Mongolian New Year. Mongolian New Year: history and traditions New Year traditions in Mongolia

At a hitching post in the distance,

silently standing under the moon,

From the first freshness of spring

my frisky black froze.

Begzin Yavuukhulan, Mongolian poet

The Mongolian lands stretched from the impenetrable taiga in the north to the sands of the Gobi in the south, from the snowy peaks of Altai in the west to the endless steppes in the east. Mongolia is a country of clear blue lakes, deep rivers, mountains where edelweiss grows, and lush pastures where all year round Horses, cows, camels, goats and sheep graze. Natural horsemen live here, who begin riding almost earlier than walking.

Everyone rides horseback in Mongolia - men, women, and small children. After all, the country's horse population is so large that there is literally a horse for every two million inhabitants. By the age of five, the little Mongolian is already confident in the saddle, and children aged 6-12 years old take part in traditional horse racing.

Relations in a Mongolian family do not look so patriarchal and are based on equal rights between spouses: women take part in herding livestock, men devote a lot of time to raising children.

All Mongols carefully preserve the traditions of their ancestors. New Year they meet twice. The first time was on the night of January 1st with Father Frost and Snow Maiden, a Christmas tree and gifts. Second time - by lunar calendar. This holiday is called Tsagan Sar (White Month) in Mongolian. It received its name in 1206, during the time of Genghis Khan. Tsagan Sar marks the arrival of spring: after all, it usually falls in February.

In the evening, on New Year's Eve, every Mongolian family holds a bituleg - farewell to the passing year. The next day after sunrise, all family members congratulate each other, then the round of relatives and neighbors begins.

TO New Year's table they prepare fatty lamb, dumplings, dairy and flour dishes. The Mongolian feast is a whole ritual, as ancient as the tradition of celebrating Tsagan Sar. Everyone sits in a circle and the tea party begins. Then the most respected person cuts the fatty meat of the lamb rump and distributes it to everyone present. A silver bowl with kumys goes around in a circle. Thrifty owners keep it frozen since autumn. One cannot do without traditional milk vodka – archi. Fun, laughter, songs - first of all, of course, about the Mongolian horse.

On the second day of Tsagan Sara, somon (district) races are held. Participants, their coaches, and relatives gather in a predetermined place. Festively dressed young riders riding shaggy horses of different colors are calm and full of dignity. The start has been given. The distance is no more than ten kilometers. At the finish line, participants are waiting, talking animatedly, exchanging news and assessing the chances of their pets. The elderly man took his smoking pipe with a mouthpiece made of white jade and began to light it, striking a fire with the help of a fire-stool.

Time passes unnoticed. But then someone notices the first horseman galloping through the valley. Soon the entire “Kumys Five” appears. And here is the winner in white felt boots on a black horse! Five winners pass each other a bowl of kumis; this magical drink is sprinkled on the grains of their horses. Tired but satisfied young riders hand over their horses to trainers while they wait for the rest of the participants to finish.

These New Year's local races are everyone's favorite. Such a warm, friendly atmosphere reigns here, and friends and relatives of the participants are so worried!

On New Year's Day, it is customary to wish each other happiness and good luck. So let us repeat after our Mongolian friends:

May all your wishes come true in the New Year!

Sar shinin mand devshuule!

Vladimir LISICHKIN,

Perhaps no holiday has embodied the idea of ​​infinity and at the same time the cyclical nature of time as much as the New Year. He is a milestone not only on the calendar. With it, in the life of every nation, whatever its level of development, the next cycle of seasons and related types of economic and social activities begins.

It does not have an exact, fixed date and is calculated annually according to the lunisolar calendar, adopted as the basis of chronology in many Asian countries. The holiday itself and the entire month of the year following it is called Tsagaan Sar, which translated means "White Month". The origin of the name is explained in different ways.

Some believe that the holiday is called that because on these days everything around is white and covered with snow; others say that the holiday falls at the hungriest time of the year, when evil forces run rampant, and in order to appease them, the month is called white, that is, happy; Still others see the reason in the fact that it is in February that they eat “white” dairy products, the Mongolian name for which is tsagaan idee.

One way or another, the name of the month is associated with the color white, which in the color symbolism of the Mongols is associated with the idea of ​​happiness. By happiness, the nomad meant, first of all, the abundance of livestock and everything that it provides - meat, milk, dairy products.

Until the mid-13th century, the Mongols celebrated the New Year in September. August was considered the green month, followed by the white month of September, when there was a massive processing of dairy products to create food reserves for the winter. Their abundance fully corresponded to the name of the month and the Mongolian concepts of happiness.

The grandson of Genghis Khan, Emperor Kublai Khan, moved the beginning of the New Year to February according to the Chinese model. Along with the holiday, the name of the New Year's month also changed to February. It began to be called Tsagaan Sar, still symbolizing the abundance of dairy products, although in fact at this time of year there were already few of them: by the beginning of spring, winter stocks, as a rule, were coming to an end.

How it went Tsagaan sar at the court of Kublai Kublai, we know from the description of Marco Polo. On this day, all the emperor’s subordinates brought him gifts: gold and silver, pearls and gems, expensive white fabrics.

People's Tsagaan sar it was much easier. The night before we said goodbye to the old year: we ate meat, steamed meat pies, dumplings, and drank tea with milk. New Year celebrations began early in the morning. The guests walked from yurt to yurt. Those who were younger went to the older ones and congratulated them.

Every gesture on this day is filled with ancient benevolent symbolism. Take, for example, the New Year's greeting: the youngest of the guests, bending their arms at the elbows, place them with their palms up under the hands of the elders, whose arms are also bent at the elbows, but with their palms down. This gesture means respect for elders, readiness to provide them with help and support.

Before greeting, each of the men pulled a knife from his belt and left it hanging on a chain - a sign of peace and harmony. The hosts greeted the guests by standing on white felt spread at the entrance to the yurt. Guests handed the hosts a hadak - a blue or white silk scarf. Since ancient times, these colors have symbolized the wish for happiness. The hosts also tried to give gifts to the guests in return. It could be the same hadak, candy or money, preferably brand new metal coins.

The magic of the first day of the New Year influenced the whole year as a whole - hence the abundance of white food and new money.

And then it began feast. The oldest and most respected guests were located in the northern part of the yurt, women sat on the eastern half, and men sat on the western half. Everyone was dressed in festive, bright clothes. On the table are dairy products (cottage cheese, foam, cheese, kumiss) and arkhi milk vodka, and fatty, sweet cookies (hevyin boov) specially baked for the occasion of Tsagaan Sara, shaped like the sole of a boot. And, of course, boiled lamb, placed on a large wooden dish according to all the rules of a traditional Mongolian feast. On top lie the rump and the head - the two most socially significant parts of the lamb carcass.

Usually the owner offered the oldest and most respected guest the first to taste a piece of meat from the rump. Then everyone else was treated to it, trying to maintain order by seniority. At the same time they drank milk vodka, and if kumys was preserved until this time, then that too. The hostess regularly refilled the guests' drinks. And from time to time she put on the table a dish with freshly prepared, steamed meat pies - buuz.

It was considered a special New Year's dish rice porrige on milk. However, rice appeared relatively late in the Mongolian food system, therefore, it seems that this dish, with all its double white symbolism, is also quite late.

The guests left and new ones appeared to replace them. The feast lasted all day and stopped only at night. And the next morning everything was repeated. And so on for several days.

On the first day of Tsagaan Sara, the age of all people and animals increased by one year. It doesn't matter that one was born in July and the other in December. The New Year happily equalized everyone in this matter.

On the first day of Tsagaan sara accepted guess about the weather, about the prospects for the future, about the offspring of livestock, about its fattening and, accordingly, about what depends on this and what is so important for the cattle breeder - whether there will be enough food next winter. Methods of fortune telling were divided into folk (based on signs) and Lamaistic (based on astrological books).

If the pipe lit well, if the jasper snuffbox did not sweat in your hands, if the bulls in the herd did not butt but behaved calmly, then the weather would be good, there would be no dzud (lack of food) and no loss of livestock.

Lama astrologers used books to tell fortunes. For each person - depending on what year, month, day and hour according to the animal calendar he was born, what menge ( birthmarks) he was accompanied by and which of the five elements (earth, water, air, fire, metal) provided him with its special protection - by the combination of all this it was determined what to expect for himself personally in the current year, what to fear, what to strive for .

And another mass spectacle for a fairly short period of time was associated with Tsagaan Sar in Mongolia. This yangou - cheerful carnival processions on stilts. At first, they were hosted by Chinese theater artists in the capital of pre-revolutionary Mongolia, Urga. In makeup and costumes, they walked on stilts around the city, entered the courtyards of Chinese trading companies, and then the Mongolian nobility, and there they performed a pantomime of the life of different segments of the population.

After the victory of the people's revolution, youth turned yanghou into propaganda spectacles. They were usually held on the streets on the third day of Tsagaan Sara. Eight to ten pairs of actors in masks, costumes and on stilts portrayed scenes from the life of old Mongolia, combining pantomime with dialogue. The scenes were very simple in content: a lama seduces a girl, a Chinese official beats a simple Mongol, etc. The performance ended with a collective procession of masks in a circle and fireworks. Actors were traditionally invited to the house and treated to food. Some of these propaganda teams went to the countryside and showed their performances there.

13:55 — REGNUM In the capital of Mongolia, on the central square named after Sukhbaatar, the grand opening of the country’s main Christmas tree took place with the participation of the mayor of Ulaanbaatar and representatives of the sphere of culture and sports.

"Banquet of Prince Natsagdorj"

Mongols celebrate the New Year twice. The first time was on the night of December 31 to January 1 according to the Gregorian calendar. The second time - according to the lunar calendar. This holiday is called “Tsagaan Sar” (translated as “White Month”).

New Year according to the Gregorian calendar is celebrated traditionally in Mongolia: they decorate the Christmas tree, Father Frost and Snow Maiden give gifts to children.

This custom is only 70 years old: it is a consequence of the influence of culture and education Soviet Union. Such a new year was first celebrated in Mongolia only on December 31, 1947. At the same time, Father Frost visited the country for the first time. His role was played by the People's Artist of Mongolia Gombozhavyn Gombosuren. At that time, “grandfather” was only 28 years old. He was the main performer of this role for 50 years and became the country's honored Father Frost. The Mongolian Father Frost differs from the Russian one primarily in his attire: a national headdress, a deel suit and shoes.

Interestingly, before the Gregorian New Year became a legal holiday, it was celebrated illegally in the country. And the great Mongolian writer Dashdorzhiin Natsagdorj He was even convicted for it. In 1931, the famous prose writer, poet, considered one of the founders of modern Mongolian literature, Dashdorzhiin Natsagdorzh with his Russian wife Nina Shestakova invited a whole company home, which included a famous writer Donrovyn Namdaga and representatives of the Russian diaspora living at that time in the capital of Mongolia. They celebrated the New Year together. Among the guests was a certain Bat-Ochir, who photographed the event. On the back of one of the photographs he wrote “Banquet of Prince Natsagdorj” and sent this photo to the Ministry of Internal Defense. On May 18, 1932, Dashdorzhiin Natsagdorj was arrested and interrogated to find out why he was celebrating a “feudal holiday.” The writer spent six months in prison.

"Banquet of Prince Natsagdorj"

A little more than ten years passed, and during World War II, a Mongolian politician Sonomyn Luvsanbecame a participant in the New Year celebrations in the Soviet Union. After returning home he stated:

« We must celebrate the beautiful New Year holiday, which is celebrated by Russian brothers.". This is how this tradition was legalized in the country.

The second new year - "White Month" - has been celebrated by the nomadic Mongols for more than 800 years. The holiday is associated with the beginning of spring. Tsagaan Sar (“White Month”) most often falls in February. The tradition originated in the country during the time of Genghis Khan. Mongols celebrate Tsagaan Sar not in a narrow family circle, but in the company of friends and neighbors, since since ancient times there has been a belief that the more people gather in a house for a holiday, the richer and happier the coming year will be. True, during the time of Genghis Khan, the Mongols celebrated this New Year's holiday in the fall. And it was moved to spring only after the death of the commander, in the 13th century.

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In this article, I want to introduce you to the national Mongolian holiday called “Tsagaan Sar” (literal translation “White Month”). Moreover, it took place only a month ago and is celebrated in almost all Asian countries.

In Mongolia, it is usually celebrated in February, calculated according to the lunar calendar. But when we mention that this holiday coincides with the Chinese New Year, the Mongols are offended. For them, this holiday is calculated by lamas (Buddhist monks).

The holiday begins in the evening, on the eve of the holiday itself, on the last day of the outgoing year. Every family should get together in the evening and have a hearty meal. This evening is called “bituun” (from the word full, filled). It is believed that if you eat well at “bituun”, you will be nourished and happy all year. In the morning the official celebration begins. Officially, the holiday lasts 3 days. Most people don't work these days. Even grocery stores are closed and therefore we have to stock up on food for several days (bread on store shelves is completely absent for a week).

On the first day, they visit elderly relatives (parents or grandparents). Many people dress in national clothes, which gives the holiday solemnity, colorfulness and national flavor. When meeting, it is customary to greet each other in a certain way. The greeters extend their hands to each other, palms up. The elder's hands are on top, and the younger should place his hands below, as if supporting the elder by the elbow. At the same time, they ask each other whether they celebrated the New Year successfully, thereby notifying them of their well-being.

Integral dishes on the table are buuz (large steamed dumplings - for clarity), “heviin boov” laid in a certain way and covered with “even” on top, on top there are “aruls” (pieces of dried cottage cheese), various dairy products (mostly white) , and a lamb, cooked almost entirely. The ram lies on the table for all three days and the meat is cut off from it into pieces, and then eaten completely.

After the greeting and feast, the hosts give gifts to the guests when they leave. Gifts are prepared a month before the start of the holidays. One family can host from 8 to 15 (or more) groups of guests in one day. Can you imagine how many gifts they need to give out?!

The holiday lasts several days, but for many it ends only when they greet all their relatives. And to do this, some have to travel to different regions of Mongolia for more than one week.

No one knows for sure the origins of this holiday. There are several different opinions.

Some say that the holiday was established by the world-famous Genghis Khan. In order to unite the scattered Mongol sites. For a whole month, once a year, they had to visit other sites, thereby maintaining relationships and learning about recent events. Since I was absent at that time Railway and the vehicles took a long time to travel.

Others say that the holiday was originally considered a holiday of the beginning of spring, when livestock began to produce offspring. Then the livestock breeders met together and congratulated each other on the arrival of spring and the new offspring. The holiday was not celebrated in the cities. During the communist rule, the holiday was abolished, and after the fall of communism it was reintroduced at the state level.

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