ETHNO-CULTURAL COMPONENTS IN THE ORAL HISTORY OF BURYATS OF CHINA’S INNER MONGOLIA
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6119-2020-4-138-147
This article considers the oral stories as a part of the ethno-cultural component of the Buryat folklore. Also, the ethno-cultural constituents are revealed in their composition. Based on the analysis of the oral prose of the local ethnic group of the Buryats recorded during the expedition to the Evenki Khoshun of Inner Mongolia of the PRC, the historical and ethnographic data, traditional folk worldview and religious ideas, ritual elements were described. The fictional prose of the Chinese Buryats contains historical information from the participants of the past events about the development of new lands by the settlers, among which the issues of survival and self-preservation were important. After cleaning up and tidying up the abandoned territory and some settler activities, independent work began to organize healthcare and educational process for children. It is concluded that during the initial period of social adaptation of migrants, there is an attempt to isolate themselves in a certain way in relation to the title nation of the host country, neighboring ethnicities and peoples. Their everyday life is characterized by closeness, minimal openness to the host society, and lack of integration into the overall Chinese economic development process on a large scale. At the same time, good relations are maintained with the Russian population living next door, as the Buryats consider themselves and the Russians living in China to be children of the same cradle – Russia. In the oral tales of the Chinese Buryats, the presence of the Buddhist ethno-cultural component generally determines their religious consciousness. At the same time, one can trace pre-Buddhist relics, shamanistic components of this consciousness related to the worship of the sky, fire, water, and sun. The funeral rite and obit are dominated only by Tibetan-Buddhist rituals and actions. It was concluded that in the oral prose of the Chinese Buryats, syncretism of the two beginnings in their cult notions is observed: the prevailing adherence to the Buddhist faith and the preservation of elements of ancient mythological views.
Keywords: oral stories, Chinese Buryats, historical memory, traditions, customs, rites, religious consciousness
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Issue: 4, 2020
Series of issue: Issue 4
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 138 — 147
Downloads: 754