Сolor and Space in the Traditional Сulture of the Оirats of Мongolia and the Kalmyks of Russia

Abstract

The traditional culture of homo mobilis has been the subject matter of research both in Russia and abroad. It is the nomadic way of life, largely of the past, that has come into the focus of scholars. This applies, in particular, to Kalmyks, the heirs of the Oirats, who came in the 17th century from Western Mongolia to the steppes of the Northern Caspian region. Nomadic herders explored and developed a vast area resorting to the traditional form of farming. Thousands of years in the constant movement of nomadic life and close linkages with the natural environment affected not only their way of living, but also their cosmovisions, i. e. perceptions of the world. From the point of view of nomads, the “middle world” (the world of people) exists in close contact with heaven and earth. Heaven is the founding father, the creator of all things, the source of everything that happens on earth. This image of the world is associated with a dialectical idea of the mutually exclusive and complementary phenomena of arga and bilig. The philosophical teaching of the Mongols, arga-bilig, extends to the traditional symbolism of color, which expresses ideas about interrelation between the Universe and a Man. The artistic embodiment of religious and philosophical ideas, developed in detail within the worldview of the Oirats of Mongolia, has been further elaborated in the cross-border culture of the Kalmyks of Russia. They preserved and transformed the traditional symbolism of color and space. Comparative analysis of artistic traditions accompanied by the usage of methodologies of history, ethnocultural studies, art history and philosophy enables one to identify the common and different between the cultures of the Oirats of Mongolia and the Kalmyks of Russia.