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Location:Yunnan Adventure Travel:Yunnan Trip-Yunnan Tours-China Tours-China Travel >> Yunnan Overview >> Yunnan Ethnic Minorities >> Mongol Ethnic Minority

Mongol Ethnic Minority

With a total population of 5,813,947, the Mongolians live mainly in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Some are distributed in Xinjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Gansu and Qinghai. There are also some scattered in Sichuan, Ningxia, Yunnan and Beijing.

Reputed as "pearl in the grassland", the Mongolians have kept their nomadic living style for hundreds of years."Mongolian" originally was the name of one of the Mongolian tribes. At the beginning of the 13th century, a Mongolian tribe headed by Genghis Khan unified all the other Mongolian tribes, giving birth to a new nationality - Mongolian ethnic group.

 

Most Mongolians believe in Lamaism and they have their own language and alphabet.

Living in grassland, the Mongolians rely on raising stock as their economic support. Kumiss, roasted mutton, and shoubarou are their favorite food and drink. They live in Mongolian tents which are characterized by their facility and portability. Being round, the larger size can hold over 20 people and the smaller over 10 people.

 

The Mongolians are fond of robes. The men's are very wide and outfitted with a girdle while women's are slender. The Mongolian women normally wear beautiful headbands and elegant ornaments. Boots, made of cloth and cowhide with good protection, are essential to Mongolians. A red or green waistband, flint steel, snuffbox, and knife in an ornate sheath for cutting meat are accessories common to all men and women.

 

The Mongolians are a nationality on horseback. Their ancestors once conquered a vast region and founded a strong kingdom on the horseback. Throughout their entire history, horses have played an important role in their daily lives. Horse racing is a prevalent sport among Mongolians. Every Mongolian loves to prove his worth by demonstrating skills in horsemanship and archery, as well as wrestling.

 

In the grassland, the ceremonious Nadam Festival is held each August by Mongolians to celebrate their good harvest. Contests such as archery on horseback, wrestling, horse racing and other traditional activities are held. The festival lasts 5 to 7 days. Contest winners are regarded as heroes by the Mongolians.

  • Three Greatest Historical Works 04/15 11:37

    Mongol Secret History is also called Yuan Dynasty Secret History, or Yuan Secret History, and in Mongol language, it is called Manghuotaniuchatuobuchaan. The author is unknown. The book was finished around the middle period of the 13th century. As to the exact year, some say that it was finished in 1228 (Heavenly Stem Five, Earthly Branch One), and others say it was 1240 (Heavenly Stem Seven, Earthly Branch One), and still others say 1252 (Heavenly Stem Nine, Earthly Branch One) and 1264 (Heavenly Stem One, Earthly Branch One), but they havent reached the last word. It is the first and greatest historical and literary work written in Mongolian.

  • Andai, Handleless Cup and Chopsticks Dances 04/15 11:33

    Andai Dance originated from a collective dance of the Kulun Qi in the south of the Horqin Grassland. Andai means to raise oneself slightly, to lift ones head. At first, it was a religious dance used in praying to god and curing the sickness and its meaning is to impetrate the blessing of the god, to prevent diseases and to forestall misfortunes. Later, the dance gradually became an entertaining activity. As to its origin, there are many legends spreading far and wide in the people. This is one of them: Long ago, there lived a father and his daughter on the Horqin Grassland. Suddenly, the daughter began to suffer from an odd disease. She did not take meals on time, and became moody. She had been ill for a long time without any sign of recovery.

  • The story of MaTou Qin 04/15 11:31

    Most of the resonators are trapezium, and still some are square, rectangular, hexagonal and octagonal. The frame of the resonator is made from horny wood blocks, with horsehide or oxhide, sheepskin covering both sides, or with hide covering the front and the thin slab covering its back. The shank is made from color wood, pear wood or rosewood etc., with a tuning page on each sides of the upside, and the head of the instrument on its top. The bows are mostly made from the cane, or the wood pole and the horsetail. The two stings are made from 40 (the inner string) and 60 (the outer string) horsetails, using silk strings to tie them to the musical instrument. The way of Matou Qins performance is quite different from that of other drawn string instruments. The bow is not put between the inner and outer string, but is kept outside them to brush and play. It is often used in a solo, or a self-playing and singing. Its timbre is gentle, deep and low, and it sounds melodious and mellow, full of the flavor of the grassland.

  • Nadam Fair and Three Skills of men 04/15 11:28

    Nadam Fair, transliteration of Mongolia language, means entertainment, or recreation. Originating in the early days of thirteenth century, it is a festival mass rally of traditional Mongolian. At that time, a big Huli Letai (a big meeting) would be hold by leaders of Mongol every month. Many activities were taken on during the meeting, such as making laws and regulations, appointing and removing officials, giving prize and penalty. Besides, a large Nadam Fair would also be hold. At that time, Nadam mainly refers to wrestling, horse racing and archery.

  • Horse, Camel & Light wooden cart 04/15 11:22

    Recent years, Mongolian people are no longer satisfied with these traditional means of communication and transportation any more, as their life has been improved much. Many of them purchased modern vehicles, such as motorcars, tractors and cars. Thus, both their production and life became more convenient, faster and richer and colorful.

  • Kumiss and Stewed Meat Taken by Hands 04/15 11:13

    Mongol people live in grassland for generations and they make a living of farming. Kumiss, stewed meat taken by hands and kabob are their favorite and dish for feasting.

  • The White Food of Mongol Ethnic Minority 04/15 11:02

    The traditional diet of Mongol relay mainly on milk and meat while taking grain subsidiary. With the improvement of life condition, the structure of diet is also changed correspondingly--- the propor

  • The Movable House Yurt of Mongol Ethnic Minority 04/15 10:23

    Yurt is the name of the Mongolian nomads traditional house used by Manchu, which came into using in Qing Dynasty. Bao, means home or house in Manchu language. Beforehand, a yurt was called as the vault of sky, felt tent or felt bag.

  • Colorful Dresses and Personal Adornments 04/15 10:15

    Ornaments approximately can be classified into five types: headwear, sautoir, plastron, waist decorations and hand decorations. Headwear, which mostly has scarves, hats, fillets, hair rings, plait clamps, plait covers, hairpins, hair clasps, earrings, eardrops and so on, is the most flowery part in Mongolian ornaments.

  • A Nationality on Horseback 04/04 12:30

    The Mongolian nationality is a legendary ethnic group with a long history. For thousands of years, the Mongolians have been roving around as a nomad and propagating over the vast land which stretches
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