulers, the features of tribal relations were more preserved. Subdivided into tribes and clans, the Cis-Baikal ones were headed by princelings of different levels. Transbaikalian groups were directly in the system of the Mongolian state. After being torn away from the Mongolian superethnos, Transbaikalia and Cisbaikalia lived as separate tribes and territorial-clan groups. The largest of them were Bulagats, Ekhirits, Horiits, Ikinats, Khongodors, and Tabanguts (Selenga “Mungals”). At the end of the XIX century. There were more than 160 tribal divisions.
In the XVIII - early XX centuries. the lowest administrative unit was the ulus, ruled by a foreman. The union of several uluses constituted a tribal administration headed by a shulenga. The group of genera formed the department. Small departments were managed by special councils, and large ones - by steppe dumas under the leadership of taishas. From the end of the 19th century the system of volost government was gradually introduced.
Along with the most common small family, there was a large (undivided) family. A large family often formed a village of the farm type as part of the ulus. In the family and marriage system important role played exogamy and kalym.
With the colonization of the region by Russians, the growth of cities and villages, the development of industrial enterprises and arable farming, the process of reducing nomadism and the transition to settled life intensified. The Buryats began to settle more compactly, often forming, especially in Western departments, large settlements. In the wall departments of Transbaikalia, migrations were made from 4 to 12 times a year, a felt yurt served as a dwelling. There were few Russian-type log houses. In the South-Western Transbaikalia they wandered 2-4 times, the most common types of dwellings were wooden and felt yurts. Felt yurt - Mongolian type. Its skeleton was made up of lattice sliding walls from willow branches. "Stationary" yurts - log, six- and eight-walled, as well as rectangular and square in plan, frame-pillar structure, domed roof with a smoke hole.
Part of the Trans-Baikal carried military service - the protection of state borders. In 1851, as part of 4 regiments, they were transferred to the class of the Transbaikal Cossack army. Buryat-Cossacks by occupation and way of life remained pastoralists.
The Baikal ones, who occupied the forest-steppe zones, migrated 2 times a year - to winter roads and summer camps, lived in wooden and only partly in felt yurts. Gradually, they almost completely switched to settled life, under the influence of the Russians, they built log houses, barns, outbuildings, sheds, barns, and surrounded the estate with a fence. Wooden yurts acquired secondary importance, and felt yurts fell into disuse altogether. An indispensable attribute of the court (in Cis-Baikal and Transbaikalia) was a hitching post (serge) in the form of a pillar up to 1.7-1.9 m high, with a carved ornament on the upper part. The hitching post was an object of reverence, symbolizing the well-being and social status of the owner.
Traditional dishes and utensils were made of leather, wood, metal, and felt. As contacts with the Russian population intensified, factory products and settled household items spread more and more. Along with leather and wool, cotton fabrics and cloth were increasingly used for making clothes. Jackets, coats, skirts, sweaters, scarves, hats, boots, felt boots, etc. appeared. At the same time, traditional forms of clothing and footwear continued to be preserved: fur coats and hats, dressing gowns made of fabric, high fur boots, women's top sleeveless jackets, etc. Clothing, especially women's, was decorated with multi-colored material, silver and gold. The jewelry set included various kinds of earrings, bracelets, rings, corals and coins, chains and pendants. For men, silver belts, knives, pipes, flint and flint served as decorations, for the rich and noyons - also orders, medals, special caftans and daggers, indicating a high social status.
Meat and various dairy products were staples in the diet. Varenets (tarag), hard and soft cheeses (khuruud, bisla, khezge, aarsa), dried cottage cheese (airuul), penki (urme), buttermilk (airak) were prepared from milk. Koumiss (guny airak) was prepared from mare's milk, and milk vodka (archi) was prepared from cow's milk. Horse meat was considered the best meat, and then lamb, they also ate the meat of wild goats, elk, hares and squirrels, sometimes they ate bear meat, upland and wild waterfowl. Horse meat was prepared for the winter. For the inhabitants of the coastal area, fish was not inferior in importance to meat. The Buryats widely ate berries, plants and roots, and prepared them for the winter. In places of development of arable farming, bread and flour products, potatoes and garden crops came into use.
culture
An important place in folk art is occupied by carving on bone, wood and stone, casting, chasing on metal, jewelry, embroidery, knitting from wool, making appliqués on leather, felt and fabrics.
The main genres of folklore are myths, legends, legends, heroic epos (“Geser”), fairy tales, songs, riddles, proverbs and sayings. Epic tales were widespread among (especially among Westerners) - uligers, for example. “Alamzhi Mergen”, “Altan Shargai”, “Aiduurai Mergen”, “Shono Bator”, etc.
Musical and poetic creativity associated with uligers, which were performed to the accompaniment of a two-stringed bowed instrument (khure), was widespread. The most popular type of dance art is the round dance yokhor. There were dance-games “Yagsha”, “Aisukhai”, “Yagaruukhai”, “Guugel”, “Ayarzon-Bayarzon”, etc. Folk instruments are diverse - stringed, wind and percussion: tambourine, khur, khuchir, chanza, limba, bichkhur, sur etc. A special section is the musical and dramatic art of cult purposes - shamanic and Buddhist ritual performances, mysteries.
The most significant holidays were tailagans, which included prayers and sacrifices to patron spirits, a common meal, and various competition games (wrestling, archery, horse racing). The majority had three obligatory tailagans - spring, summer and autumn. At present, the tailagans are being revived in full. With the establishment of Buddhism, holidays became widespread - khurals, arranged at datsans. The most popular of them - Maidari and Tsam - fell on the summer months. IN winter time The White Month (Tsagaan cap) was celebrated, which was considered the beginning of the New Year. Currently, among the traditional holidays, the most popular are Tsagaalgan ( New Year) and Surkharban, arranged on the scale of villages, districts, districts and the republic.
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The name "Buryats" comes from the Mongolian root "bul", which means "forest man", "hunter". So the Mongols called the numerous tribes that lived on both banks of Lake Baikal. The Buryats were among the first victims of the Mongol conquests and paid tribute to the Mongol khans for four and a half centuries. Through Mongolia, the Tibetan form of Buddhism, Lamaism, penetrated into the Buryat lands.
At the beginning of the 17th century, before the arrival of the Russians in Eastern Siberia, the Buryat tribes on both sides of Lake Baikal still did not constitute a single nationality. However, the Cossacks did not soon succeed in subduing them. Officially, Transbaikalia, where the bulk of the Buryat tribes lived, was annexed to Russia in 1689 in accordance with the Nerchinsk Treaty concluded with China. But in fact, the process of accession was completed only in 1727, when the Russian-Mongolian border was drawn.
Even earlier, by the decree of Peter I, “indigenous nomad camps” were allocated for the compact residence of the Buryats - territories along the rivers Kerulen, Onon, Selenga. The establishment of the state border led to the isolation of the Buryat tribes from the rest of the Mongolian world and the beginning of their formation into a single people. In 1741, the Russian government appointed a supreme lama for the Buryats.
It is no coincidence that the Buryats had a lively attachment to the Russian sovereign. For example, when in 1812 they learned about the fire of Moscow, they could hardly be kept from a campaign against the French.
In the years civil war Buryatia was occupied by American troops, who replaced the Japanese here. After the expulsion of the interventionists in Transbaikalia, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Republic was created with its center in the city of Verkhneudinsk, later renamed Ulan-Ude.
In 1958, the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR was transformed into the Buryat ASSR, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, into the Republic of Buryatia.
The Buryats are one of the most numerous nationalities inhabiting the territory of Siberia. Today their number in Russia is more than 250 thousand. However, in 2002, by decision of UNESCO, the Buryat language was listed in the "Red Book" as endangered - a sad result of the era of globalization.
Pre-revolutionary Russian ethnographers noted that the Buryats have a strong physique, but in general they are prone to obesity.
Murder among them is an almost unheard-of crime. However, they are excellent hunters; the Buryats boldly go for a bear, accompanied only by their dog.
In mutual treatment, the Buryats are courteous: when greeting, they serve each other right hand, and with the left they capture it higher than the brush. Like the Kalmyks, they do not kiss their lovers, but sniff them.
The Buryats had an ancient custom of reverence white color, which, in their view, personified the pure, sacred, noble. To put a person on white felt meant to wish him well-being. Persons of noble origin considered themselves white-boned, and the poor - black-boned. As a sign of belonging to the white bone, the rich set up yurts made of white felt.
Many will probably be surprised when they find out that the Buryats have only one holiday a year. But on the other hand, it lasts a long time, which is why it is called the “white month”. According to the European calendar, its beginning falls on the cheese week, and sometimes on Shrovetide itself.
For a long time, the Buryats have developed a system of ecological principles, in which nature was considered as a fundamental condition for all well-being and wealth, joy and health. According to local laws, the desecration and destruction of nature entailed severe corporal punishment, up to and including the death penalty.
From ancient times, the Buryats revered holy places, which were nothing more than nature reserves in the modern sense of the word. They were under the protection of age-old religions - Buddhism and shamanism. It was these holy places that helped preserve and save from inevitable destruction a number of representatives of the Siberian flora and fauna, the natural resources of ecological systems and landscapes.
The Buryats have a particularly careful and touching attitude towards Baikal: from time immemorial it has been considered a sacred and great sea (Ehe dalai). God forbid on its shores to utter a rude word, not to mention abuse and quarrel. Perhaps in the 21st century we will finally realize that it is precisely this attitude towards nature that should be called civilization.
It seems that one of the reasons is the openness of the culture of the Mongolian peoples - extroverts by nature - in contrast to, say, the closeness of Muslim culture. The desire to know the world, to modernize, makes the Mongols adopt a lot of new, alien things to the detriment of their own, traditional ones. After all, it is not for nothing that the Mongols, both in China and in Russia, are distinguished by a high educational qualification.
It is also important that Buryatia is located on the far outskirts of Russia, the Mongolian world and the Buddhist civilization, which left a certain imprint on the Buryat mentality. The Buryats, like every nation, had and still have their own elite. At the turn of the century, this elite was made up of the Buryat national democrats. They received their education at the leading Russian universities, becoming the first Buryat scientists and educators. At the same time, being subjects of the Russian Empire, they became voluntarily or involuntarily emissaries in Inner Asia of tsarist and Soviet policy.
In the self-consciousness and political practice of the elite, a synthesis of Western and Eastern pictures of the world took place. From a certain moment, they began to see themselves as the vanguard of an enlightened Europe in kindred Asia, a mediator in promoting the global ideological projects of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. In this I see the beginning of the formation of a certain transnational identity among the Buryats to the detriment of the Buryat identity itself. This cannot be called historical and cultural triviality. After all, Tibetans, Chechens, and others who are just as introverted, i.e. peoples who are focused on their culture, the outside world is completely indifferent, they are self-sufficient in their worldview and being, and therefore they are not threatened with assimilation.
Pan-Mongolian identity
The national identity of any people has a complex nature. Several components can be distinguished in the national identity of the Buryats: pan-Mongolian, Russian, Buddhist and Buryat proper. The Buryats belong and in fact are integral part common Mongolian world. Mongolia for the Buryats is associated with the concepts of purity, ancestral home, great history, great ancestors. Almost all scientists and cultural figures of the post-Soviet Buryatia called for the restoration of the all-Mongolian unity, rightly believing that only through awareness of themselves as part of the Mongolian world could the Buryats survive as an ethnic group.
However historical fact The separation of the Mongolian peoples took deep roots. In Mongolia, there is often discrimination or denial of Mongols not from Mongolia, in the expressions "Russian Mongols", "Chinese Mongols", the definition often becomes more important than the word being defined.
In Buryatia, many are generally not inclined to consider themselves Mongols. But this problem of otherness should not be exaggerated. "Khaanahibta?" - this is the first question that the Buryats ask each other when they first meet, and you can’t get away from it. Undoubtedly, the ideas of all-Mongolian unity still feed the mental moods of the Mongolian elite and the people of the three countries, because faith in a common origin and common culture has always been and is the main distinguishing feature ethnic identity.
Russian identity
It is perhaps appropriate to say that pan-Mongolian unity refers to the space of the "ideal". In contrast to the "ideal" there is a paradigm of reality (realpolitic) - this is the presence of ethnic Buryatia as part of the Russian Federation. In the Buryat nationalist discourse, Russian/Soviet acquired a negative connotation: political repressions, deprivation of the original name of the republic (Buryat-Mongolia), territorial division, gradual linguistic and cultural assimilation.
At the same time, the paradigm of reality is also the all-Russian history, the political realities of Buryatia as a subject of the Russian Federation, deep familiarization with the Russian language and Russian culture, and finally, the individual feelings of the Buryats at the everyday level. The pragmatic Buryats understand that the "pan-Mongolian project" has little chance, and this dictates the need for them to join the all-Russian processes of integration and modernization. And accordingly, their Russian identity takes precedence over the common Mongolian one, in their minds the real outweighs the ideal.
My parents were deeply convinced that our Buryat world is not only in our customs and traditions. No less important for them was unity with the Russian world - modern education and bringing our world order with the world order of the empire. But the result is contradictory: we all know the Russian language as well as Russians, but the language of our ancestors is irretrievably gone. I, like almost all urban Buryats, have never studied the Buryat language at school, which my colleagues foreign scientists cannot believe. What is it: the fault of the people themselves or the result of a deliberate policy? The current activity to revive the Buryat language is long overdue. It remains to be hoped that the Buryat language has not yet crossed the line separating it from being a candidate for the list of dead languages of the world.
Buryat ethnic identity
Speaking of the Buryat identity, I mean the Buryat traditional culture based on the principles of a tribal society. We all know that the so-called remnants of tribal society are still very strong in Buryat society. Until now, maintaining close ties with native places is considered the key to a prosperous course of life and spiritual peace. The significance of the original Buryat land, its history, culture and religion has always been extremely important in the discourse of the national Buryat identity, as evidenced by the active revival of shamanism that we are currently witnessing.
But oddly enough, the revival of tribal and territorial traditions is in conflict with the consolidation of the Buryat people. The biggest problem of the unity of the Buryats to this day remains ethno-local differences and their division into Western and Eastern, shamanists and Buddhists, Russian-speaking and Buryat-speaking. An interesting way out of this situation is a kind of attempt by the modern shamans of Ulan-Ude to consolidate the Buryat people on the basis of tailgans to common Buryat deities - 13 northern noyons, Oikhoni Babai, Barkhan-ula, Tunkinsky huts, etc.
Buddhist identity
Unlike shamanism, the consolidating role of Buddhism is very high. According to opinion polls, 70% of Buryats consider themselves Buddhists and 18% shamanists. However, it is difficult to say to what extent this religiosity refers specifically to Buddhism. The most stable component of the religious complex in ethnic Buryatia is the everyday religious rituals of the Buddhist-shamanic type.
It takes the form of worship of Buddhist and local deities and spirits. All the most popular rituals in Buryatia, such as the libation of sergem, the cult of veneration of ancestral places obo takhilga, the worship of local deities hada takhilga, have a syncretic shamanic-Buddhist character. Their essence is the same, only they are performed either in the Buddhist or in the shamanic tradition.
Thus, among the components of the national identity of the Buryats that we have identified, the Buryat and religious (Buddhist-shamanic) identities can be attributed to the most important from the point of view of the consolidation of the ethnic group. At present, Buryat nationalist discourse continues to be preserved only in the Buddhist and traditional Buryat spheres, the Buryat language is used, and real support for Buryat culture and sports is carried out. The Buryat traditional sangha now openly declares its goals of preserving and developing the national culture of the Buryats.
Discussion about nationalism
I cannot but express my attitude to the discussion about the Buryat language and Buryat culture. According to Lazar Bartunaev, it is somewhat hysterical and is fraught with the growth of nationalism among the Buryats. It seems that his fears are unfounded. To make my position clear, I will quote some excerpts from an article by the famous Chinese scholar, writer and human rights activist Wang Lixiong entitled "Two Imperialisms in Tibet". He, along with his wife, the famous Tibetan poet Tsering Oser, devoted his life to serving the interests of the Tibetan people and protecting the rights of China's national minorities. An important idea of his article is that cultural imperialism is characteristic not only of autocratic, but also of democratic societies, especially those where there is a big difference in the population of the titular nation and national minorities.
They do not need to use political repression or violence, but instead simply rely on democratic methods to create a "mainstream" that itself can already marginalize minorities and their cultures. The latter, being on the periphery, can gradually weaken or even completely disappear. That is why nationalism is a necessary part of the minority movement for cultural survival.
In fact, the protest against globalization is already a protest against the mainstream, so as long as this nationalism does not take on political forms and does not become violent, it can be constructive. This kind of cultural nationalism must find its reasonable place in an open and just society.
Wang Lixiong emphasizes that in order to be heard by the majority, minorities must learn to "articulate themselves." Personally, this reminds me of an aphoristic phrase from Gaidai’s comedy, where, to the stupid babble “packs, packs ... like cherubs ...”, Tsar John reasonably asked: “But how can I understand you, boyar, if you don’t say anything?” In our case, a Chinese writer gives an example of the difference between Uighurs and Tibetans. The Uighurs are much tougher than the Tibetans in defending their rights and resisting the state mainstream. However, they do not bother to articulate their ideas to the Han majority in the cultural sphere.
Uighur intellectuals refuse to use Chinese in the Chinese media and public sphere. As a result, there is no understanding of the Uyghur issue in Chinese society, low interest in the culture of the Uyghurs, and the Han Chinese are completely at the mercy of state propaganda on the Uyghur issue. They experience only fear and hostility towards the Uyghurs, which is hardly beneficial for a positive solution to the Uyghur issue. Another thing is the Tibetan issue.
In contrast, the inclusion of the Tibetan religion, its similarities with the Chinese, the active efforts of the Dalai Lama to resolve the Tibetan issue with the Chinese, the abundance of Tibetan cultural professionals writing in Chinese (explaining Tibetan culture and establishing close ties between the two cultures) all help Tibetan culture is becoming popular and even fashionable in China today. Now there is even a Chinese subculture centered around "Tibetan fever".
Meanwhile, this cultural articulation at the aesthetic level makes the Tibetan agenda understandable to the Chinese, it gradually causes understanding and sympathy for the Tibetan position. The strength of the Tibetan movement in using peaceful and flexible means to overcome the dominant force should be an example for other national minorities. Here Genghis Khan comes to mind and his great military power, which no nation could resist. But he did not defeat the Tibetans. On the contrary, the Mongols adopted Tibetan Buddhism. This proves the power of culture.
It is hard to disagree with Wang Lixiong's point of view. His strong stance on the Tibet issue, as well as the large-scale protests in Tibet on the eve of the Beijing Olympic Games, sparked a serious intellectual debate in China over the situation in Tibet. And when Wang Lixiong organized a public appeal to the government in March 2008 calling for a policy review in Tibet, it was signed by more than 300 of China's most prominent scholars and intellectuals.
How to assess the articulation of the Buryat national question and its effectiveness in this light? Both leave much to be desired. During the Soviet period, speaking Buryat was almost a sign of backwardness. taken in the late 70s. of the last century, measures to limit the teaching of the Buryat language in secondary schools caused, if not an indifferent, then a very weak protest reaction in society. In the post-Soviet period, the republic was unable to regain its original name. She was unable to defend the Buryat autonomies in the Chita and Irkutsk regions.
Now, our parliamentarians, when adopting the law on the language, did not even understand, as the media report, that the provision on compulsory study of the Buryat language in schools has been removed from it.
Based on the foregoing, it seems to me that the Buryats do not need to be afraid of nationalism. Indeed, all over the world this concept is understood in a completely different way than in Russia. Rather, it means the right to preserve one's culture and language, one's ethnic identity, and has nothing to do with the infringement of the rights of other peoples, separatism and chauvinism. In this sense, the Buryats should take advantage of the open nature of their culture, the ability to find mutual language with representatives of different nationalities to their advantage.
And no matter how dubious the “code of honor of a true Buryat” may seem, no matter how “hysterical” conversations and discussions on the question of what it means to be a Buryat and how he should feel in the modern world, the question itself can turn into a new quality: can the Buryats live with the feeling and consciousness that they are the bearers of a unique original and at the same time modern tradition? And if this question has a positive answer, then in relation to them it will be possible to forget about such concepts as "ethnic marginal", cosmopolitan or the so-called "man of the world".
