Buryats (self-name - Buryaad, Buryaaduud)
A look from the past
“Description of all the living peoples in the Russian state” 1772-1776:
The Buryats and Tungus worship the sun, moon, fire, etc. as lower deities. They also have various idols of both sexes, which they recognize as household gods - this is similar to the primitive religion of all Siberian peoples. Lamas, who are also doctors, although they do not heal with anything other than spells, form a special hierarchy and are subordinate in Transbaikalia to the Supreme Lama (in Russian, Lord Lamaite). The Buryats have no holidays in the proper sense of the word; the only solemn day they celebrate is the beginning of summer. Lamaism was brought to the Buryats by the Mongols, who in 1689 accepted Russian citizenship, and in 1764 the Supreme Lama of Transbaikalia became independent.
"Peoples of Russia. Ethnographic essays" (publication of the magazine "Nature and People"), 1879-1880:
Buryats, like the Mongols, have a brown-bronze skin color, a wide and flat face. the nose is small and flattened; their eyes are small, slanted, mostly black, their ears are large and set far from the head; mouth is large; sparse beard; the hair on the head is black. Those belonging to the clergy cut their hair on the front of their heads, and wear a braid at the back, into which, for greater thickness, horse hair is often woven. Buryats are of medium or small height, but strongly built.
Khamnigans are a Buryat subethnic group formed with the participation of Tungus tribes.
The character of the Buryats is characterized by secrecy. They are usually peace-loving and gentle, but angry and vindictive when insulted. They are compassionate towards their relatives and will never refuse to help the poor. Despite the outward rudeness, love for one's neighbor, honesty and justice are highly developed among the Buryats; and although this is often limited only to the boundaries of their family and clan community, there are also individuals among them in whom these wonderful qualities extend to all people without exception, no matter what nation they belong to.
According to their way of life, Buryats are divided into sedentary and nomadic. No more than 10% are sedentary Buryats. They have adopted many Russian customs and differ little from them in their way of life. Nomads live differently. 
The Buryats adhere to a primitive tribal community. Groups of octagonal-round yurts are scattered across the wide steppe like oases. There are fences all around, and in the fences there are yurts, barns and various other buildings. Each ulus usually consists of several low pole fences, representing the appearance of a circle. In each such enclosure there are one, two, three or more yurts with different outbuildings. In one of these yurts lives the eldest in a Buryat family, an old man with an old woman, sometimes with some orphan relatives. In another nearby yurt the son of this old man lives with his wife and children. If the old man also has married sons, then they also live in special yurts, but all in the same common fence, on both sides of the father’s yurt. This entire family circle has arable land, meadows, livestock - everything is common. All members of the fence work together. Sometimes they even have lunch together. Whenever there is a gathering of guests, everyone participates like one family.
The only wealth of the Buryats is cattle breeding. Herds consisting of cows, horses and sheep, both in summer and winter, graze across the steppe. Only young cattle stay in yurts with their owners during the harsh seasons. The Buryats have almost no pigs and poultry, for which it would be necessary to prepare winter supplies.
The Transbaikal Buryats rarely engage in agriculture, but if they have small plots, they irrigate them artificially, which is why they get good harvests, while the Russians often complain about crop failures due to drought. The Buryats on this side of Lake Baikal do a lot of farming, which they learned from the Russians.
Men look after grazing livestock, build yurts and make household supplies - arrows, bows, saddles and other parts of horse harness. They are skilled blacksmiths, finishing the metals themselves in small hand furnaces and quite smartly using them to remove horse harnesses. Women are engaged in making felt, tanning leather, weaving ropes from horse hair, making threads from sinew, cutting and sewing all kinds of clothes for themselves and their husbands, and skillfully embroidering patterns on clothes and shoes.
The situation of Buryat women is the saddest: in the family she is purely a working animal, so healthy ones are rare among them. A wrinkled face, bony hands, an awkward gait, a dull expression in her eyes and braids hanging in dirty lashes - this is her usual appearance. But girls enjoy special love, honor, gifts and are sung in songs.
The dwellings of most Buryats consist of felt yurts. They range from 15 to 25 feet across and are most often pointed in shape. These yurts are made of poles stuck into the ground, the ends of which meet at the top. The poles are covered inside with several rows of felt. At the top there is a hole for smoke, which can be closed with a lid. The entrance to the yurt, a narrow wooden door, always faces south. The floor of this dwelling consists of earth cleared of grass. In the middle of the yurt, under the smoke hole, there is a hearth, usually consisting of a rectangular wooden box lined with clay inside. Along the walls there is a raised platform on which the inhabitants of the yurt sleep and there are various household items, chests and cabinets. There is always a small sacrificial table on which they place an image of the gods, sacrificial vessels, and incense candles. 
The original religion of the Buryats is shamanism, belief in spirits called “ongons” who rule over the elements, mountains, rivers and protect people. Buryat shamanists believe that shamans achieve knowledge of the secrets of ongons and can predict the fate of each person. At the end of the 17th century. Transbaikal Buryats adopted Buddhism; Some of the Buryats living on this side of Lake Baikal remained faithful to shamanism.
In addition to their pagan holidays, the Buryats celebrate St. the Wonderworker Nicholas with no less solemnity, because this saint is deeply revered. Buryats especially honor St. Nicholas on the days of memory of this saint on December 6 and May 9.
After the festive service, the festivities begin, during which the burner flows like a river. Buryats, almost with their mother's milk, absorb the passion for vodka and are ready to drink it at any time, and on a day like St. Nicholas, they even consider it a sin for themselves not to drink an extra cup of araki. Buryats drink not from glasses, but from red wooden Chinese cups that look like saucers. This cup can hold from 3 to 5 of our glasses. A cup of Buryat is always drained in two gulps. Since St. Nicholas is honored by both Russians and Buryats, and the celebration in honor of this saint is common. As for drinking vodka, a Russian collapses from four cups, but a Buryat, who has consumed twice as much vodka, never does, and no matter how drunk he is, he has a hard time getting to his horse, on which he is fearlessly swinging from side to side. side, but without losing balance, he rushes to his yurts, where after a few hours a glorious feast begins. This is how the feast of St. Nicholas by Buryat Lamaists.
Modern sources
Buryats are the people, the indigenous population of the Republic of Buryatia, Irkutsk region and Trans-Baikal region of Russia.
There is a division along ethno-territorial grounds:
Aginskys,
Alarskie,
Balaganskie
Barguzinsky,
Bokhansky,
Verkholensky,
Zakamensky
Idinsky
Kudarinsky
Kudinsky
Kitoiskie
Nukutsk,
Okinsky
Osinsky,
Olkhonsky,
Tunkinsky,
Nizhneudinsk,
Khorinsky,
Selenginsky and others.
Some Buryat ethnic groups are still divided into clans and tribes.
Number and settlement
By the middle of the 17th century, the total number of Buryats was, according to various estimates, from 77 thousand to more than 300 thousand people.
In 1897, on the territory of the Russian Empire, 288,663 people indicated Buryat as their native language.
Currently, the number of Buryats is estimated at 620 thousand people, including:
In the Russian Federation - 461,389 people. (2010 census).
In Russia, Buryats live mainly in the Republic of Buryatia (286.8 thousand people), Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug (54 thousand) and other areas of the Irkutsk region, Aginsky Buryat Okrug (45 thousand) and other areas of the Trans-Baikal Territory.
In northern Mongolia - 80 thousand, according to 1998 data; 45,087 people, 2010 census.
Most Buryats in Mongolia live in the aimags of Khuvsgel, Khentii, Dornod, Bulgan, Selenge and the city of Ulaanbaatar.
In the northeast of China (Shenehen Buryats, mainly in the Shenehen area, Hulun Buir district, Inner Mongolia - about 7 thousand people) and Barguts: (old) Khuuchin barga and (new) Shine barga.
A certain number of Buryats (from two to 4 thousand people in each country) live in the USA, Kazakhstan, Canada, and Germany.
Number according to All-Union and All-Russian censuses (1926-2010)
|
USSR |
Census |
Census |
Census |
Census |
Census |
Census |
Census |
Census |
|
237 501 |
↘224 719 |
↗252 959 |
↗314 671 |
↗352 646 |
↗421 380 |
|||
|
RSFSR/Russian Federation |
237 494 |
↘220 654 |
↗251 504 |
↗312 847 |
↗349 760 |
↗417 425 |
↗445 175 |
↗461 389 |
Origin of the ethnonym “Buryat”
The origin of the ethnonym “Buryaad” remains largely controversial and not fully understood.
It is believed that the ethnonym “Buryat” (Buriyat) was first mentioned in the “Secret History of the Mongols” (1240).
The second mention of this term appears only at the end of the 19th century. The etymology of the ethnonym has several versions:
From the word burikha - to evade.
From the ethnonym Kurykan (Kurikan).
From the word bar - tiger, which is unlikely.
The assumption is based on the dialect form of the word buryaad - baryaad.
From the word storm - thickets.
From the Khakass word pyraat, which goes back to the term buri (Turkic) - wolf, or buri-ata - wolf-father, suggesting the totemic nature of the ethnonym, since many ancient Buryat clans revered the wolf as their ancestor.
In the Khakass language, the common Turkic sound b is pronounced as p.
Under this name, the Russian Cossacks became known to the ancestors of the Western Buryats, who lived to the east of the ancestors of the Khakass.
Subsequently, pyraat was transformed into the Russian brother and was transferred to the entire Mongol-speaking population within the Russian state (brothers, brotherly people, bratskie mungals) and then adopted by the Ekhirits, Bulagats, Hongodors and Khori-Buryats as a common self-name in the form of Buryaad.
From the expression buru halyadg - an outsider, looking to the side.
This option comes from the Kalmyk layer in the semantic concept, the same as burikha and halyadg (halmg) that applied specifically to them after their resettlement from Dzungaria.
From the words bu - gray-haired, in a figurative sense old, ancient and oirot - forest peoples, generally translated as ancient (indigenous) forest peoples.
Tribes participating in the ethnogenesis of the Buryats
Traditional Buryat tribes
Bulagati
Hongodora
Hori-Buryats
Ekhirites
Tribes that came from Mongolia
Sartuly
Tsongols
Tabanguts
Tribes of non-Mongol origin
Soyots
Hamnigans
Buryat language
Buryat-Mongolian language (self-name Buryaad-Mongol helen, since 1956 - Buryaad helen)
Belonging to the northern group of Mongolian languages.
The modern literary Buryat language was formed on the basis of the Khorinsky dialect of the Buryat language.
Dialects are distinguished:
Western (Ekhirit-Bulagat, Barguzin);
eastern (Khorinsky);
southern (Tsongolo-Sartulian);
intermediate (Khongodorsky);
Barga-Buryat (spoken by the Barguts of China).
The Nizhneudinsky and Onon-Khamnigan dialects stand apart.
In 1905, Lama Agvan Dorzhiev developed the Vagindra writing system.
Buddhist clergy and mentors of those times left behind a rich spiritual heritage of their own works, as well as translations on Buddhist philosophy, history, tantric practices and Tibetan medicine.
In most datsans of Buryatia there were printing houses that printed books using woodcut printing.
In 1923, with the formation of the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR, the “Buryat-Mongolian” language, which existed on the basis of the vertical Mongolian script of the Old Mongolian script, was declared the official language.
In 1933, it was declared outlaw, but despite this, it still continued to officially bear the name Buryat-Mongolian.
In 1931-1938. The Buryat-Mongolian language was translated into Latin script.
The situation began to change in 1939 with the introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet, which highlighted the dialectical differences of the Buryats.
Only the colloquial form was adopted as the basis of the literary written language, in which all printed publications in the Buryat language were published in the subsequent period.
The Latin alphabet for the first time clearly showed the dialectal differences of the Buryats, but at the same time the Buryat language, written in the Latin alphabet, still continued to retain its Mongolian basis of the language: vocabulary, grammatical rules, stylistics, etc.
Religion and Beliefs
For the Buryats, as for other Mongolian peoples, a set of beliefs is traditional, designated by the term Pantheism or Tengriism (Bur. Khara Shazhan - black faith).
According to some Buryat mythologies about the origin of the world, at first there was chaos, from which water was formed - the cradle of the world. 
A flower appeared from the water, and from the flower - a girl, a radiance emanated from her, which turned into the sun and the moon, dispelling the darkness.
This divine girl - a symbol of creative energy - created the earth and the first people: man and woman.
The highest deity is Huhe Munhe Tengri (Blue Eternal Sky), the embodiment of the masculine principle. Earth is feminine.
Gods live in the sky; during the time of their ruler Asarang Tengri, the inhabitants of heaven were united. After his departure, power began to be contested by Khurmasta and Ata Ulan.
As a result, no one won and the Tengris were divided into 55 Western good and 44 Eastern evil, continuing the eternal struggle among themselves.
Since the end of the 16th century, Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelugpa school (Bur. Shara Shazhan - yellow faith), which largely assimilated pre-Buddhist beliefs, became widespread.
A feature of the spread of Buddhism among the Buryats is the greater proportion of pantheistic beliefs compared to other Mongolian peoples who accepted the teachings of the Buddha.
In 1741, Buddhism was recognized as one of the official religions in Russia.
At the same time, the first Buryat permanent monastery was built - the Tamchinsky datsan.
The establishment of Buddhism in the region is associated with the spread of writing, the development of science, literature, art and architecture.
It became an important factor in shaping the way of life, national psychology and morality.
In the second half of the 19th century, the period of rapid flowering of Buryat Buddhism began.
Philosophical schools operated in datsans; Here they were engaged in book printing and various types of applied arts; Theology, science, translation and publishing, and fiction developed.
Tibetan medicine was widely practiced.
In 1914, there were 48 datsans with 16,000 lamas in Buryatia, but by the end of the 1930s the Buryat Buddhist community ceased to exist.
Only in 1946 were 2 datsans reopened: Ivolginsky and Aginsky.
The revival of Buddhism in Buryatia began in the second half of the 1980s.
More than two dozen old datsans have been restored, new ones have been founded, lamas are being trained in the Buddhist academies of Mongolia and Buryatia, and the institute of young novices at monasteries has been restored.
Buddhism became one of the factors of national consolidation and spiritual revival of the Buryats.
In the second half of the 1980s, the revival of Pantheism also began on the territory of the Republic of Buryatia.
Western Buryats living in the Irkutsk region positively perceived the trends of Buddhism.
However, for centuries among the Buryats living in the Baikal region, pantheism remains a traditional religious movement, along with Orthodoxy.
The Orthodox include part of the Buryats in the Irkutsk region, whose ancestors were baptized Orthodox in the 18th-19th centuries.
Among the Buryats there are a small number of followers of Christianity or the Russian faith - the “shazhan race”.
The Irkutsk diocese, created in 1727, widely launched missionary activities.
Until 1842, the English spiritual mission in Transbaikalia operated in Selenginsk, which compiled the first translation of the Gospel into the Buryat language.
Christianization intensified in the 2nd half of the 19th century.
At the beginning of the 20th century, 41 missionary camps and dozens of missionary schools functioned in Buryatia.
Christianity achieved the greatest success among the Western Buryats.
This was manifested in the fact that Christian holidays became widespread among the Western Buryats: Christmas, Easter, Elijah’s Day, Christmastide, etc.
Despite superficial (sometimes violent) Christianization, Western Buryats, for the most part, remained pantheists, and Eastern Buryats remained Buddhists.
According to ethnographic studies, in relation to individuals, up to the 20th century, some Buryats (in the Ida and Balagan departments) practiced the rite of air burial.
Economic structure
The Buryats were divided into semi-sedentary and nomadic, governed by steppe dumas and foreign councils.
The primary economic basis consisted of the family, then interests flowed into the closest relatives (bule zone), then the economic interests of the “small homeland” in which the Buryats lived (nyutag) were considered, then there were tribal and other global interests.
The basis of the economy was cattle breeding, semi-nomadic among the western tribes and nomadic among the eastern tribes.
It was practiced to keep 5 types of domestic animals - cows, rams, goats, camels and horses. Traditional trades - hunting and fishing - were common.
The entire list of livestock by-products was processed: hides, wool, tendons, etc.
The skin was used to make saddlery, clothing (including dokhas, pinigs, mittens), bedding, etc.
Felt for the home, materials for clothing in the form of felt raincoats, various capes, hats, felt mattresses, etc. were produced from wool.
Tendons were used to produce thread material used for making ropes and making bows, etc.
Jewelry and toys were made from bones.
Bones were also used to make bows and arrow parts.
From the meat of the 5 above-mentioned domestic animals, food products were produced and processed using waste-free technology.
They made various sausages and delicacies.
Women also used the spleen to make and sew clothes as an adhesive material.
The Buryats knew how to produce meat products for long-term storage during the hot season, for use on long migrations and marches.
A large range of products could be obtained by processing milk.
They also had experience in the production and use of a high-calorie product suitable for long-term isolation from the family.
In economic activities, the Buryats widely used available domestic animals: the horse was used in a wide range of activities when traveling long distances, when grazing domestic animals, when transporting property with a cart and sleigh, which they also made themselves.
Camels were also used to transport heavy loads over long distances. Emasculated bulls were used as draft power.
The nomadic technology is interesting, when a barn on wheels was used or the “train” technology was used, when 2 or 3 carts were attached to a camel.
A hanza (a box measuring 1100x1100x2000) was installed on the carts to store things and protect them from rain.
They used a quickly erected felt house ger (yurt), where the fees for migration or settling in a new place were about three hours.
Also, dogs of the Bankhar breed were widely used in economic activities, the closest relatives of which are dogs of the same breed from Tibet, Nepal, as well as the Georgian Shepherd.
This dog shows excellent qualities as a watchman and a good shepherd for horses, cows and small livestock.
National home
The traditional dwelling of the Buryats, like all nomadic pastoralists, is the yurt, called ger (literally dwelling, house) by the Mongolian peoples.
Yurts were installed both portable felt and stationary in the form of a frame made of timber or logs. 
Wooden yurts have 6 or 8 corners, no windows, a large hole in the roof for smoke and lighting to escape.
The roof was installed on four pillars - tengi, and sometimes there was a ceiling.
The door to the yurt is oriented to the south, the room was divided into the right, male, and left, female half.
In the center of the dwelling there was a fireplace, along the walls there were benches, on the right side of the entrance to the yurt there were shelves with household utensils, on the left side there were chests and a table for guests.
Opposite the entrance there was a shelf with burkhans or ongons; in front of the yurt there was a hitching post (serge) in the form of a pillar with an ornament.
Thanks to the design of the yurt, it can be quickly assembled and disassembled and is lightweight - all this is important when migrating to other pastures.
In winter, the fire in the hearth provides warmth; in summer, with an additional configuration, it is even used instead of a refrigerator.
The right side of the yurt is the men's side; on the wall hung a bow, arrows, a saber, a gun, a saddle and harness.
The left one is for women; here were household and kitchen utensils.
There was an altar in the northern part, the door of the yurt was always on the southern side.
The lattice frame of the yurt was covered with felt, soaked in a mixture of sour milk, tobacco and salt for disinfection.
They sat on quilted felt - sherdeg - around the hearth.
Among the Buryats living on the western side of Lake Baikal, wooden yurts with eight walls were used.
The walls were built mainly from larch logs, while the inside of the walls had a flat surface.
The roof has four large slopes (in the form of a hexagon) and four small slopes (in the form of a triangle).
Inside the yurt there are four pillars on which the inner part of the roof - the ceiling - rests. Large pieces of coniferous bark are laid on the ceiling (inside down).
The final covering is carried out with even pieces of turf.
In the 19th century, wealthy Buryats began to build huts borrowed from Russian settlers, preserving elements of the national home in the interior decoration.
Black and white blacksmiths
If in Tibet blacksmiths were considered unclean and settled far from villages, then among the Buryats the darkhan blacksmith was sent by Heaven itself - he was revered and feared no less than the shaman.
If a person was sick, then a knife or an ax made by the hands of the darkhan was placed near his head.
This protected from evil spirits that sent diseases, and the patient was cured.
The gift of darkhan was passed down from generation to generation - the continuity came from a heavenly blacksmith named Bozhintoy, who sent his children to earth.
They bestowed this divine craft on the Buryat tribes and became patrons of one or another blacksmith's tool.
Blacksmiths were divided into black and white. Black Darkhans forged iron products.
Whites worked with non-ferrous and precious metals, mainly silver, so they were often called mungen darkhan - silver master.
Blacksmiths bought raw materials in Mongolia or mined and smelted iron themselves in small forges.
After the Buryats accepted Russian citizenship, they began to take ferrous metal from Russian industrialists.
The art of the Buryat blacksmiths was considered more perfect than that of the Tunguska masters, although their work was highly valued.
Buryat iron products with silver incisions were known in Russia as “brotherly work” and were valued along with Dagestan and Damascus products.
The Darkhans forged stirrups, bits, horse harnesses, traps, sickles, scissors, cauldrons and other products for household needs.
But in the Great Steppe, first of all, they became famous for making weapons and shells that could not be penetrated by a bullet from a arquebus.
Knives, daggers, swords, arrowheads, helmets and armor went to Mongolia.
White blacksmiths created real decorative works.
Most iron products were decorated with silver - there was a special method of welding these metals, which was distinguished by its exceptional strength of connection. Masters often decorated silver and gold jewelry with multi-colored corals.
The recognized masters were the darkhans of Zakamna, Dzhida, Tunka, and Oka.
The Darkhans of Eravna were famous for the technique of silvering iron products.
Kizhinga was famous for its saddle makers, the Tugnui Valley for its skillful casting.
Folklore
Buryat folklore consists of myths about the origin of the Universe and life on earth, uligers - epic poems of large size: from 5 thousand to 25 thousand lines, etc.
Among them: “Abai Geser”, “Alamzhi Mergen”, “Aiduurai Mergen”, “Erensey”, “Buhu Khaara”.
More than two hundred epic tales have been preserved in the memory of the Buryat people.
The main one is the epic “Abai Geser” - “The Iliad of Central Asia”, known in Mongolia, China and Tibet.
The uliger recitative was performed by uligershina storytellers, who memorized epics of hundreds of thousands of lines about celestial beings and heroes).
Fairy tales are threefold - three sons, three tasks, etc.
The plot of fairy tales is gradated: each enemy is stronger than the previous one, each task is more difficult than the previous one.
Topics of proverbs, sayings and riddles: nature, natural phenomena, birds and animals, household and agricultural items.
National clothes
Each Buryat clan has its own national clothing, which is extremely diverse (mainly among women).
The national clothing of the Transbaikal Buryats consists of degel - a kind of caftan made of dressed sheepskin, which has a triangular cutout on the top of the chest, trimmed, as well as the sleeves, tightly clasping the hand, with fur, sometimes very valuable.
In summer, the degel could be replaced by a cloth caftan of a similar cut.
In Transbaikalia, robes were often used in the summer, the poor had paper ones, and the rich had silk ones.
In inclement times, a saba, a type of overcoat with a long kragen, was worn over the degel.
In the cold season, especially on the road - dakha, a type of wide robe made from tanned skins, with the wool facing out.
Degel (degil) is tied at the waist with a belt on which a knife and smoking accessories were hung: a flint, a hansa (a small copper pipe with a short chibouk) and a tobacco pouch.
A distinctive feature from the Mongolian cut is the chest part of the degel - enger, where three multi-colored stripes are sewn into the upper part. 
At the bottom - yellow-red (hua ungee), in the middle - black (hara ungee), at the top - white (sagaan ungee), green (nogon ungee) or blue (huhe ungee).
The original version was yellow-red, black, white.
Tight and long trousers were made of roughly tanned leather (rovduga); shirt, usually made of blue fabric - in order.
Shoes - in winter, high boots made from the skin of foals' feet; in the rest of the year, shoe boots - boots with a pointed toe.
In summer they wore shoes knitted from horsehair with leather soles.
Men and women wore round caps with small brims and a red tassel (zalaa) at the top.
All the details and the color of the headdress have their own symbolism, their own meaning.
The pointed top of the hat symbolizes prosperity and well-being.
The silver top of the denze with red coral on the top of the cap is a sign of the sun, illuminating the entire Universe with its rays, and the brushes (zalaa seseg) represent the rays of the sun.
The semantic field in the headdress was also involved during the Xiongnu period, when the entire complex of clothing was designed and introduced.
The invincible spirit and happy destiny are symbolized by the zala developing at the top of the cap.
The sompi knot means strength, strength; the favorite color of the Buryats is blue, which symbolizes the blue sky, the eternal sky.
Women's clothing differed from men's in decoration and embroidery.
Women's degel is wrapped in a circle with colored cloth, on the back - at the top, embroidery in the form of a square is made with cloth, and copper and silver decorations from buttons and coins are sewn onto the clothes.
In Transbaikalia, women's robes consist of a short jacket sewn to a skirt.
Girls wore from 10 to 20 braids, decorated with many coins.
Around their necks women wore corals, silver and gold coins, etc.; in the ears there are huge earrings supported by a cord thrown over the head, and behind the ears there are “poltas” (pendants); on the hands are silver or copper bugaks (a type of bracelets in the form of hoops) and other decorations.
Dance
Yokhor is an ancient circular Buryat dance with chants.
Each Yohor tribe had its own specifics.
Other Mongolian peoples do not have such a dance.
Before or after the hunt, in the evenings, the Buryats went out into the clearing, lit a large fire and, holding hands, danced the ekhor all night with cheerful rhythmic chants.
In the ancestral dance, they forgot all grievances and disagreements, delighting their ancestors with this dance of unity.
National holidays
Sagaalgan - White Month Holiday (New Year according to the Eastern calendar)
Surkharban - Summer Festival
Eryn Gurbaan Naadan (lit. Three Games of Husbands) is an ancient holiday of the Buryat tribes, its roots go back millennia.
At this festival, where representatives of different tribes gathered, negotiated peace, and declared war.
Two names are used. “Surharban” - from the Buryat language means archery and “Eryn Gurbaan Nadaan” - actually the Three Games of Husbands.
This festival features compulsory competitions in three sports - archery, horse racing and wrestling.
They prepare for competitions in advance, the best horses are selected from the herd, archers train in target shooting and hunting, wrestlers compete in halls or outdoors.
Victory at Surkharban is always very prestigious for the winner and for his entire family.
Traditional cuisine
Since ancient times, products of animal and combined animal-plant origin have occupied a large place in the food of the Buryats: -buheleor, shүlen, buuza, hushuur, hileeme, sharbin, shuhan, hiime, oreomog, hoshkhonog, zөөhey-salamat, khүshөөһen, үrme, arbin, sumge, zөөheitey zedgene, goghan.
As well as drinks ukhen, zutaraan sai, aarsa, khurenge, tarag, khorzo, togonoy arkhi (tarasun) - an alcoholic drink obtained by distilling kurunga). Sour milk of a special leaven (kurunga) and dried compressed curd mass - khuruud - were prepared for future use.
Like the Mongols, the Buryats drank green tea, into which they poured milk and added salt, butter or lard.
The symbol of Buryat cuisine is buuza, a steamed dish that corresponds to the Chinese baozi.
Story
Starting from the Xiongnu period, the Proto-Buryats entered into an alliance as the Western Xiongnu.
With the collapse of the Xiongnu empire, under pressure from the Xianbei, they retreated from the Chinese border to their ancestral lands called (according to Chinese sources) the Northern Xiongnu.
Later, the proto-Buryats became part of the Syanbi, Rouran, Uyghur and Khitan states, the Mongol Empire and the Mongol Khaganate, remaining in their territories.
The Buryats were formed from various Mongol-speaking ethnic groups that did not have a single self-name in the territory of Dobaikalia and central Transbaikalia.
The largest of them were the western Bulagats, Ekhirits, Khongodors and the eastern Khori-Buryats.
In the 18th century, Khalkha-Mongol and Oirat clans, mainly Sartuls and Tsongols, came to the southern Transbaikalia region of Russia, becoming the third component of the current Buryat ethnic group, which differs in many ways from the northern indigenous tribes.
By the beginning of the 17th century, the Russian state approached the northern borders of Mongolia, which by that time was sparsely populated and only nominally recognized the power of the khans.
Faced with resistance from the indigenous population of the middle Angara, it was forced to slow down its advance in this region and begin building forts and fortified points in the Baikal region.
At the same time, a strong Manchu state arose in the Far East, which took control of China (in 1636 it took the name Qing), which pursued an aggressive foreign policy towards Mongolia, which was going through a period of fragmentation.
Thus, the latter turned out to be an object of aggressive interest of Russia and the Manchu Empire.
Taking advantage of the internecine conflicts between the ruling noyons of Mongolia, Russia and the Qing concluded treaties in 1689 and 1727, according to which the Baikal region and Transbaikalia became part of Tsarist Russia, and the rest of Mongolia became a province of the Qing Empire.
Until the 17th century, Mongolian tribes roamed freely across the territory of the modern state of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, from the Khingan to the Yenisei: Barguts, Bulagats, Ekhirits, Khongodors, Khori-Buryats, Tabanguts, Sartuls, Daurs, etc.
Some of them, due to their nomadic lifestyle, ended up in this region during the annexation of the territory of Buryatia to Russia, which determined the presence of different dialects of the Buryat language, differences in clothing, customs, etc.
After the Russian-Chinese border was drawn at that time in 1729, the above-mentioned Mongolian tribes, finding themselves cut off from the bulk of the Mongols (except for the Barga), began to form into the future Buryat people.
The consolidation process that began earlier has intensified since then.
In the 18th-19th centuries there was a significant movement of the indigenous population of the Baikal region.
Part of the Ekhirits and Bulagats moved in several waves, crossing the ice of Baikal, into Transbaikalia in the Kudarinskaya steppe further up the Selenga up to Gusinoe Lake, forming a territorial group of North Selenga Buryats, which absorbed some eastern (Hori-Buryat) and southern elements.
Some of the Ekhirites moved to the Barguzin Valley, forming a group of Barguzin Buryats with the Khori-Buryats.
In many ways, these ethnic groups retain their connection with their pre-Baikal ancestral home, which is reflected in the language and elements of culture.
At the same time, part of the Khori-Buryats went east to the Agin steppes, becoming the main population here - the Agin Buryats.
In the west of ethnic Buryatia, the Tunkin Khongodors, having crossed Khamar-Daban, populated the mountain-taiga region of what is now Zakamna, and part of their tribal groups populated the mountainous Oka in the Eastern Sayan Mountains.
Due to this, and also due to the lack of its troops in the proximity of the large Mongol khanates and the Manchu state, Russia, one way or another, from the first years of Buryat citizenship, used them in various kinds of military clashes and in protecting borders.
In the extreme west of ethnic Buryatia, in the basins of the Uda and Oka rivers, the Buryats of two strong groups - the Ashabagats (Lower Uda) and the Ikinats (lower Oka) were attracted by the administration of the Yenisei and Krasnoyarsk forts for campaigns.
The enmity between these groups (which began even before the Russians arrived in Buryatia) served as an additional incentive for their participation in Russian enterprises, and later overlapped with the enmity between Yeniseisk and Krasnoyarsk.
The Ikinats took part in Russian campaigns against the Ashabaghats, and the Ashabaghats took part in military operations against the Ikinats.
In 1688, when the royal embassy led by Fyodor Golovin was blocked by the Mongols of Tushetu Khan Chikhundorzh in Selenginsk, letters were sent throughout the Russian-controlled territory of Buryatia demanding that armed Buryats be collected and sent to Golovin’s rescue.
Among the Ekhirits and the eastern part of the Bulagats, who lived near Lake Baikal on its western side, detachments were assembled, which, however, did not have time to approach the sites of hostilities.
Tushetu Khan's troops were partly defeated, and partly retreated to the south before the Buryat detachments approached from the west.
In 1766, four regiments were formed from the Buryats to maintain guards along the Selenga border: 1st Ashebagatsky, 2nd Tsongolsky, 3rd Atagansky and 4th Sartulsky.
The regiments were reformed in 1851 during the formation of the Transbaikal Cossack Army.
By the end of the 19th century, a new community was formed - the Buryat ethnos, which included the so-called traditional tribes - eastern and western, and southern - separate Khalkha, Oirat and southern Mongolian groups, as well as Turkic-Samoyed and Tungus elements.
The Buryats were settled on the territory of the Irkutsk province, within which the Transbaikal region was allocated (1851).
After the February Revolution of 1917, the first Buryat national state was formed - “Buryad-Mongol uls” (Buryat-Mongolia State). Burnatsky became its highest body.
In 1921, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Region was formed as part of the Far Eastern Republic, then as part of the RSFSR in 1922 - the Mongol-Buryat Autonomous Region.
In 1923 they united into the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as part of the RSFSR.
In 1937, a number of districts were withdrawn from the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, from which the Buryat autonomous okrugs were formed - Ust-Ordynsky and Aginsky; at the same time, some areas with a Buryat population were separated from the autonomous regions (Onon and Olkhon).
In 1958, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was renamed the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which led to a change in the self-name of the Buryats.
In 1992, the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was transformed into the Republic of Buryatia.
Wedding ceremony in drawing
In Buryatia there is an intensive growth of ethnic self-awareness
The Buryats are one of the Mongol-speaking ethnic groups of Central Asia, formed on the territory of Russia from various clans and tribes in the 16th-17th centuries. The dispersed, fragmented settlement of the Buryat ethnic group today is determined by the area of residence in the three largest countries of the world: in Russia - over 445 thousand, in Mongolia - over 44 thousand, in China - about 6 thousand. On the territory of the Russian Federation, the Buryat ethnic group is ethnonational minority consisting of three entities: Republic of Buryatia (273 thousand, 27.8% of the total population), Irkutsk region (135 thousand, 3% of the total population) and Transbaikal Territory (115 thousand, 11% of the total population).
In Buryatia, a subject of the Russian Federation, today there is an intensive growth of ethnic, religious, traditional and historical self-awareness Buryat ethnic group. The value attitude towards traditional society is growing against the background of the internationalization of economic and socio-political life, the globalization of human activity on our planet, against the background of the international integration of modern values of civilizations (Mukhina. 2002: 16).
Self-awareness of traditional ethnic groups
According to V.S. Mukhina, the self-awareness of traditional ethnic groups living in the territories of adjacent states is influenced by both the primordial traditions of tribal relations and modern integration trends(ibid.: 16-39). I saw with my own eyes that the self-awareness of the Buryats reflects the commonality of traditional tribal orientations. In addition, the influence of titular ethnic groups and integration processes is observed. The ethnic self-awareness of the Buryats is determined by the conditions of interface between the “world of ancestral traditions” and the “world of cultural integration” in the system of surrounding realities. We are talking about the realities of the objective and natural world, about figurative-sign and social-normative realities.
Each link of self-awareness is sensitive to all realities
As the study has shown, each link of a person’s self-awareness is sensitive to these realities. Let us turn to the presentation of the most expressed elements of self-awareness in the tradition: we will, first of all, talk about proper names, claims to recognition, sexual identification and gender roles.
1. Identification with a name and with one’s personal and social essence
My name is Tuyana
My name is Tuyana, which means light. The Buryats still have traditional names in their name books.
Previously, an individual name had a sacred meaning in the tribal relations of people. At present, as our research has shown, a value-based, if not sacred, attitude towards the original name is preserved.
In the eastern Buryat Buddhists currently the name is given by the lama, or one of the older relatives; sometimes parents give a name.
Westerners Buryat shamanists Often newborns receive the names of their closest ancestors. This is to some extent due to the fact that the Buryats previously did not erect monuments on the graves of the dead. It was believed that the memory of the dead should be preserved by descendants.
Value attitude towards the original name
By receiving the name of an ancestor, the child seemed to establish a special relationship with the one whose name he was given. The soul of the ancestor is resurrected in the grandson. Through a newborn, the deceased returns to people.
Buryat names have a number of functions: 1 - “A name is a personality crystal that shapes and individualizes a person throughout life” (Mukhina, 2010: 529); 2 - social sign; 3 - connection with the ancestor of the family; 4 - security function.
Mandatory naming ceremony ulgyde oruulha“—continues to this day, reflecting the origins of the mythological view of tribal man.
According to our research, in modern conditions a name retains the function of social control and has a powerful meaning and meaning for its bearer. According to our observations, in modern conditions the name continues to perform an important function - symbol of continuity between generations, genealogy of the family as a whole.
Genealogical pedigrees originate from a common totemic ancestor
Genealogical pedigrees originate from the legendary totemic ancestor, who is deeply and immutably revered. “The mythological consciousness of the Buryats identifies totemic ancestors: Bukha noyon Bulagat tribe, Variegated burbot of the Ekhirit tribe, Hong Shubuun(Bird - swan) Khori Buryat and Khongodor” (Abaeva, 1991: 55).
Zoomorphic totems
Other zoomorphic cults are also recorded in the tribal names and legends about the origin of some Buryat clans: eagle- among the Sharaid family; wolf- totem of the proto-Mongols on board-Shono; dog- totem of the Ekhirite clans of Bura, etc.
There are certain beliefs associated with totems. From the era of totemism, a special attitude towards a dog has come down to us: you cannot drive a dog out into the street, beat it, or pin it with a door. It is a sin to kill a dog. For example, if a wolf was killed, the spilled blood was covered with snow or earth, believing that otherwise there would be wind with snow or rain. The wolf among the Buryats was considered a heavenly dog - tengariin nohoi. If he bullied domestic animals, people did not express offense or anger to him, considering this an indication from heaven (Mikhailov, 1980: 74).
Childbirth totems have a symbolic character
Legends have been preserved that the Ekhirites, who received the name of the wolf, are the descendants of the boy Chona, who was raised by wolves (Lyubimov, 1912: 901-902). The clan of Genghis Khan traced its origins back to Burte Chono(wolf). The wolf - the ancestor totem - takes on different functions in the beliefs of nomads: the wolf is a guide; hero's educator; wolf - werewolf; a wolf is a symbol of the military valor of the leader of a tribal military squad, which is often compared to a wolf pack (Kubarev, Cheremisin, 1987: 98-117; Lipets, 1981: 120-133). Clan totems had a symbolic character, reflecting functional meaning: initiation into clan members, hunting taboo, self-designation, identification by physical and fighting qualities.
M. Eliade wrote: “The rapid raids of the Turkic-Mongol conquerors were inspired by the mythical image of primitive Eurasian hunters: a predator pursuing game in the steppe. The speed of movement, the suddenness of the invasion, the extermination of entire peoples, the destruction of signs of a sedentary culture (cities and villages) - all this brings the detachments of Mongol horsemen closer to the image of a pack of wolves" (Eliade, 2009: 8).
Identification with the totemic ancestor
Today, identification with the totemic ancestor helps to feel one’s belonging to the clan, tribe, gives spiritual strength, and contributes to the formation of a sense of rootedness.
According to V.S. Mukhina, “culture contains figurative-sign systems that precede the individual person and impose themselves on him as an objective reality, serving as a condition of human existence” (Mukhina, 2010: 102). Certain images and signs assigned by a particular person, through their unique transformation in the internal psychological field, become the real basis of the significative function of consciousness, with the help of which the emotional-volitional sphere of a person and his value orientations are built. It is the significative function of self-awareness that is responsible for the attitude of the Buryats to traditional totems and their mythological perception.
Knowledge of the family tree is mandatory for members of the clan
The Buryats attach particular importance to the name of a specific person among the names of their ancestors. Knowledge of all branches of the family tree is considered mandatory for all members of the clan: “every Buryat must know his family tree up to the seventh generation.” “At family and public celebrations, celebrations, in the presence of numerous guests who came from different parts, sometimes 100 miles away, among whom there were experts not only of their own clan and tribe, but also of many other clans, they usually tested the children... Standing at table in a respectful pose, the children... listed their ancestors in ascending and descending lines, starting with Bukha-noyona and ending with himself and back. To test the solidity of knowledge, listeners asked from the middle of the genealogy, and then up and down” (History..., 1995: 64-65).
The basis of ethnic unity
Genealogical legends were and remain the collective memory of the Buryats, the matrix on which the picture of the world is built. This knowledge is the basis of the unity of the ethnic group, its mythology, ideology and politics. A.D. Karnyshev wrote: “Many Buryats, both in the past and at the present time, are slaves of blood ties: the presence of family ties obliges them to contribute in every possible way to protection, support, and unconditional assistance to loved ones...” (Karnyshev, 2007: 41).
According to A. A. Elaev, the personality of the Buryats is a reflection of a system of numerous connections with their local group and dependence on it. In this sense, the personality is inseparable from the established internal hierarchy of connections in the ethnic community. In modern conditions clannishness influences public relations and politics. A clear example is that there were no facts of recognition of a representative of any local Buryat group as a leader of a pan-ethnic scale by representatives of other groups (Elaev, 2000: 307). Studying the mental characteristics of the Buryats, I confirm this observation of A. A. Elaev even today - ten years after his research.
As observation shows, at the present stage of consolidation of an ethnos and the revival of ethnic traditions, not a single narrative begins without reference to genealogical roots: listing the deeds and names of ancestors serves as the beginning of an epic tale; praise of the hero-bator; honoring the hero of the day and many others. etc.
Values towards a name
Traditionally, the value attitude towards a name is manifested in its meanings and meanings. So, " Geser"must be brave, heroic, " Sakhidag" striking sparks from stone, etc. Psychological analysis of proverbs and sayings also allows us to indicate the value attitude towards the presence of a name: " Nereguy nehyte, sologuy sokho"(Someone without a name is like a beetle and is unreasonable); " Hein nerye huhalkhada, oldohoguy, muu nerye hyuhAhada, arilgahagui"(A good name is hard to find, a bad name is hard to scrape off); " Degelee sheneheen gamna, neree seberheen gamna(Take care of your fur coat while it is new, take care of your name while it is not tarnished); " Muu neretey amidy yabanhaar,hain naretey uhehen deere"(Rather than live with a bad name, it is better to die with a good one); " Neree khukhalanhaar, Ihahhhhhhhhhhh"(Rather than lose a name, it is better to break (your) bones); " Nere oloho— nahanay, nereee khuharkha—udaray"(They look for a name all their lives, but lose it in one day). The above Buryat proverbs have analogies in many cultures of the world.
Names reflecting the characterological characteristics of a person
In tribal society, personal names and nicknames prevailed, characterizing a person by his appearance, his facial expression and constitutional characteristics. A person received his social status by joining social roles that were closely related to his physical image. Buryats say: “ Shadalihain shandaahandaa yum, shanarhain sharaydaa yum", which translated means: “The strength and power of a person is in his sinews, and the quality, his spiritual wealth is expressed in his face.” However, the name could also relate to the external characterological characteristics of a person. For example, you can still find such names as Shantagar - “snub-nosed”, Malaan - “bald”, Khazagar - “crooked”, etc.
Traditional superstition dictated that when choosing a name, one must certainly remember that people with a beautiful and meaningful name are willingly taken over by otherworldly forces. In connection with this, in former times they deliberately named the child with a dissonant name with negative or derogatory semantics, such as: Eduur (gluttonous), Muuz (bad woman), Khandarkhai (ruin), Teneg (stupid). Often, for the same purpose, to mislead evil spirits, animal names were used: Khulgana (mouse), Baha (frog), Shono (wolf). Names such as Baasan (drop, excrement), Eme nohoy (bitch), Balta (hammer) also served a deterrent function.”
In cases where parents’ first-born children died, a special ritual was performed at the birth of the subsequent child “ zangyaa zuukhe", during which a silk cord with several knots was usually placed around the baby’s neck, which became a kind of amulet of protection against diseases and evil spirits. Today there is a tendency to change the name in the event of failure.
The name is sensitive to all realities
As it turned out, the Buryat name bears closeness with all the realities described in the concept of V.S. Mukhina (Mukhina, 2010: 48-315). Our research revealed names associated with: the realities of natural objects: [Naran (Sun), Bayan-Dalai (rich sea), Badma-Seseg (lotus flower), Seseg (flower), Suranzan (magnet), Shulong (stone)]; with the realities of the objective world [Zula (candle), Balta (hammer)]; with the realities of social-normative space: [Aryuuna (purity), Erdem (embodiment of knowledge), Aldar (bearer of glory), etc.].
The name was a sign of a person and represented his inner essence.
New names have appeared in the Buryat name book
Content analysis of the results of our research showed that in the Buryat name book the primary anthroponymic fund and the pagan attitude to the name are preserved (change of name in case of failure; transfer of names by inheritance; amulets names; limiting names), while identification of the bearer of a specific name with the proper name and the names of ancestral ancestors is observed .
At the same time, names associated with trends in integration processes appeared in the Buryat name book.
2. Claims for recognition
In the Buryat clan society, a person who fulfilled all the requirements of the clan received universal recognition and enjoyed protection. This was manifested through the symbolic meanings and meanings of coats of arms, banners, clothing, hairstyles, places occupied at meetings, etc.
Predetermination of a person’s social status in tribal society
The method of reconstructing studies of Buryat traditions allows us to say that the social status of an individual in clan society was predetermined by the status of ancestors, reflected in genealogical legends. The mode of behavior, way of thinking, and personal merits of a person were predicted and prescribed depending on his tribal status. Nobility, military valor, generosity, and wisdom were considered signs of a well-born, noble man, worthy of his famous ancestors. Such significant qualities were less expected from people of humble birth.
Virtues had to be followed by tribal people in order to survive in the extreme conditions of natural life and social and interethnic conflicts.
The taboo system regulates human interaction with nature
Today the system continues to exist taboo, regulating the relationship between man and nature. These relationships are built as relationships between people and the owner of a particular area - Ezhin. Thus, the Buryats believed and still believe that the owner of the taiga, Khangai, punishes those who violate order in his domain. Therefore, while in the taiga, they treat the fire with edible food, try to ensure that nothing unclean gets into the fire, that water does not drop on it, or that garbage does not fall into it. You cannot sing songs or shout loudly, especially whistle. A hunter is not supposed to brag, lie, swear, be sloppy, cut down trees near the parking lot, or throw into the fire anything that emits a stench when burning. The sacredness of Buryat ideas about personal responsibility to the natural environment has its own characteristics: we are talking about intergenerational responsibility. There are myths, usually family legends, telling about nature’s punitive retribution for inappropriate behavior and crime (“wrong” behavior in nature, “wrong” deforestation, hunting in “other” places, etc.). The possibility of putting children, grandchildren and subsequent descendants at risk by their behavior frightens and disciplines representatives of traditional society.
Family debt standards
Mastering the standards of ancestral duty has at all times had universal significance for the survival of the clan and each ancestral person. Despite all the limitations of traditional standards, they carried (and continue to carry) the experience of human existence in conditions natural and objective realities.
According to our research, modern norms of social behavior of the Buryats are no longer there are in the form of strict standards of patrimonial duty, but are located in the sphere of codes and moral ideas. At the same time, adherence to traditional norms of behavior continues to exist in the Buryat culture, especially in rural areas.
The meaning of toonto ancestral places
Traditionally, there is an expectation to visit birthplaces regularly - Toronto- place of burial of the placenta. In the “typical experiences” of the Buryats, the image of a home is presented as the guardian of a person’s vitality. Nineteenth-century researcher M. N. Khangalov gave a detailed description of the process of burying the placenta: “When a child is born, they have the custom of burying the placenta in the ground in some kind of container, most often in a birch bark basket.<...>together with the afterbirth, coal, grain bread, three black stones, occasionally a silver coin and birch splinters are placed in the basket; the latter are placed crosswise below and above; sometimes wine or tarasun is poured onto the afterbirth<...>hawthorn and rosehip are buried along with the afterbirth, since evil spirits are afraid of these plants. Coal is placed with the afterbirth, imagining that they are putting fire; when it is hot, the coal will throw sparks, evil spirits are afraid of sparks and therefore they will be afraid to come close to the child and will give up the intention of catching his soul” (Khangalov, 1903: 245-246).
Visits Toronto are filled with a special sacred meaning, since, according to Buryat beliefs, a person is charged with energy, vitality emanating from the place where the placenta is buried, since it acts as a source of vital force that nourishes a person.
The meaning of observing the “law of ancestors”
The invariability of observance of the “law of ancestors” is reflected in the proverbs: “ Ug tureloo aldahan huniye uhan deere tuimer edikhe"(He who has left his family will be found by fire even in the sea); “Tuukhe toorihegui, ug orhigdohogui”(History is not forgotten, and the race is not interrupted); " Oog suuryaan oido shengedeg, olon zone oron nyutagaa tushadeg"(The echo spreads through the forest, the people rely on their homeland); " Oorynhaykhan dayiye orhikho hereggui, turehenhaykhan nyutagaa toiroho hereggui“(You can’t leave your beautiful homeland, you can’t go around your native village); "X uloor oshhon erehe, hundelen oshohon erehegui(Whoever left on his feet will return; whoever left, that is, breaking customs, will not return); " Ug tureloo aldahan hunie tuimer uhan deere edikhe"(Whoever left his family will be destroyed by fire even on water).
Systems of signs influencing the internal position of a person
The conceptual sphere of the Buryat ethnos includes key meanings and meanings, actualized in the mythologized consciousness, associated with the habitat, living conditions and activities. Ethnicity has created systems of signs that affect the internal mental activity of each person (Mukhina, 2010: 102-143). Yes, concept serge- hitching post - retains its ritual and symbolic significance to this day. The veneration of serge is associated with the ancient cult of the horse. Serge was placed not only near the house or yurt, but also in other places. Serge means the masculine principle, is considered sacred, breaking or digging it up is strictly prohibited. "Destruction or destruction serge was tantamount to the destruction of the clan, the disappearance of all descendants,” wrote nineteenth-century researcher V. A. Mikhailov (Mikhailov, 1996: 33). Serge- a material sign, a sensually perceived element of reality, acting in a certain meaning and used to store and transmit some ideal information about what lies beyond the boundaries of this material formation. Serge performs many functions: sign-symbol, sign-attribute, etc. Serge signals the number of children, sons, and the formation of a new family. Today availability at home serge- a means of a person declaring himself as a traditionally significant person who claims the respect of others.
In Buryatia, the idea of “ echozanshal"— about a kind of etiquette as a reality regulating Buryat life. Analysis of participant observation of etiquette norms allows us to state that the claim to recognition comes through the respectful attitude of people towards each other, through goodwill, through spiritual unity with nature, through veneration of elders, through the preservation of the home, through concern for the increase of the family.
Buryats realize the need for recognition in a range of traditional and new activities
Modern Buryats realize the need for recognition in a range of various types of activities: traditional (hunting, handicrafts, cattle breeding) and new (entrepreneurship, business, politics, etc.). The specificity of the claims to recognition of the Buryats is expressed through compliance with social normative behavior. Modern Buryats claim: personal self-worth, which is confirmed by personal achievements; to a deep connection with the clan, with the family. Buryats have an expressed value attitude towards age (towards elders), towards traditional gender roles, towards career, towards social status, towards well-being, towards religion, towards the style of interpersonal relationships.
3. Gender Identity and Gender Roles
Valued and desired social maturity has always been through sexual identification. Differential attitudes towards children depending on their gender began among the Buryats very early. Nineteenth-century researcher G.D. Natsov described the original traditions of identifying boys and girls. So, from a ram slaughtered on the occasion of the birth of a child, broth was made, which the mother in labor drank and which was supposed to be used to wash the child himself, and broth was made from the right leg of the ram in the case of the birth of a boy, from the left - in the case of the birth of a girl (one of the manifestations of universal oppositions “ male - female", correlating with the opposition "right - left") (Natsov, 1995: 155).
To save the life of a child among the Western Buryats, the shaman performed a magical ritual. A broom was prepared from nine rosehip branches, with male branches taken for a boy and female branches for a girl.
Among the Eastern Buryat Lamaists, inviting the lama to be a reliable means of preserving the life of a child was considered find it- patron. If the newborn was a boy, the lama would give a bell, a vajra, or some other lama attribute as a talisman; if it’s a girl, then a ball of coral, amber, or a scarf with a thin, beautiful pattern.
The boy received the right of primacy
No differences were made between boys and girls regarding child rearing in the first five years of life. However, from the age of 5-6 years, the requirements for them became different, especially in families where there were few sons (one or two). In such families, boys received the right of primacy, enjoyed especially tender care, impunity, and occupied a special position. The boy became the darling of the family: he was given the best piece, on special days he could smoke a pipe, he was given a cup of milk vodka - like adult men. In a word, the boy received privileged rights.
From an early age, the girl was instilled with the idea of her subordinate position, of dependence on her brother. This difference in attitude towards boys and girls was sanctified by tradition: a son is the future breadwinner of old parents, the heir to the family hearth and household, and most importantly, the successor of the family (Basaeva, 1991).
Differentiation of male and female activities
Generic gender identification within activity is primarily divided labor. The girl was involved in work earlier than the boys. From the age of six or seven, the girl actively participated in household chores: she nursed younger children, washed dishes, helped with cooking, and looked after the fireplace. At the age of eight, the girl began to help her mother milk cows and learned to sew and embroider. Gradually she became involved in special activities such as processing wool, skins, twisting threads from sinews, twisting ropes, etc.
The boys were taught mainly to care for horses, they herded foals and sheep. From the age of 7-8, boys participated in field work.
The boy became familiar with various men's crafts: he learned to use a gun, archery, etc. An indication of a differentiated approach to learning to work is the proverb: “Haadag nomo dahaiha - khubuun uran dure, habagsha shurbehe tomoho - basagan urim dure”, which translates as “Um a boy’s skill is in the ability to string an arrow, a girl’s skill is in the ability to sew and embroider.” Proverbs guide Buryats to the early distribution of responsibilities in connection with gender roles.
Socially controlled gender relations
Ancestral gender identification among the Buryats, in addition to the fact that it is a person’s attitude to his work responsibilities, is also a biologically predetermined, socially taboo gender relationship. There was a whole system Horyuu(prohibitions) that a woman had to adhere to in family life. There was a taboo on the names of: father-in-law, his father, grandfather, husband's relatives in the ascending line. These were prohibitions on a woman pronouncing the name of her husband's relatives. These traditions have not yet been forgotten.
Taboo activities of men and women
The self-awareness of a member of the clan was determined by gender identification: men had to perform one social function, and women another. Activities of representatives of different sexes were strictly taboo. Buryats always remember that a ancestral woman can potentially carry within herself the life of a new member of the clan, and a man appears in the public consciousness as the continuer of the history of the clan.
Psychological analysis of proverbs and sayings allows us to highlight the value attitude towards gender identity: “ Eryn muu eneedeg, emeeley muu hahinadag"(The empty man laughs, the bad saddle creaks); " Ukherte emael zohikhogui, ekhenerte archi zokhikhogui"(A saddle does not suit a cow, wine does not suit a woman), " Khanshagta hun bolbol haisha shubge huryaaha, haadagta hun bolbol haadag nomoo manaha"(Women collect scissors and awls, men get along with bows and arrows); “Baatar khubun - seregte, basagan uri - kharida” (A man’s duty is to serve, a woman’s duty is to marry in a foreign land); “Ere hun gerte turehe, heere uhehe” (A man is born in a house, but must die in the steppe).
The relevance of traditional ideas about the roles of men and women
As participant observation shows, Modern Buryats have traditionally expressed sexual differentiation, which determines and regulates relations between the sexes. Today, traditional ideas about the roles and places of men and women remain relevant. To this day, a special attitude towards men remains, it is sanctified by tradition: the son is the future breadwinner of old parents, the heir to the family hearth and household, he is the successor of the family.
The position of the Buryat woman is dual: on the one hand, a woman is lower in status compared to a man, on the other hand, a modern Buryat woman has freedom of action (housewife, participation in public, family holidays and various entertainments).
In traditional situations of collective tribal rituals with an obligatory element of sacrifice - about tailagans- a woman still has no right to attend.
In modern Buryat society, gender identification is not predetermined by the division of labor into male and female. Stereotypes of male and female behavior are learned through imitation of older representatives of the same sex, through identification with them and isolation from the opposite sex at certain age periods. At the same time, among the Buryats, especially in rural areas, there is still a traditional separation that defines and regulates relations between men and women.
An analysis of the ethnic self-awareness of the Buryats gave us reason to say that to this day they are dominated by traditional attitudes towards naming, to the sphere of claims to recognition and to realizing themselves within gender roles.
As for psychological time, in the tribal self-awareness of the Buryats there was an orientation towards circular cyclical time, reflecting the cycles of the seasons, as well as the cycles of birth, life and departure of the dead into heaven - then a return to the living members of the clan through the next newborn. At the same time, modern educated Buryats have adopted the values of psychological time, which includes not only events and experiences of personal life, not only the history of the Buryats as a whole, but also the history of the human race as a whole.
Psychological space organically includes all the essential guidelines of the above-mentioned links of self-consciousness. Mastering the norms of ancestral duty among the Buryats, like all peoples of the world, had and has “universal significance for the survival of the clan and every ancestral person” (Mukhina, 2010: 715). To this day, within the Buryat clan, the formation of debt among the new generation is carried out in the space of all traditional relations and expectations. These conditions ensure the rights and responsibilities of each new generation. In addition to traditional norms, modern Buryats are focused on the Russian Constitution, laws and the Declaration of Human Rights.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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History of the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug (1995) M.
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Kubarev, V. D., Cheremisin, D. V. (1987) The wolf in the art and beliefs of the nomads of Central Asia // Traditional beliefs and life of the peoples of Siberia. XIX-XX centuries Novosibirsk
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Mikhailov, V. A. (1996) Religious mythology. Ulan-Ude.
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The Mongolian peoples experienced a long and complex evolution. In their historical and ethnocultural experience there were the most interesting periods of development, when the logic and laws of social development contributed to an incredible rise and an equally great fall. We can safely say that small dispersed, somewhat closed ethnic groups, which include the Buryat, are one of the ancient bearers of the traditions of the Great Steppe.
The ethnogenesis and ethnic history of the Buryats was decisively influenced by their border position in the forest-steppe zone between the centers of formation of nomadic powers of antiquity and the Middle Ages on the territory of modern Mongolia and the ethnocultural values of Southern Siberia. In the Cis-Baikal region, Baikal region and Transbaikalia, where the ethnogenesis of the ancestors of modern Buryats took place, starting from ancient times, there were various state formations in which the dominant ethnic groups (Huns, Rourans, Khitans, Kyrgyz, Uyghurs, etc.) entered into more or less long-term contacts with an autochthonous population. An important role was played by the fact that the territory of present-day Buryatia occupied a peripheral position in these state entities. Here there was a transition zone in all respects: in the economic and cultural type, which combined nomadic and semi-nomadic cattle breeding with hunting, fishing, and partly farming; in forms of social organization in which some innovations were superimposed on the traditional tribal structures, which affected the mentality of the Buryats, as well as ethno-confessional traditions.
Once within the Russian Empire, the Mongol-speaking tribes were forced to look for new ways of relationships among themselves, as well as with the Russian ethnic environment and, in general, with the Russian socio-economic system, as a result of which new ethnocultural and ethnopsychological traditions developed in the region. The Buryat ethnos currently represents a unique integral complex of natural, ethno- and sociocultural aspects, with its own value orientations and aspirations, methods of life and livelihood.
Its evolution is of a natural-historical nature, determined by the logic of self-formation and development and the spatiotemporal parameters of existence.
The mentality of the Buryats, their vision of the world and their sense of themselves in it, underwent significant changes and were often deformed, which is explained by the fact that at the stage of formation and development after the establishment of the Russian-Chinese border in 1727 until the revolution of 1917, the ethnos was not independent and its legal status was unregistered. As part of the Russian Empire, the Buryats did not have their own statehood and, as a “foreign” phenomenon, were subjected to Russification and Christianization. In Soviet times, although the ethnic group had autonomy in the form of the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, in 1937, as a result of repression against the republic, it was divided into three parts, which undoubtedly affected the national mentality and the characteristics of ethnic psychology. In addition, forced atheization, internationalization, the massive invasion of other ethnic elements into the places of historical settlement of the Buryats, and then their significant displacement (especially in the Baikal region), the spread of modern mass culture - all this had a painful and negative impact on the self-awareness of the ethnos, its language and culture.
However, despite the above phenomena, as well as the powerful onslaught of scientific and technological progress and urbanization at the present stage of history, the Buryats as an ethnic group have retained the factors of national self-identification: ethnic territory, language, religion, economy, traditions, a sense of historical continuity, which forms an ethnocultural complex , which creates a feeling of belonging to a given ethnic group. It should also be noted that in the last decade the self-awareness of the ethnos has increased significantly, the feeling of a “small Motherland” and unity around the phenomenon “we are Buryats” have increased significantly.
The concept of “rebirth” means restoration, rise after a period of decline and destruction; to revive means to make it active and alive again. In this sense, the revival of culture and the lost ancient traditions of the people sounds very relevant today. Each ethnic culture makes its own contribution to the world's spiritual wealth. Speaking about ethnic culture, we are talking about a way of preserving an ethnic group and reproducing the conditions of its life, about traditions as a form of behavior and functioning in the sacred space of culture. In our time of increasing trends in cultural globalization, interest in ethnocultural identity and the preservation of traditions has become especially acute.
The development of the ethnocultural traditions of the Buryats took place in the context of interaction with the cultures of other peoples, primarily with the peoples of Central, Eastern and Northern Asia, which undoubtedly played a role. However, the Buryat culture had its own ethical and artistic values, distinguished by its originality, richness of oral folk art, variety of genres of folklore, and decorative and applied arts. Folk art reflected everyday life, aesthetics and ideological ideals. Important elements of ethnic culture are customs and traditions, which express the uniqueness of the national character, ethical and aesthetic standards. Thus, we can talk about a national culture with deep traditions. In addition, undoubtedly, religious traditions play a huge role. With the penetration of Buddhism, the development of culture takes a new direction: this includes the spread of writing, scientific knowledge, literature, the art of Tibetan medicine, and most importantly, the Buryat national intelligentsia emerges. All this happened on the basis of an already existing folk culture, which had not lost any of its intrinsic value. It only evolved, acquiring new features and values. Historically, Russian culture could not help but influence the Buryats and their self-awareness. It is within the framework of Russian culture that representatives of the new Buryat intelligentsia appear: D., G. Gomboev, R. Nomtoev, M. Khangalov, Ts. Zhamtsarano, G. Tsybikov, B. Baradin, E.-D. Rinchino and others who advocated for the development of Buryat culture.
Beginning of the 20th century was marked by the rise of the spiritual and cultural life of the Buryats. The era of revolutions and the establishment of Soviet power interrupted the continuity of generations of the national intelligentsia. Many of its prominent representatives died in the brutal struggle. Much of the previous culture and ideology was rejected as alien to the new system, accompanied by a complete change in value orientations. The people, genetically connected with the culture of the East, were forced to abandon their orientation towards the cultural and religious traditions of the Buddhist world; much of their cultural heritage was declared nationalistic, and therefore alien and subject to destruction. It was useless to resist the cultural revolution in its Bolshevik understanding. In modern times, historical events and social processes of the 20th century. led us to the conviction that people have the right to be equal in the community of peoples, therefore the problem of ethnic identification today is one of the most important.
Buryatia is one of the multi-ethnic regions of the Russian Federation. Representatives of various nationalities live in the republic. In the 1989 census there were 112 of them, but only Buryats, Evenks and Soyots are considered indigenous peoples. Russians began to explore Transbaikalia in the 17th century; representatives of other peoples appeared here even later, in the 18th, 19th, and many only in the 20th century. Naturally, as a result of interethnic contacts, ethnocultural and ethnosocial relations and connections arose, which are very important in the life of modern states and peoples.
Recently, interest in ethno-regional problems of culture has increased significantly, as modern society comes to understand the inner essence of both society and ethnic group, and the person himself. According to ethnoculturologists, the spiritual and moral principles of traditions and cultures of different ethnic groups lead to the establishment of the deep foundations of the existence of all humanity.
Russia united various regions into a single whole, and this left its mark on the formation of a completely unique culture, which considers the multi-ethnic people of Russia to be united and unique. In this regard, there is a commonality of cultural processes that are studied as a necessary condition for the interaction and mutual enrichment of the culture of peoples, which is perceived by people as a necessity.
In the interethnic relations of the titular ethnic group - the Buryats and other ethnic groups (Russians, Ukrainians, Evenks, Jews, Armenians, Germans) the unity of intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic ties is manifested, which mutually determine and presuppose each other. Interethnic relationships and contacts of the Buryat ethnic group are specific forms of social relations. Intra-ethnic ties and intra-ethnic communication contribute to consolidation; they have a decisive influence on the formation of the ethnic self-awareness of the Buryats, contribute to the development of the internal life of the ethnos and the strengthening of its unity. This is the stage of communication when there is, as it were, the constitution of an ethnic group, awareness of one’s own “I” and the development of the need for interethnic communication with other ethnic groups living in the Republic of Buryatia, awareness of its objective necessity.
Cultures of different ethnic groups naturally and naturally interact with each other and bring the same values to world culture. Universal human values are the result of joint activity of people, which ennobles the needs of everyone depending on their views on the world. Each people’s ideas about the world acquire their own specific character, which depends on the psychology of the people, its manifestations and the degree of knowledge of this world, that is, it shows the individuality of the people, their originality.
In recent studies, an understanding of the influence of regional factors on the culture of interethnic interaction is emerging. One of the world's cultural and historical regions is Central (Inner) Asia, with its specific economic and cultural type of nomadic pastoralists characteristic of it in historical time, which has left its mark on culture and relationships. At the same time, Central Asia, which includes vast territories with diverse cultures, is internally heterogeneous and, in turn, consists of several parts and subregions, one of which is Buryatia. Interethnic interaction takes place in an active geopolitical zone, which contributed to the well-known tolerance of the Buryat ethnic group.
Particular attention should be paid to the problem of historical heritage. In 1937, the republic was divided into three parts. The regions that were richest in agricultural terms were transferred to its neighboring regions. It is enough to give the following figures: occupying only 24.4 thousand square meters. km, the Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug of the Irkutsk Region produces more grain than the Republic of Buryatia with its much more extensive territory of 351 thousand square meters. km. So, in 1991-1995. the average annual grain production in the district amounted to 327 thousand tons, and in the republic -317 thousand tons. The gap between the Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug of the Chita region and the republic in meat production is significantly less than in the occupied area: in 1995 the district, being less than the republic by 18.5 times, produced meat only 6.6 times less than Buryatia. This means that per unit area the district produces 3 times more meat than in the republic.
The general policy of the USSR led to the administrative division of the Buryat ethnic group and a large influx of migrants from other regions of Russia. Thus, a situation has arisen that in their historical homeland the titular ethnic group has turned into an ethnic minority. Of course, one can also recall the repressions of the Stalinist period, when the Buryat intelligentsia and Buddhist clergy were largely destroyed, significant groups of Buryats were exterminated and forcibly resettled during the annexation of Eastern Siberia to Russia, and that the ongoing process of Russification and cross-breeding brought them to the brink of loss ethnic identity. But now a different approach is important. It is necessary to focus on the positive aspects of interaction between the Buryats and Russians within the Russian Empire, the USSR and the Russian Federation. This includes the mutual enrichment of two ethnic cultures, their inclusion in the global flow of cultural ties.
Buryatia is a region with a historically established multi-ethnic and multi-confessional population. Today, representatives of more than 116 ethnic groups live on its territory; as of June 1, 2002, the Department of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Belarus registered 168 religious organizations. Of these, there are 65 Orthodox, 38 Buddhist, 7 Old Believers, 2 shamanic, 3 Islamic, one Catholic parish, 27 Pentecostal, 4 Baptist, and 23 other religious organizations.
From ancient times, the autochthonous peoples of Buryatia (Buryats and Evenks) adhered to archaic beliefs, which were replaced by a shamanic religious culture, which systematized and institutionalized ancient beliefs and cults. Tribal beliefs and cults in their shamanic form began to be supplanted by Buddhist culture from the second half of the 17th century, the time of its establishment throughout the Mongol-speaking area. As a result of interaction with autochthonous cults, by the end of the 19th century. A unique system of religious syncretism developed, in which pre-shamanic and shamanistic beliefs and cults were significantly influenced by the world religion - Buddhism.
In the 90s of the XX century. in ethnic Buryatia began to actively revive. Today, the Spiritual Center of the Buryat folk religion “Bɵɵ-murgel”, “Lusad” and “Tenger” function in the republic.
With the annexation of Buryatia to the Russian Empire, with the arrival of Russians in Transbaikalia, Orthodoxy began to spread. At the present stage, the Chita and Transbaikal dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church are in first place in Buryatia in terms of the number of operating religious organizations. The overwhelming majority of Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, some of the Cis-Baikal Buryats, and immigrants from the Irkutsk region are Orthodox.
For almost three centuries, the Old Believer “ancient piety” has been preserved on the territory of the republic, the adherents of which are the so-called Semeiskie. According to various estimates, there are up to 20 thousand Old Believers in Buryatia, whose ancestors were exiled to Siberia from Belarus, Ukraine and Poland for disagreeing with the church reforms of Patriarch Nikon.
The traditional religion of the Buryats, along with shamanism for four centuries, is Buddhism, most widely represented by the Gelugpa school. Against the background of a significant predominance of adherents of the dominant Gelugpa tradition, in the republic in the last years of the 20th century. Other schools of Tibetan Buddhism began to spread, such as Dzogchen, Karma Kagyu, Sakyapa, etc.
Ethnic Buryatia professes not only shamanism, Buddhism and Orthodoxy. At different times, compact groups of Poles who professed Catholicism, Jews - Judaism, Tatars - Islam, Protestants from the western parts of the Russian Empire, etc. settled on its territory. Their descendants live in the republic today.
In the 90s of the XX century. In Buryatia, religious movements began to spread, united under the general name of “new” or “non-traditional”: the Society for Krishna Consciousness, the Bahai Faith, communities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the New Apostolic Church, etc.
Buryatia is one of the regions in which there are no open interfaith conflicts and political disagreements on religious grounds. In today's Russian situation, this is the most valuable “social capital”, the preservation and enhancement of which is the responsibility of executive authorities and religious leaders, as well as politicians and the scientific community.
The uniqueness of the Republic of Buryatia also lies in the fact that, according to many geopolitical characteristics, it is an extreme point, and partly a province of many constituent structures of Siberia and Asia. On the one hand, this is the northernmost point of Central Asia, the entire Tibeto-Mongolian world. At the same time, it is the extreme southern point of historical Siberia as it exits into the vast Asian space. At the same time, this is the extreme western zone of the Far East. It is possible that in the person of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia is finally gaining the much-needed foothold in Asia, which it historically did not have in strategic and political terms. In this case, the plan of Peter, who believed that Russia should build its policy in Asia, relying on the Mongolian buffer, reaching the Lanzhou docking zone, could come true. Then Russia can truly become a superpower again.
In recent years, economic and social transformations have continued in Buryatia, aimed at creating conditions for economic growth. The activities of the government and executive bodies of the republic, the growth of business activity of citizens led to positive changes in the economy of the republic.
The volume of gross regional product, according to the Ministry of Economy and External Relations of the republic, increased by 8.2%, Buryatia is 2.8 times faster than the Russian level in terms of growth rates of industrial production, which allowed it to take 12th place in the country and first in the country in terms of this indicator. Siberian Federal District.
Cash income of the population increased by 4.8%. Among 89 regions of Russia in November 2003, Buryatia ranked 26th in terms of average wage growth, exceeding the Russian average level.
In terms of growth in real cash incomes among the subjects of the Federation, the Republic of Buryatia moved from 52nd place to 41st. The increase in real cash incomes of the population of the republic had a positive effect on its purchasing power. Retail trade turnover increased by more than 7%.
In the Republic of Buryatia there are more than 20 political parties, movements, and public organizations that reflect the interests of various groups of the population. Traditional public organizations that are part of the republican branch of the People's Patriotic Union of Russia, where the local branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation plays a leading role, remain an influential force. The activities of the United Russia party (the activities of the faction in the People's Khural, the activities of the city branch of this party) became noticeable in the political life of the republic. Socio-political associations created on an ethnic basis have lost their influence in recent years. The candidates they nominated at various levels of elections did not achieve their goals.
According to the results of the 1989 All-Union Population Census in Buryatia, the total population was 1038.2 thousand people. According to the 2002 census, the population of Buryatia currently does not even reach a million - 980 thousand people. The most numerous ethnic groups living in Buryatia include Russians, Buryats, Ukrainians and Tatars.
The number of Russians in the republic increased by 78.4 thousand people (12%) compared to 1979; the number of Buryats increased by 20.6% and amounted to 249.5 thousand people.
However, since the beginning of the 90s of the XX century. the demographic situation is assessed as unfavorable. The number of deaths exceeds the number of births. Over the past 17 years, the number of children under 6 years of age has decreased by 70.6 thousand people, that is, almost 2 times.
The decline in the number of residents of the republic is influenced by migration processes. In January-August 2002, the migration outflow in Buryatia amounted to 2.3 thousand people. According to migration services, the population leaves mainly for the Irkutsk region, Moscow, Moscow region, St. Petersburg and far abroad.
A decrease in the birth rate, an increase in mortality, and the outflow of population from the republic negatively affect the age structure of the population. Thus, the share of elderly people (65 years and older) at the beginning of 2002 amounted to 9.1% of the total population (in 1985 - 6.3%).
In the ethnic development of the Buryats only at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century. it became possible to accurately determine their significance in the region and their sovereign rights. The statehood of the Mongolian peoples in various forms of sovereignty was the result of the most complex geopolitical situation in Central Asia and the determination in the struggle for their rights of peoples who associate themselves with the Mongols and the Mongolian world. The Mongolian peoples became a kind of buffer in the relations between the great powers, primarily the USSR and China, in the region of Central and East Asia, and internal autonomy became a kind of outpost in international relations. Each of the great countries, before entering the Mongolian space, should think about new forms and proposed models for the development of adjacent territories. Any political strengthening of any country in this region was sharply negatively perceived by a political opponent. In view of this, the model of ethnocultural development of the Buryats acquired exceptional value and its own specificity.
The entire post-war period, including the so-called “perestroika,” was of great importance for leveling out ethnocultural development. Despite the dramatic disagreements with China during the USSR period, attention is drawn to the fact of a typologically similar political system, ideological guidelines, and therefore a similar model of professional science, culture and education. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of development options and experiments fell on internal autonomies, after which they were carried out in a proven form on Mongolian territory. Not a single country objected to the structure, content and mechanisms of development of the new culture and civilization; there was only a struggle for influence and political interests. The result was the fact that the internal ability and receptivity of the former Central Asian nomadic communities to culture and knowledge, coupled with the desire of ethnic communities and individual ethnic groups for progress, received a powerful impulse, the movement of which led the Mongolian ethnic groups to equalize civilizational development. This circumstance also led to increased competitiveness of the Mongolian peoples in the global space.
Considering the geopolitical position of the Republic of Buryatia in the system of relations between the Russian Federation and the countries of Central and East Asia and other regions of Russia, it is necessary to note a very important factor - the remoteness of Buryatia from zones of ethnic conflicts. Buryatia traditionally has good neighborly and stable relations with neighboring Mongolia.
The most important geopolitical factor that creates extremely favorable preconditions for the socio-economic development of the republic is the position of Buryatia on the way from Russia to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. And this importance will constantly increase as the inconsistency of the unilateral and reckless orientation toward Western countries, characteristic of federal policy in the 1990s, begins to emerge. Being an integral part of the Russian Federation as its full-fledged subject, possessing a certain range of sovereign rights, Buryatia must develop its own approach to the problem of Russia’s interaction with the countries of Central and East Asia. At the same time, it is important to take into account the balance of all-Russian and republican interests in order to determine one’s place in this system of relationships and create one’s own long-term development strategy aimed at the fullest possible realization of existing opportunities and prerequisites. Without this, it is very problematic to solve pressing problems of spiritual revival and ethnocultural self-preservation.
We have been living in this sunny city for five years. We are my beloved husband (Russian), our children (mestizo), me (Buryat) and all our living creatures. We previously lived abroad and returned, so to speak, to my ethnic homeland. Despite the fact that we have everything we need for a comfortable stay in Ulan-Ude - our own home, car, work - the thought of changing our place of residence sometimes comes to mind. And I will try to tell you truthfully about the pros and cons of living in the city of Ulan-Ude.
Population and language
I would immediately like to draw attention to the inaccuracies in the previous review “Irkutsk vs Ulan-Ude”: firstly, in Ulan-Ude the ethnic Buryat population is 60%, 30% Russian and 10% others, although recently there has been an increase in the number of migrants from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, so perhaps a little more than 10%. All markets and construction sites are occupied by citizens of these countries, local entrepreneurs are very unhappy with this, moreover, minibus taxis are also gradually moving to them, which annoys me too, because the drivers simply do not know the city.
Secondly, the proficiency of the Buryat language among young people does not depend in any way on religion; there are many examples of Irkutsk Buryats who profess Christianity or shamanism and speak the Buryat language perfectly. I also agree with the opinion about the imposition of the Buryat language on the non-Buryat population, especially students, which extremely irritates not only Russians, but also adequately thinking Buryats. Personally, I absolutely do not understand the meaning of teaching the Buryat language, for example, to an Armenian boy. Where will the Buryat language be useful to him? But it is included in the compulsory program, and in some educational institutions it is necessary to pass an exam. But it should be noted that the Buryats are very respectful of Russians who know the Buryat language, and sometimes you can understand what the Buryats standing next to you are saying about you. That's what my husband does. By the way, the Buryats have a very bad habit of discussing Russians in Buryat.
About mentality
The Buryat mentality can be described in one word - restraint. Buryats are very restrained in emotions, I would even say they do not know how to rejoice, but when it comes to negative emotions, then they give free rein to their feelings. If you are “lucky” to have a fight with a Buryat woman, leave. You will lose so much strength and nerves, it will cost you more. In general, Buryats are vindictive. If they quarrel, then once and for all, and if they are friends, then for real. Russians are simpler, they will quarrel and make peace, just like everywhere else and like at all times. All people, of course, are different, many are simple and sincere, and many are arrogant and arrogant. Interethnic marriage every twentieth, mostly a Buryat man marries a Russian woman, accordingly there are more and more mestizos, I think this is the nation of the future!
About work and real estate
There is work, but not for everyone, but for those who have protégés. Good positions are always occupied, even if they are actually vacant, because the children of deputies, judges, etc., etc., apply for such positions, well, as in all Asian republics. There is work, but mainly in the trade sector, we have a lot of shopping centers, all kinds of brand stores, Chinese markets and supermarkets. If you open a business here, you need to focus on the poor population; in Russian, we have few rich people. My husband opened a construction company and bought expensive special equipment. equipment and hoped to receive orders for the construction of cottages and low-rise buildings. But in the end, for twenty ordinary log houses, measuring 7*8, there is one cottage. The principle is the same in all areas, whether you sell soap, juice, water - twenty cheap ones will buy one expensive product. The average salary is 15,000 rubles, the population is happy to take out loans, there is always a line at banks. An interesting fact is that a loan for a mink coat is very popular (the principle probably doesn’t apply here), there is no money, but we love to show off.
Real estate is steadily rising in price, today 1 sq. m in a new building costs from 40,000 rubles. In our country, secondary housing is valued more expensively, and often looks unpresentable, but people are simply afraid of freezing in new houses and are ready to overpay for proven housing. The city has grown in all directions due to the private sector; one-story wooden houses have surrounded Ulan-Ude in a dense ring. The cost per square meter of such housing is very affordable, about 15,000 rubles. Many come from the regions of the republic, bringing with them old houses, and buy an inexpensive summer cottage (about 300,000).
As for realtors, these brothers, like everywhere else, are not distinguished by decency. In my life there have been several cases of deception by realtors, and in both cases the realtors were Buryat women of considerable age.
Weather
Winter is cold. The end of January and the beginning of February 2014 on the street is -36, but in general, the winter this year is abnormally warm, the average temperature is about -15, although usually -27 is the normal temperature for winter in Ulan-Ude. And this is a huge minus! People living in the private sector, like us, are suffering. I’m not afraid of this word, it’s really incredibly difficult and expensive to maintain a house of more than 100 square meters, there is no gas pipeline, and there never will be; electricity is expensive - 2.75 rubles. for 1kW; What remains is coal - 3000 rubles per 1 ton or firewood - 5000 for a small truck (for about 1 month) - this is how people suffer while working as stokers. Accordingly, the rent is not modest, for a one-room apartment 4,000 rubles/month. And, in addition to the fur coat mentioned above, you need to buy high boots made of deer skins, costing 12,000 rubles, but this is a real necessity, so your legs will not “stay” at the stop.
Summer is hot. In summer the temperature also goes beyond 30, but again in 2013 the summer was abnormally cold. The swimming season lasted two weeks, and in general we swim on Lake Baikal only in August, the water is either still cold or already cold.
Chronic vitamin deficiency. I specifically want to focus your attention on this disadvantage of our climate, potatoes grow well here and EVERYTHING. Everything else is of Chinese origin; I will not describe the taste qualities of these products, since they are absent. Of course, grandmothers have cucumbers, but this is not enough; there are berries and mushrooms in the forest, but they remain in the forest. Nothing grows due to the sandy soil and sharply continental climate. And I really want to feed the kids real juicy melons and sweet watermelons...
Prices: beef meat - 270 rubles, bread −17 rubles, milk - 36 rubles, pears (Uzbekistan) - 180, apples (China) - 50 rubles. The prices, as you can see, are quite normal, you can live.
In the end, I want to say, or rather shout out loud: I really want to feed the kids juicy melons, sweet watermelons, swim at least three months a year and throw these high boots to hell!
In one of the Russian-speaking groups he writes:
”If your girlfriend is Buryat
Your girlfriend is Buryat, she has black hair and slanted eyes, she is incredibly beautiful. She is childishly simple, sincere, and has a charming smile. At the same time, she is very strong and has a strong character.
She sees the beauty of nature, rejoices at every flower and ray of sun, she will stroke and play with a kitten like a child, but at the same time she can do any man’s work.
She always speaks the truth, but at the same time she is very cunning, she will remain silent when necessary, find an approach to a person, knows a way out of almost any situation, and can persuade anyone if she needs it.
From an early age she dreams of a family, a child, and love. But at the same time she is very modest and does not tolerate vulgarity.
She loves to show care and takes care of her other half. She loves to be taken care of, loves to give advice, but really does not like to be advised.
She has patience and courage to forgive, she will forgive you many times, but one day her patience will burst and she will say “bayartai” (goodbye) forever and nothing can bring her back.
She doesn't like being spoken to in abstruse phrases, but she can't stand banal idiots who can't communicate on an intelligent topic.
She rarely says the words “I love you”, but she loves when these words are spoken to her. They speak exactly, looking into the eyes - and do not write on VKontakte or other social networks. She cannot stand lies, she always feels it intuitively, she just doesn’t always show it.
She loves attention, it doesn’t matter what you give her - just a chocolate bar or an expensive car - the main thing for her is the fact of your attention, that you think about her, that you don’t forget. She believes in love, but few people trust her.
It is very difficult to earn her love, but if she loves, she loves sincerely. However, her love can quickly pass if it is not supported. Then she will simply leave silently, and abruptly, because all Buryat women are well adapted to life.
If your girlfriend is Buryat, then you are very lucky, but do not forget that it is very easy to lose her.”
A little naive, isn't it? However, such “creativity” is characteristic of a young age... And yet, we admit, much of this text is correctly noted. What do you think?
Lately, truthful and even fantastic versions about how things have often appeared on the Internet. ARD is already in its publications. More often, of course, their topic is exaggerated. Even on non-Buryat national resources:
However, studies of the “national character” of girls, especially well-reasoned ones, are still very rare... Perhaps ARD readers will share their opinion on whether Buryat girls have “their own character”?
YouTube, for example, also has its own subjective “author’s” opinion about the beauty of Buryat women: