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Japan's Involvement in the Promotion of Mongol Nationalism Through View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Ritsumeikan Research Repository HISTORICAL PEPEPERSPE RSRSRSPPPPECECECECTIVETIVETIVE:: Japan’sinvolvementinthepromotionofMongol nationalismthroughBuddhism1918-1939 BataaMishigish 1 Abstract ThispaperexplorestheattemptsofJapantoprovokeMongolnationalisminherfavorbetweentheyears1918-1939by influencingthepracticeofBuddhisminMongolterritories.ForcenturiesBuddhismwasanintegralpartofMongol culture, and with the shift in the political situation of the Mongols in the early 20 th century it was Buddhism that Mongolnationalismralliedaround.TheJapanesekeenlyrecognizedthisandattemptedtofurtheruseBuddhismasa unifyingforcetobuilda“GreatMongolState”,inhopesofbringingtogetherallMongolethnicgroupsunderJapan’s control. This Japanese policy undertaken in the early 20 th century towards the Mongols was based on intensive academicandintelligencestudiesofMongollocalcultureandreligionindifferentterritories.Japan’salreadyexisting knowledgeandpracticeoftheBuddhistreligionprovidedafirmfoundationfortheirattemptedmanipulationofthe MongolbrandofBuddhismthatfurtherfortifiedMongolnationalism.TheinitialattemptbytheJapanesetopromote Buddhism for political ends was in Buryat Mongolia in the early 1920s. They then followed this initiative with a greaterpushinspreadingtheirreligiouspropagandaamongtheEasternandInnerMongolsinthe1930s.However, despitetheirknowledgeoftheBuddhistreligion,theirattempttomanipulateMongolianBuddhismfortheendgoalof promotingMongolnationalismeventuallyfailed. Keywords :Buddhism,BuryatMongols,InnerandOuterMongolia,Japanexpansionism,Mongolnationalism,Soviet Union Introduction Historically,MongolianBuddhismintheterritoriesofOuterMongolia,InnerMongolia,Manchuria,Buryat(Buryat AutonomousRegioninRussia),andOirat(Western)MongoliaplayedasignificantroleinMongoliannationalismin thefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury.“MongoliaProper”,otherwiseexplainedasthecoreterritoryinwhichMongol ethnicpeopleinhabitedstartsinthewestfromtheeasternshoresofLakeBalkashinmoderndayKazakhstantothe eastasfarasthemoderncityofHarbininManchuria;andinthesouthfromtheGreatWallandjustnorthofthecityof Urumqi to the north until Lake Baikal in Siberia. Modern political/geographical boundaries of the region were not finalizedintotheborderswerecognizetodayuntil1950whenthejointlysignedtreatybetweentheSovietUnionand CommunistChinaguaranteedtheindependenceoftheMongolianPeople’sRepublicandfinalizeditsstateborders; thistreatyeffectivelyseparatedthevariousMongoltribesintoinhabitingSoviet,Chinese,andMongolterritoriestoday asitsolidifiedtheborderswhereeachofthesethreecountriesintersected. Mongol nationalism, although present throughout Mongol society, was not an interest of vital concern to the various Mongol tribes. However, in the late 17 th century, Tsarist Russian policy for expansion reached the Buryat MongolsandeventuallybroughtthemunderRussiancontrol,andbythe18 th centurytheBuryatMongolterritorywas alreadyaninseparablepartofTsaristRussia.HistoricallytheBuryatMongolshavelivedaroundthelakeBaikalfor centuriesandareconsideredasoneofthelargestethnicMongolgroups.Moreover,inthelateQingperiodChinese peasantsandmerchantsbegansettlinginMongolterritoryinlargenumbersandthissettlementboomedafterthefallof theQingEmpire. Therefore,inthelate19 th andtheearly20 th centuries,theMongolsbeganexperiencingrapidlygrowingpressure fromRussianandChinesepoliticalandterritorialinterestswhichcontinuedtheirexpansionintoMongolterritories, 1OfficeofInternationalAffairs,NationalAcademyofGovernance,Ulaanbaatar,Mongolia;andGraduateSchoolofAsiaPacific Studies,RitsumeikanAsiaPacificUniversity,Beppucity,Japan e-mail:[email protected] RitsumeikanJournalofAsiaPacificStudiesVolume31,2012 therebythreateningtheirnationalandculturalinterests.Growingforeigneconomicandpoliticalpressureresultedin thedevelopmentofanationalistmovementamongtheMongols.Generally,thesameMongolrace,language,history and way of nomadic life largely defined Mongol nationalism throughout its history. However, given the tribal differencesamongtheMongolethnicsatthetime,theBuddhistreligionbecamethemosteffectiveunifyingfactorof Mongolnationalismintheearly20 th centuryfollowingthefalloftheQingEmpireanditswithdrawalfromMongol landsin1911.ThisunificationofMongolidentitycenteredonBuddhismwasepitomizedbytheenthronementofthe BogdJavzandambaKhutukhtuastheKhan(King)ofKhalkhaMongolia.Khalkhaisthelargestethnicgroupofthe Mongols,wholivedinthearearoughlyencompassingthecurrentMongolianstate.TheregionofMongolianterritory inhabitedbyKhalkhaMongolsisoftentermed“OuterMongolia”.AlthoughithasbeenarguedthatBuddhismwasthe only available ideology to counter the rising socialist ideology in the region, this act by the Khalkha Mongols to bestowsupremepowertotheirreligiousfigureheadin1911mighthaveencouragedtheJapanesetouseBuddhismin ordertounifydifferentMongolethnicstwodecadeslaterinthe1930’s. KnowingtheimportanceofBuddhisminthedailylifeoftheMongols,itstwoneighborspursuedmostlyfriendly policies towards the Mongol religion. By encouraging Buddhism, the Manchu Empire and Tsarist Russia had attemptedtostrengthentheirinfluenceamongtheMongolsandmanipulatethereligionfortheirinterestssincethe16 th andthe17 th centuries,respectively.TheMongols,Manchu,andRussianscontinuedtobetheonlyactiveplayersinthe regionuntiltheearly20 th century.WiththeexpansionofJapanincontinentalNortheastAsiaintheearly1930’s,the active players in the region increased by one. It was at this time that given the political, economic, and social connectionsbetweentheareaofManchuriaandMongoliaProper,Japanemergedasafourthplayerintheregionand decidedtotakepartinthepoliticalandcultural/religiousaffairsoftheMongols.WhenJapanoccupiedManchuria,a partofwhichwasEasternMongoliaProperhistorically,Japanpursuedapolicyseekingtogainthesupportofthelocal peopleandtouseMongolnationalistideologyintheirfavor.TheJapanesebroachedanappealtotheMongols,which intended to win over all Mongol ethnic groups starting from east to west for the end goal of exercising Japanese influenceoverallMongolethnicpeopleinInnerAsia. Inthefirstpartofthispaper,abriefreviewofhistoricaldataprovidesageneralpictureofMongolia’sexternal politicalenvironmentandanunderstandingofwhyaMongolnationalistmovementwasdevelopedandwhatledthe Mongolstosuchreactionarymovesagainstherneighbors’policies.Thesecondpartofthepaperexplorestheearly periodofJapan’sinvolvementintheMongolnationalistmovementthroughBuddhisminBuryatMongolterritoryin theLakeBaikalregionofSiberia.Thethirdandfinalpartofthepaper,followedbytheconclusion,examinesJapan’s secondattempttopromoteMongolnationalismbyrevivingandreformingBuddhism,inthenameofestablishinga “GreatMongolState”amongtheMongolsinManchuriaandInnerMongoliainthe1930s. Methodology ThispaperprovidesahistoricalaccountofsomeofJapan’smotivesandactionsindealingwiththeMongolsinthe timeperiodof1918-1939.ItwasnotedfromthebeginningthattherewasverylittleintheEnglishandMongolian literatureonthesubject.Theinformationpresentedinthispaperhasbeencollectedfromtheanalyticalnarrativesof foreign observers and with the use of secondary sources. Supported by Topolski (1976), the gathering of data, its synthesisandanalysiswerebasedonsource-basedknowledge,andsource-basedinformation/data,includingsecondary historicalsources;allhavebeenqualitativelyanalyzed. 40 Japan’sinvolvementinthepromotionofMongolnationalismthroughBuddhism1918-1939 It has been the author’s job to sift through and interpret the validity and relevance of secondary sources to completethispaper.GiventhattheprimarydataconcerningthishistoricalaccountisdeficientinboththeMongolian and English languages, secondary sources were relied on to provide the context and complete this historical study.GiventhataccesstoprimarydataconcerningthishistoricalaccountinbothMongolianandEnglishlanguage sourceshasbeenlimitedanddeficient,secondarysourceswerereliedontoprovidecontextandfillcertainholesin order to complete this historical study. It is hoped that a historical scholarship using secondary sources could pull together a new perspective, the significance of which was to contribute to the study of Japan’s involvement in promotingMongoliannationalismthroughBuddhism. Discussion 1–HistoricalBackground HistoricallytheRussiansarrivedintheBaikalLakeareainthe17 th century.In1691,theKhalkhaMongolprincesof Outer Mongolia who were defeated by the Oirat Mongols (Western Mongols) turned south for help and submitted suzeraintytotheManchu(Qing)Empire.WesternOiratMongolsconsistofseveralsmallerethnicgroupswhoinhabit thewesternpartofMongoliaProper.TheBuryatswereapartoftheMongolEmpiresincethe13 th century;however, asRussians’eastwardadvancesintensifiedinthelate17 th century,theBuryatshadnochoicebuttosignatreatywith theRussiansandbecomesubjectsofTsaristRussiain1689. Aspoliticalconditionsdrasticallychangedintheearly20 th century,Mongolnationalismwasfirstdevelopedona largescale.TheTsaristandManchuauthoritiesreversedtheirpoliciestowardstheMongolsandimplementedamore progressiveandintrusiveadministrativepolicyovertheMongolterritoriesinBuryat,InnerMongolia,andManchuria. MoreRussians moving westaggressivelypushedtheBuryatsoutoftheirland.In1902,Tsaristregulationsdirectly attackedthesocialstructureoftheBuryats. Similarly, in the late 19 th century, the Manchu officials, afraid of Russia’s further expansion into Mongol territory,reversedtheirpreviouspolicyofprotectingtheMongolsfromtheChinese.Instead,thesettlementofChinese farmers accelerated in Eastern and Inner Mongolian territories. This rapid and extensive penetration into Mongol territory aimed at absorbing
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