NEWS of the PROFESSION Historical Science in the Mongolian People's Republic

NEWS OF THE PROFESSION Historical Science in the Mongolian People's Republic

Contributed by Sh. Bira Ulan Bator, Mongolia

It was after the conquest of political power not a single man who . . . [does] not know in 1921 that a broad path was opened for the his own tribe (labile) and descent."1 On the development of modern culture and science in basis of this ancient tradition there was created Mongolia. One of the well-developed branches the Mongolian historiography, which achieved of science in the Mongolian People's Republic in the Middle Ages a comparatively high degree is history. of development. Rashid-ad-din tells us that for Knowledge of history in Mongolia goes back his Collection of Chronicles he consulted mate- to the most ancient times. It is well known that rials which "are given in Mongolian annals the Mongolian people had entered the historical and chronicles"2 and histories "written in Mon- arena in early times. From antiquity there had gol and . . . [with] Mongolian letters, but not been created powerful tribal units and great collected and put in order."3 Among these state systems which played an active part in the sources he named the chronicle, Golden Scroll history of all Central Asia. As early as the be- (Altan daftar)* i.e., Official Boo\, always ginning of the thirteenth century, there was preserved in the treasury of the Khan in the founded the united Mongolian state headed by hands of the oldest emirs.5 But, unfortunately, Genghis Khan, who later on created the em- all these sources consulted by the Persian his- pire of the Mongols (in the thirteenth and four- torian did not survive. Nevertheless these an- teenth centuries). cient sources, as well as much information These events aroused a certain interest in his- given by members of the Mongolian nobility— tory among the Mongols. The ancient Mongols, mainly the accounts given by Bolad Chinsang, like other peoples, had possessed a considerable the plenipotentiary of the Mongol khan at the rich oral historical tradition which served as a court of the Mongol rulers in Persia, and in- main source for written history. We know formation given by Ghazan Khan—provided about this old historical tradition and about the the chief material which enabled Rashid-ad- comparatively early origin of Mongolian na- din "to give in remarkable detail a picture of tional historiography from Rashid-ad-din, the the nomadic life of the Mongol tribes. . . ."6 great Persian historiographer of the beginning In this connection it is necessary to stress that of the fourteenth century, who wrote his there were many other books and chronicles in famous Collection of Chronicles at the com- 1 Rashid-ad-din, Syornik. letopisei [Collection of mand of the Mongol ruler of Persia, Gazan Chronicles] (Moscow-Leningrad, 1932) Vol. 1, Bk. 2, Khan (1295-1304). p. 13. Concerning the ancient Mongolian tribes 2 Ibid., Vol. 1, Bk. 2, p. 73. Rashid-ad-din wrote: "All these tribes had their 3 Ibid., Vol. 1, Bk. 1, p. 67. own clear and distinct genealogical tree (shad- * Ibid., Vol. i.Bk. 2, p. 16. 5 V. V. Barthold, Turkestan v espok.hu mongol'skpvo jare) because the custom of the Mongols is that nashe, Part II (St. Petersburg, 1900) 45. (Page 44 of they preserve the genealogy of their ancestors the English translation, Turkestan down to the Mongol and teach and emphasize genealogy to every Invasion, ed. H. A. R. Gibb [London, 1928]). 6 child that is born. . . . For this reason there is B. Y. Vladimirstov, Obshchestvennyi stroi mongolov [The Social Structure of the Mongolian People] (Leningrad, 1934), p. 6. (Page 7 of the French transla- The Journal is indebted to Mr. Owen Lattimore for tion, by Michel Carson, he regime social des Mongols, forwarding Mr. Bira's report. Paris, 1948.) 417

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.58, on 01 Oct 2021 at 00:32:15, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021911800123241 418 JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES Mongolian historiography, now lost, which Mongol. Large-scale research work on the his- served as important sources for famous histori- tory of the Mongol khans and their conquests cal works, such as Rashid-ad-din's Collection of was carried out also in Persia. On the orders Chronicles, and others. of the Mongol khans, Persian historians used One of the most ancient Mongolian histori- to compile works on Mongolian history. It is cal monuments handed down to us is the well- enough to mention, in addition to Rashid-ad- known Secret History written in 1240 on the din, The History of the World-Conqueror by banks of the river Kerulen. The famous Mon- Juvaini,8 one of the enlightened secretaries of golist, Academician Vladimirtsov, wrote of it: the Mongol khan Hulagu, who collected his "The Secret History tells us about the kin from information about Mongols and Turks at the which descended Genghis Khan and depicts court of the Mongol khans themselves during loosely and freely the picture of the steppe life, his travels throughout the Mongol Empire and supplying us with the richest material for as- Mongolia. It is worth mentioning that the sessing the different aspects of Mongol life in History of the World-Conqueror was begun the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. ... If we in the capital of the Mongol Empire, Khara- may say that no other nation in medieval times Khorin (Karakorum), in 1252 or 1253.9 attracted greater attention among the historians Many of the historical monuments created than the Mongols, then we are also justified in during the period of the Mongol Empire have saying that no other nomadic people have left not been preserved. From the fourteenth cen- behind them such a monument as the Secret tury we have only one small historical and ju- History in which real life has been so vividly ridical work, Chagan Tuhe (White History).10 and minutely portrayed."7 The fourteenth and sixteenth centuries are There is no doubt that the Secret History is characterized by the fall of the Mongol Empire, not a unique historical monument handed feudal splintering, and countless civil wars down to our days from the thirteenth century among princes. This period was naturally —the period of the greatest events in the life unpropitious not only for creating new his- of Mongols. In the period of the Mongol Em- torical works, but for preserving old literary pire (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries), on monuments, and many of them had been lost the initiative of the Mongol khans, a large-scale forever at this time. scientific work was carried on not only in the In the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, field of Mongolian history, but in the history Mongolian historiography gained considerable of other countries. successes in its development. There are a num- At the Imperial court of Qubilai Khan there ber of chronicles belonging to this period. For was an Academy of History, headed by a Mon- instance, the anonymous chronicle, Allan TobH gol historian, which was engaged in writing (Golden Annals), written in 1604,11 Allan history and translating Chinese chronicles into TobH (Golden Annals) by Lubsan-Danzan (1634),12 Erdenin Tobct (Precious Annals) by 7 Vladimirtsov, pp. 7-8. There is a large literature on The Secret History: P. Kafarov, Starinnoe mongol'- 8 Ata-Malik Juvaini's work has been translated from s\oe skfizanie o Chingis-\hane [Ancient Mongolian the Persian by John Andrew Boyle, The History of the Tales about Ghenghis Khan], Trudy chlenov Pekinskoi World-Conqueror (Manchester University Press, 1958) dukhovnoi misii [Works of the Members of the Peking 2 vols. Ecclesiastical Mission], IV (St. Petersburg, 1866), 268. 9 Juvaini, The History of the World-Conqueror, I, C. A. Kozin, Sokrovennoe s\azanie. Mongol's\aya 25- \hroni\a 12.40 goda [Secret History. Mongolian Chroni- 10 For the White History, see Sh. Natsogdorzh, cle of 1240] (Moscow-Leningrad, 1941). Erich Hae- Tsagaan Tuuhjicen tukhoe (Ulan Bator, 1958). nisch, Monghol un Niuca Tobia'an (Yuan-ch'ao pi-shi) 11 The Allan TobH is translated into Russian, Eng- [Die Geheime Geschichte der Mongolen, aus der chine- lish, and Japanese. Llhana Galcan Gomboev, tr., Allan sischen Transcription (Ausgabe Ye Teh-hui) in mon- tobch. Mongol's\aia letopis' v podlinnom te\ste i golischen Wortlaut wiederhergestellt] (Leipzig, 1937; perevode (St. Petersburg, 1858), C. R. Bawden, The 2nd, rev. ed., 1948), P. Pelliot, Histoire, secrete des Mongol Chronicle Altan TobH (Wiesbaden: Otto Har- Mongols, restitution du texte mongol et traduction rassowitz, 1955). francaise des chapitres I a VI (Paris, 1949). Ts. Dam- 12 The Altan TobH by Lubsan-Danzan was pub- dinsuren, Mongol-un nigttca tobciyan [The Secret His- lished in 1937 by the Committee of Sciences of the tory] (Ulan Bator, 1947). MPR, and reproduced as Altan TobH. A Brief History

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.58, on 01 Oct 2021 at 00:32:15, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021911800123241 NEWS OF THE PROFESSION 419 Sagan Secfen (1662),13 and Shara tuji (Yellow cational establishments of the country, with a History) written in the seventeenth century.14 great many historians working in all branches Mongol historians used to write not only in of historical science. The National Association the mother tongue, but in other Eastern lan- of Historians of the Mongolian People's Repub- guages—Chinese, Manchurian, and especially lic, founded in 1955 and having many branches Tibetan. Historical works by Mongol authors in the provincial centres (aimal() of the coun- in Tibetan can be called a Mongolian Tibetan- try, maintains active relations with foreign aca- language historical literature which occupies a demic centres, including the International Com- particular place in Mongol historiography. mittee of Historical Sciences. In the years of These works are dedicated not only to Mon- existence of the MPR, historical thought which golian history, but to the history of other Asian had developed during many centuries has countries (India, China, for instance). Men- evolved into comparatively advanced histori- tion should be made of such works as History cal science. of Buddhism in India, Tibet, China and Mon- Immediately after the triumph of the Peo- golia by Sumpa-Hamba Esh-Baljir (written in ple's Revolution, large-scale research work on 1748), History of Buddhism in China by Gun Mongolian history began. In connection with Gombojab (written about 1736), History of this work we had at first to collect ancient Buddhism in Mongolia by Darmadala (written literary monuments, archive documents, man- in 1889), and Golden Boo\ by Zava Damdin uscripts, local lore material, and literary texts. (written in 1931). The Committee of Science, founded in 1921, The post-revolutionary period marks a turn- was entrusted with this task, and by its collect- ing point in the development of historical ing activities has made a great contribution in thought in Mongolia. It was after the victory preserving the historical heritage of the Mon- of the People's Revolution in 1921 resulted in golian people and in creating a documentary gaining national independence that really sci- base for historical science. The foundation of entific research work began in the field of his- the State Archives at the Committee of Science tory of the Mongolian people. The achieve- in 1927 served as the beginning of archival ments of historical science in the Mongolian activities of the country. Since then, notable People's Republic are inseparable from the de- achievements have been made in research in velopment of the country in all branches of its archives. At present, Mongolia has an expanded economy, culture, and science. network of central, provincial, municipal, and At present, national culture is vigorously departmental archives, preserving the richest flourishing in Mongolia. Specialists in history materials of great importance for the study of are trained at the history faculty of the Ulan- Mongolian history. The State Archives in Ulan Bator State University. Research work in his- Bator are one of the academic centres of the torical science is concentrated in the Institute of MPR and the fundamental documentary base History and Language of the Committee of of national historical science. Science and Higher Education of the Mon- One of the considerable achievements of his- golian People's Republic and at the higher edu- torical science in Mongolia is archaeology. Archaeological studies of Mongolia began in 1922, and, since this time, historical monuments 0/ the Mongols by bLo-bZan bsTanjin. Critical intro- have constantly been collected and registered, duction by A. Mostaert; editor's foreword by F. W. and excavations have been carried on in differ- Cleaves (Harvard University Press, 1952). lsErdenin Tobli was translated and published in ent parts of the country well known to be very German by L. G. Schmidt (St. Petersburg, 1829), and rich in historical relics. republished as Erdeni-yin Tobii. Mongolian Chronicle by Sagan Secen. Critical introduction by A. Mostaert In 1924-26 Mongolian and Soviet archaeol- and editor's foreword by F. W. Cleaves (Cambridge: ogists, headed by the well-known traveller, Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1956). P. K. Kozlov, made excavations in the Noin Ula 14 Shara Tuji has been translated and published in mountains (near Ulan Bator) which succeeded Russian by N. P. Shastina, Mongol's\aia letopis' XVU v Svodnyi Tekst, perevod, vvedenie i primechaniya in unearthing valuable items dated back as far (Moscow-Leningrad, 1957). as the period of the ancient empire of the

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.58, on 01 Oct 2021 at 00:32:15, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021911800123241 420 JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES Huns.15 The discovery of the Noin Ula Hun and settlements have concluded that towns and tombs played an important part in the history settled life were of no small importance in the of archaeological research in Mongolia. It was formation of feudalism in Mongolia. one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of Significant work has been done in the spe- the twentieth century, and marked the begin- cialized field of historical sources. During the ning of detailed and thorough study of the years of the people's power a great many orig- ancient history of the peoples inhabiting the inal sources—ancient manuscripts and books on territory of Mongolia. the history of Mongolia and other countries of In recent years large archaeological expedi- the East—have been collected for preservation tions and excavations have been carried out in in the Mongolian National Public Library in different parts of the country, and a great many Ulan Bator, the richest repository of ancient materials dating back to the Stone and Bronze books and manuscripts in different Eastern Ages have been collected. Numerous Hun and languages. The most valuable sources are be- Turk tombs, and ruins of ancient towns and ing systematically published as monographs or fortresses have been discovered as well, such as translations from Chinese, Manchu, and Ti- the town of Khara Balgasun; the ancient capi- betan. These works are of the greatest impor- tal of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum; and tance not only for the study of Mongolian the town of Bars Khot, etc. The work of study- history, but for the history of other nations, ing, registering, systematizing, and describing particularly China and India. In 1947, Profes- all these archaeological materials and findings sor Ts. Damdinsuren published the Secret His- has begun. Archaeologist Kh. Perle has made tory, translated from Old Mongolian into mod- a card index of antiquities of the MPR based ern language. The Allan Tobli {Golden on the materials of archaeological excavations Annals) by Lubsan-Danzan, mentioned above, carried out from 1921 to 1949. By the efforts was reprinted in 1957 in the new Mongolian of Mongol archaeologists and scientists of the script. Other chronicles such as the Erdenin Committee of Science and Higher Education Tobci {Precious Annals) by Sagan Secen, and rich archaeological collections have been or- the Erdenin Erhe {Precious Beads) by Galdan ganized at the Central State Museum in Ulan and others will soon be published. Bator. These collections show that our coun- In the translation of historical monuments try is rich in historical and archaeological relics from Chinese, Manchu, and European lan- and has provided material for numerous arti- guages, the well-known Mongolian sinologist, cles, scentific reports, and monographs. Danda, a member of the Committee of Science, The wealth of archaeological materials which translated in 1924 the Chinese Yuan Shih {His- Mongol historians now have at their disposal tory of the Yuan Dynasty), the most valuable makes it possible to arrive at new conclusions source on the history of the Yuan or Mongol on many important questions of Mongolian his- empire of the thirteenth to fourteenth cenuries. tory. For example, archaeological excavations He translated many other Chinese chronicles in some provinces of the country have discov- as well. A number of other important Chinese ered tools dating from the Middle Palaeolithic chronicles have also been translated from period, revealing the activity of primitive man Manchu into Mongol by the well-known Man- in Mongolia.16 Mongol archaeologists, excavat- chuist, Bat-Ochir, a member of the Committee ing and studying the ruins of towns, fortresses, of Science, including sketches from the T'ung- chien Kang-mu, the history of the Liao (Khi- 15 On the basis of the Chinese inscription carved on tan), and the history of the Ch'ing (Manchu) a small lacquer bowl found in one of the Noin Ula dynasty. From European languages Mongol tombs, scholars consider that the Hun tombs in the scholars have translated into Mongol a num- Noin Ula mountains go back to the third century A. D. 16 Ts. Dorghuren, BHMA Vlsyn nulag da\h' chulu- ber of important sources such as the records of uney zdvsgiin Vcien sudlalyin baidal (Ulan Bator: the great travellers, P. Carpini, Wilhelm Ru- Shinzhlekh Ukhaan Khureelengiin khevlel, 1957), p. bruk, and Marco Polo. 4. On research work in the MPR on the Stone Age, see A great many collections of archival mate- N. Ser-Odzhav, BHMA Ulsad iavuulsan arkheologiin azhlyn tukhai (Shinzhlekh Ukhaan, tekhnik, No. 2, rials and documents valuable for the study of 1958). Mongolian history of more recent times have

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.58, on 01 Oct 2021 at 00:32:15, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021911800123241 NEWS OF THE PROFESSION 421 also been compiled and published. Among original works on Mongolian history and mem- them mention should be made of a number of oirs {Autobiography and History of Auton- works by the corresponding member of the omous Mongolia). Committee of Science, Dendiv, who collected Among more recent works it is worth men- and translated from Manchu into Mongol, nu- tioning the following: Short History of the merous archival materials and documents re- Mongolian People's Revolution11 by the foun- lating to the period of Manchu rule in Mon- der of the Mongolian people's state, the late golia; the collection of documents Revolutionary Marshal H. Choibalsan (1895-1952); History Measures of the People's Government (1921- of Autonomous Mongolia by Teh. Puntsug- 1924) compiled by the scientist-worker of the norvo;18 People's Revolution in Mongolia and Committee of Science and Higher Education, the Foundation of the MPR (1921-1924) by Nasanbaljir, Some Important Documents Re- Professor Shirendiv,19 People's Movement in lated to the History of the Mongolian People's Outer Mongolia20 and Biography of Su\he- Revolutionary Party (1920-1924), Important Bator21 by Professor Sh. Natsagdorje; His- Documents about Su\he-Bator, Reports and torical Roots of the Geser Epic by Professor Articles, by Marshal Choibalsan in four vol- Ts. Damdinsuren;22 Kidans and Their Rela- umes, The MPR in the Struggle for a Non- tions with Mongols, Essay on the Old Mon- Capitalist Way of Development (1925-1940), golian Historiography, Funeral Rites of the resolutions and decisions of the Great and Ancient Mongols23 (all these works belong to Small Hurals (Parliament), resolutions and the pen of Kh. Perle); History of the Northern decisions of congresses, and conferences and Huns by Ts. Dorjsuren; and History of the plenums of the Mongolian People's Revolu- Tur\s by N. Ser-Odjav. tionary Party. One of the significant successes of our re- These achievements have made available a search work in the field of history is the one- great many works and monographs on the most volume history of Mongolia compiled in 1954 important problems of Mongolian history, and by Mongolian and Soviet historians.24 This not a few among them have already become History of Mongolia is the first outstanding well-known even abroad. summary of the whole period of Mongol his- Among the historians of the older generation, tory from ancient times to the present. mention can be made of several members of the Committee of Science: Bat-Ochir (1866-1934), 17 This book was published in 1934. It is translated Zava-Damdin (1867-1937), L. Dendiv (1895- into Russian, Chinese, German, Czechoslovakian, and other languages. Kh. Choibalsan, tr., Kratkii otchet 1957), D. Natsagdorje (1905-1937), and istorii mongol'skpi narodnoi revoliutsii, perev. s mong. Navan-Namjil (1882-1954). Bat-Ochir, con- (Moscow: Publishing House of Foreign Literature, sulting mainly Chinese sources, wrote in 1927 1952). an Ancient History of Mongolia. In 1933-36, 18 T. Puntsugnorvo, Mongolyn avtonomit Ueiin the founder of contemporary Mongolian litera- Tuukh (Ulan Bator, 1955). 19 This book is in Russian. B. Shirendiv, Narodnara ture, the historian D. Natsagdorje, compiled a revoluitsiia v Mongolii i obrazovanic MNR (Informa- Short History of Mongolia covering the period tion of MPR, Moscow, Academy of Science USSR, 1956). from ancient times to 1924, making good use 20 Prof. Natsagdorje, Ar Mongold garsan ardyn of Chinese, Mongolian, and European sources. \hodolgbon (Ulan Bator, 1956), and Uz istorii arat- skpgo dvizheniia vo Vneshnei Mongolii (Moscow, Acad- In 1927, the historian and significant politi- emy of Sciences USSR, 1958). cal figure of Autonomous Mongolia, Maksar- 21 This book was translated by Owen Lattimore, Hurtcha wrote a New History of Mongolia. Nationalism and Revolution in Mongolia, with a trans- In 1934, there was published a Short History of lation from the Mongol of Sh. Natsagdorje's life of Sukhe-Bator by Owen Lattimore and Urgungge Onon Mongolia by another historian and statesman of (Issued under the auspices of the International Secre- Autonomous Mongolia, Dendiv. This book is tariat, I.P.R.; Leiden: E. A. Brill, 1955). devoted to the history of Autonomous Mon- 22 Ts. Damdinsuren, lstoriches\ie kprni Geseriady (Moscow, 1957). golia. Dendiv is the author of a number of 23 books on Mongolian history based mainly on This work was translated into Japanese by Prof. Abematsu and published in 1959 by The Institute of Manchu sources and archival documents. To Foreign Languages in Osaka. the pen of Navan-Namjil belong a number of 24 This work is in Mongol, Russian, and Chinese.