Birtalan Ágnes: Kalmyk Folklore and Folk Culture in the Mid-19th Century: Philological Studies on the Basis of Gábor Bálint of Szentkatolna’s Kalmyk Texts.
ETHNOGRAPHICA CALMYCICA
prohibitions, secrets. This was my own experience during the fieldworks among various ethnic Mongolian groups. Even those records on the Mongols' funerals that seem to be the fullest and most detailed do not contain all the details of the costumes connected to the funeral. There are informants who give particulars to the researcher, however other members of the community would like to keep it in secret or are afraid to talk about it, however, we had the possibility to record valuable material from some of our Oirat friends in the Mongol Altai area. Pallas, Bálint, Bergman, Nebol'sin and other travellers and researchers also found proper informant who revealed some aspects of this topic. 108 2 It is a significant reflection on Bálint's research success that his records are so comprehensive (also form among the Khalkhas). Below I offer a concise summary of published material concerning these topics in order to create a cultural background, perspective for Bálint's record necessary for the uninitiated readers reveal some hardly understandable particulars. In the present monograph there is sadly not enough space to show and analyse all the existing records of death and funeral rites among the Mongols, only some comprehensive studies will be referred to. The death and its rituals appear in written sources (in Buddhist and Buddhiscised folk religious ritual texts, cf. Charles Bawden's studies in this respect). 10 8' Concerning contemporary fieldwork there are two main approaches: I. recording the traces of old traditions still practiced and remembered; 108 4 2. documenting the transition (socialist and post socialist period, changes according to the political requirements. 108 5 Unsurprisingly, the versatile scholar P. S. Pallas was interested in recording and revealing the funeral rites among the Kalmyks. In his usual sarcastic style, he introduced his records as belonging to customs whose aims are the delusion of poor Kalmyk folk by the Buddhist clergy. Nonetheless, his special standpoint did not hinder him from providing very precise descriptions of funerals and moreover, detailed translations from religious books recited over the deceased. 10 8" Both Pallas and Bergman mention other kinds of funerals (know also among other Mongolian ethnic groups), namely: burying (entombing), cremating, water burial and the most frequent, according to their estimation, the putting out in the steppe. Bálint's informant withheld information on the manner in which funerals might be unusual or even shocking for a foreigner. He dealt with burial in the ground (in a coffin or in a chest) and the cremation of high ranked Lamas and noblemen. The practise of putting out into the steppe or among other Mongolian groups is the most customary and is in accordance with the Buddhist concept of the nature and cyclic perception of life. Bergmann provides particulars on the astrological context of funerals - according to his informants, the twelve year cycle zodiac also influence the funeral (the year of death determines the method of burial). 108 7 In Bálint's text, in concordance with the accounts of Pallas and Bergmann, an emphasis is laid on the textual tradition during the funerals. Bálint's predecessors discuss meticulously the text called Allan Saba "The Golden Vessel" (Pallas provides a translation as well), while Bálint's informant mentioned several kinds of texts (some of which can not be identified as yet). All three discussed sources that emphasise the differences between the burial of a commoner and the funeral ceremony of a Lama. Bálint's data completes the information of Pallas and Bergman concerning the ,08 2 Pallas II. pp. 249-306; Nebol'sin pp. 96-99; Erdnijev pp 190-191; Ernjänä pp. 171-172; GuCinova, E.-B : Transformacija pogrebal'nogo obrjada Kalmykov. In: Problemy sovremennyh elniceskih processov v Kalmykii. Elista 1985 pp. 90-97; Habunova: Tulmt. pp. 64-71: BordZanova, T.: Magiceskaja poezija kalmykov; BordZanova, T. G.: Obrjadovaja poezija kalmykov (sistema zanrov. poétika). Elista, Kalmyckoje kniZnoje izdatel'stvo 2007. 260-286; Birtalan - Rákos: Kalmükök, pp. 86-87. """Bawden, Charles R.: Confronting the Supernatural: Mongolian Traditional Ways and Means. Collected Papers. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag 1994. " I8 J Sárközi. Alice: Halottkultusz, őstisztelet. In: Őseink nyomán Belső-Azsiában. Tanulmányok a mongol népi hiedelemvilágról. I. Ed Birtalan, Ágnes. Budapest, Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó 1996. pp. 91-118. [The cult of dead and the veneration of ancestors. In: On the traces of our ancestors. Studies on Mongolian folk belief). 108 5 Humphrey, Caroline: Rituals of Death as a Context for Understanding Personal Property in Socialist Mongolia In: The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 8./I. (2002) pp. 65-87. """' Pallas II. pp. 249-306, Bergmann III. pp. 153-159 and farther. 108 1 Bergmann III 153-155. 147
