20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

552 Marie-Dominique EvenWith the reopening of many Buddhist temples 1 , the return to thecentre of the stage of the figure Chinggis Khan is one of the most obviousideological changes that have happened in Mongolia following the collapseof Soviet Union and the instauration of a democratic regime after 1990.From the celebration of the 750 th anniversary of the writing of the SecretHistory of the Mongols down to names of pop music bands, hotels orvodka brands, from the huge ceremonial complex dedicated to him andtwo of his successors, the khans Ögedei and Khubilai, built right in frontof the Government House just where the mausoleum of the heroes ofrevolutionary Mongolia used to stand 2 , to his portrait engraved on the sideof the mountain on the southern side of the capital city replacing the initialsof the Mongolian Popular Revolutionary Party (PPRM), Chinggis Khan iseverywhere.This came after decades of deliberately ignoring the role the Mongolianemperor played in world history, s a ruthless invader, and in Mongolianhistory as a feudal leader that restrained the development of the Mongolianpeople. In their studies, foreign specialists such as C. Bawden, I. deRachewiltz, F. Aubin and C. Kaplonski, to cite but a few, havebeen discussing the ways Chinggis Khan has been presented by Soviet andMongol historians, the prudent re-evaluation of his legacy that started inthe 1960s, including the noteworthy failure - in the midst of the Sino-Sovietdispute – of the 800 th anniversary Chinggis Khan’s birth, as well as the“Chinggismania” that spread after 1990 and the selective omissions in thenew historical narrative developed in opposition to the socialist one by therecent Mongolian historiography.What I would like to address in this paper is the ritual and religiousaspects pertaining to the post-Communist commemoration of ChinggisKhan and appearing in parallel to the new, myth-like historical narrativethat is developing. A form of sacralization of the historical figure is takingplace with the support and participation of successive governments in theirattempt to build a new symbolic and ideological framework for the post-Communist Mongolian state. The administration has not relinquished all1On the Buddhist revival in Mongolia after the shift to democracy in 1990, see articles(accessible on line) by Z. Majer 2009; K. Teleki 2009. "Building on Ruins, Memoryand Persistence: Revival and survival of Buddhism in the Mongolian countryside". SilkRoad 7, 64-73; Wallace, V.A. 2008. "Mediating the power of Dharma: ‘The Mongols'approaches to Reviving Buddhism in Mongolia". The Silk Road 6/1, 44-53.2The mausoleum was destroyed in August 2005. Lamas were invited to performa special ceremony before the bodies of D. Sükhbaatar et Kh. Čoibalsan – the latter hadbeen instrumental in the destruction of Mongolia’s Buddhist church in 1937-1938 – wereremoved and cremated.