Buddhism and Mobility: Nomadic Monasteries of Mongolia, 16th-19th Century
From Lindsay Ruth
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From Lindsay Ruth
Beside stationary Buddhist monasteries, the Mongols also had itinerant monasteries with felt and wood temples that periodically moved in the steppes and mountains of Inner Asia. Most of them eventually settled down in the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, but up to the early 20th century, a few mobile monasteries continued to nomadise in western Mongolia. This paper first argues that here is no contraindication for a Buddhist monastery to be made up of in felt tents and frequently change locations, and that lightweight, dismountable architecture is not restricted to the ger (yurt) but includes prestigious large structures. Finally, it examines the mobility patterns of itinerant monasteries and the various reasons for their moves to determine whether their migration was a matter of choice or necessity.
Bio: Isabelle Charleux is director of research at GSRL (CNRS – National Centre for Scientific Research, EPHE/PSL). Her research interests focus on Mongolian material culture and religion. She published Nomads on Pilgrimage. Mongols on Wutaishan (China), 1800-1940 (Brill, 2015) and Temples et monastères de Mongolie-Intérieure (INHA/CTHS, 2006), as well as scholarly articles on various topics such as miraculous images in Mongolia, Buddhist architecture and mural paintings, and visual representation of past and present figures of authority in the Mongol world.