Publication details
Zakhchin and Altai Uriankhai pilgrimages in the 19th century : Connecting the periphery and centre
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| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The banners of Zakhchin and Altai Uriankhais belonged to the most remote administrative units under the Qing imperial administration over the Mongolian cultural area. Very few local level archival records related to the history of these two administrative groups survived but reports in the First Historical Archives of China and the Qing Archives of the National Palace Museum compensate the loss of local archives, because important official affairs related to the western regions were reported to the Grand Council in the Qing court. Following the integration of the Oirat nobility into the system of the Qing Empire and the establishment of a new monastic network following the administrative structure of the Oirat banners, archive documents dating from the beginning of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century provide a testimony of long-distance pilgrimage tours organized repeatedly by representatives of local nobility or eminent monks usually on a group basis. The pilgrimages were directed to Ikh Khüree and Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, Utai Mountain, and Kumbum Monastery. This paper will provide an overview of archive documents giving brief but important information about the organization of pilgrimages. The oral tradition (transmitted oral history) occasionally illustrates long-distance pilgrimages as key events in personal lives and as merits producing acts that transcend generational boundaries in their significance. The pilgrimages from the Western Mongolia to Ikh Khüree testify to the increasing devotion to Jebtsundamba Khutuktu beyond the Khalkha area, which eventually created ties of a common identity that facilitated the approval expressed by the representatives of Oirat banners to the new Mongolian government in Ikh Khüree in 1912. |
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