The pilgrimage sites of the Mongols : an overview -- The invention of Wutaishan -- Political and clerical promotion of Wutaishan in the Qing and Republican periods -- The Mongol imaginaire of Wutaishan -- The Mongol pilgrims : sociological and economic aspects -- The Mongols on Wutaishan : interactions and encounters -- Mongolized Wutaishan and Mongol Wutaishans : appropriation and substitution -- Conclusion: Wutaishan's legacy in Mongolia -- Appendix 1: Main monasteries of Wutaishan, early twentieth century -- A
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International audience ; This paper questions the current construction of a 54 metres statue of Maitreya against a 108 metres stupa in the steppe south of Ulaanbaatar, that will stand at the edge of a new 'eco-city,' Maidar City. The Grand Maitreya Project (GMP) was initiated in 2009 by H. Battulga, businessman and MP (before he was elected president of Mongolia). The project aims to be 'one of the largest Buddhist complex in the world,' and now is a 'National project for reviving traditional Buddhist education and culture.'I propose to use religious and art-historical approaches in order to document the 'birth' of a Buddhist project, with a special interest in the long process of conception, fundraising and promotional programme. Relying on recent studies on the entanglement of Buddhism, politics, culture, consumerization and tourism that gave rise to new cultual modalities, and on studies of colossal statues recently built in Asia, this article asks what the GMP tells us about modern Mongolian politics and public religious culture. What are the sources of inspiration and foreign references of the GMP? Is it a religious monument that will benefit from the tourist economy, a tourist attraction, or a unifying, nationalist symbol of 21st-century Mongolia
International audience ; In Mongolia, as in other parts of Buddhist Asia, a few special images inspired devotees to undertake pilgrimages to worship them. These images often have a miraculous origin, are credited with volitional agency, and are said to perform miracles. They frequently became "tutelary deities" of local groups and played a role in the "Buddhist conquest" of Mongolia through the creation of pilgrimage sites. Some of them became palladia and were used as political tools in the formation of power, legitimacy of rule, and protection of human groups. By studying texts composed by high-ranking lamas as well as legends and tales from the sixteenth century to the present, this paper aims to understand what makes them so special, and how they gained their reputation. It will also ask whether there are specificities in the worship and understanding of images linked to ancestors' cults and shamanist practices.
International audience ; In Mongolia, as in other parts of Buddhist Asia, a few special images inspired devotees to undertake pilgrimages to worship them. These images often have a miraculous origin, are credited with volitional agency, and are said to perform miracles. They frequently became "tutelary deities" of local groups and played a role in the "Buddhist conquest" of Mongolia through the creation of pilgrimage sites. Some of them became palladia and were used as political tools in the formation of power, legitimacy of rule, and protection of human groups. By studying texts composed by high-ranking lamas as well as legends and tales from the sixteenth century to the present, this paper aims to understand what makes them so special, and how they gained their reputation. It will also ask whether there are specificities in the worship and understanding of images linked to ancestors' cults and shamanist practices.
International audience ; In the Manchu period, Mongol herders were attached to their 'banner'-the basic territorial, administrative and military unit of Qing Mongolia. Their circuits of nomadization were reduced, and they were fined when found to cross its frontiers. While princes, great reincarnate lamas and long-distance traders (as well as some marginal categories such as badarchi/itinerant lamas and bandits) had many opportunities to travel within Mongolia and even abroad, it is generally assumed that commoners had no choice but stay in their pastures. Yet they had a main reason for undertaking long-distance travel: pilgrimage. This paper investigates the various modes of travel of these pilgrims, their equipment, organization and funding, and highlights the importance of a mode of locomotion which is rarely seen in Mongolia nowadays: walking.
International audience ; This paper questions the current construction of a 54 metres statue of Maitreya against a 108 metres stupa in the steppe south of Ulaanbaatar, that will stand at the edge of a new 'eco-city,' Maidar City. The Grand Maitreya Project (GMP) was initiated in 2009 by H. Battulga, businessman and MP (before he was elected president of Mongolia). The project aims to be 'one of the largest Buddhist complex in the world,' and now is a 'National project for reviving traditional Buddhist education and culture.'I propose to use religious and art-historical approaches in order to document the 'birth' of a Buddhist project, with a special interest in the long process of conception, fundraising and promotional programme. Relying on recent studies on the entanglement of Buddhism, politics, culture, consumerization and tourism that gave rise to new cultual modalities, and on studies of colossal statues recently built in Asia, this article asks what the GMP tells us about modern Mongolian politics and public religious culture. What are the sources of inspiration and foreign references of the GMP? Is it a religious monument that will benefit from the tourist economy, a tourist attraction, or a unifying, nationalist symbol of 21st-century Mongolia
International audience ; In the Manchu period, Mongol herders were attached to their 'banner'-the basic territorial, administrative and military unit of Qing Mongolia. Their circuits of nomadization were reduced, and they were fined when found to cross its frontiers. While princes, great reincarnate lamas and long-distance traders (as well as some marginal categories such as badarchi/itinerant lamas and bandits) had many opportunities to travel within Mongolia and even abroad, it is generally assumed that commoners had no choice but stay in their pastures. Yet they had a main reason for undertaking long-distance travel: pilgrimage. This paper investigates the various modes of travel of these pilgrims, their equipment, organization and funding, and highlights the importance of a mode of locomotion which is rarely seen in Mongolia nowadays: walking.
International audience ; This paper questions the current construction of a 54 metres statue of Maitreya against a 108 metres stupa in the steppe south of Ulaanbaatar, that will stand at the edge of a new 'eco-city,' Maidar City. The Grand Maitreya Project (GMP) was initiated in 2009 by H. Battulga, businessman and MP (before he was elected president of Mongolia). The project aims to be 'one of the largest Buddhist complex in the world,' and now is a 'National project for reviving traditional Buddhist education and culture.'I propose to use religious and art-historical approaches in order to document the 'birth' of a Buddhist project, with a special interest in the long process of conception, fundraising and promotional programme. Relying on recent studies on the entanglement of Buddhism, politics, culture, consumerization and tourism that gave rise to new cultual modalities, and on studies of colossal statues recently built in Asia, this article asks what the GMP tells us about modern Mongolian politics and public religious culture. What are the sources of inspiration and foreign references of the GMP? Is it a religious monument that will benefit from the tourist economy, a tourist attraction, or a unifying, nationalist symbol of 21st-century Mongolia
International audience ; In the Manchu period, Mongol herders were attached to their 'banner'-the basic territorial, administrative and military unit of Qing Mongolia. Their circuits of nomadization were reduced, and they were fined when found to cross its frontiers. While princes, great reincarnate lamas and long-distance traders (as well as some marginal categories such as badarchi/itinerant lamas and bandits) had many opportunities to travel within Mongolia and even abroad, it is generally assumed that commoners had no choice but stay in their pastures. Yet they had a main reason for undertaking long-distance travel: pilgrimage. This paper investigates the various modes of travel of these pilgrims, their equipment, organization and funding, and highlights the importance of a mode of locomotion which is rarely seen in Mongolia nowadays: walking.
International audience ; In Mongolia, as in other parts of Buddhist Asia, a few special images inspired devotees to undertake pilgrimages to worship them. These images often have a miraculous origin, are credited with volitional agency, and are said to perform miracles. They frequently became "tutelary deities" of local groups and played a role in the "Buddhist conquest" of Mongolia through the creation of pilgrimage sites. Some of them became palladia and were used as political tools in the formation of power, legitimacy of rule, and protection of human groups. By studying texts composed by high-ranking lamas as well as legends and tales from the sixteenth century to the present, this paper aims to understand what makes them so special, and how they gained their reputation. It will also ask whether there are specificities in the worship and understanding of images linked to ancestors' cults and shamanist practices.
International audience ; This paper explores several Western travellers' accounts of their travels to Hohhot (Kökeqota), capital city of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was a cosmopolitan trading town and a religious centre. It argues that although Western travellers generally stayed in Hohhot to prepare their expeditions in Mongolia or Xinjiang and were rarely interested in the city itself, they nevertheless described the city's urban layout, markets and temples, and provided information on its population, government, cemeteries etc.
International audience ; This paper explores several Western travellers' accounts of their travels to Hohhot (Kökeqota), capital city of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was a cosmopolitan trading town and a religious centre. It argues that although Western travellers generally stayed in Hohhot to prepare their expeditions in Mongolia or Xinjiang and were rarely interested in the city itself, they nevertheless described the city's urban layout, markets and temples, and provided information on its population, government, cemeteries etc.
International audience ; Les Mongols ont, dans leur très grande majorité, fait du bouddhisme de rite tibétain leur principal marqueur identitaire, et cette religion a eu depuis le XVI e siècle un impact très profond sur la culture mongole en général, et sur la littérature et les arts, la vie intellectuelle, la vision du monde et de l'au-delà, ainsi que les conceptions morales et scientifiques (astrologie, médecine et mathématiques) en particulier. La culture mongole ne peut se comprendre sans cette religion universaliste qui devint un des principaux facteurs d'unité culturelle, dépassant les frontières tribales pour lier les Mongols dans une foi commune. Depuis sa diffusion en Inde, puis en Asie du Sud, du Sud-Est, en Asie centrale et orientale après le V e siècle avant notre ère, le bouddhisme atteint son extension maximale en Asie avec les Mongols, derniers peuples convertis. À partir des Bouriates de Transbaïkalie, convertis au XVII e siècle, le bouddhisme gagne la Russie au XX e siècle, et enfin l'Occident à travers sa diaspora. Le bouddhisme de rite tibétain et ses aspects politico-religieux Le bouddhisme de rite tibétain, formé à partir du VII e siècle de notre ère, appartient au courant Mahayana – le « Grand Véhicule », qui accorde dans son panthéon une place importante aux bodhisattva. Il a également intégré une forte composante tantrique – d'où son appellation de Vajrayana, « véhicule de diamant » – et se caractérise par un ensemble de textes, réunis pour la plupart dans deux grands corpus, le Kanjur et le Tanjur, de doctrines, de rituels, de méthodes initiatiques ainsi qu'un panthéon spécifique. Bien qu'il mette en valeur le rôle éminent joué par le lama dans cette tradition et présente l'avantage d'éviter toute référence géographico-ethnique, le terme de « lamaïsme » n'existe ni en tibétain, ni en mongol, et n'est plus en usage en Occident, où il évoque pour certains une religion différente du bouddhisme, parfois même perçue comme une dérive corrompue et hétérodoxe de ce dernier. On préférera alors ...