Development of the Mongolian National Style Painting "Mongol Zurag" In Brief [antikvár]

DEVELOPMENT OF THE MONGOLIAN NATIONAL STYLE PAINTING 'MONGOL ZURAG" IN BRIEF One: History One of the major forms of Mongolian fine arts tliat originated in the hoary antiquity is painting. Petroglyphs, laconically depicting the "tamag" signs, deers, mooses, wild sheep "argali" and other wild beasts, birds and domestic animals, which served as totems for tribes inhabiting the forests and steppes of Central Asia as well as the ones reflecting the work, hunting and beliefs of the ancient hunters and cat-tlebreeders are to be found throughout the country. Prehistoric artists used very durable techniques: they either carved silhouettes on the rock surface or painted the figures in predominantly red pigments from mineral ore. Let me cite just one example: a felt carpet of the Huns, excavated from the Noyon UUL burials, gives a vivid idea of the Hun imitative art. The 2.6 m by 1.95 m carpet was found in the sixth grave. Its centre is filled with an uninterrupted line of horn-like design and is framed by nine pairs of stylized fighting animals. One of the stylized pairs shows a shaggy sarlag or yak, with pointed horns butting a panther, clawing at him. Another pair is an infuriated vulture with its beak and claws digging into the hindquarters of a fleeing deer. These compositions are rendered in appliqué and are separated from each other by schematically treated branchy green trees, also in appliqué. And this genuinely artistic and expressive and at the same time, ironic depiction of the beasts, fighting for survival, on a Hun carpet, can be considered not as merely decorative craft, but also a wholesome work of fine arts. The author's perfect knowledge of the beasts' anatomy, characteristic behavioural traits and his command of hyperbola and expressiveness are obvious and one could very well conclude that through these fighting animals he intended to convey the inter-tribal wars and the victory of the Huns. This magnificent creation of the Hun craftsmen testifies to the continuity of the "styhzed animal" art, that predominated in Central Asia and which originated in the Bronze Age. The symmetrical composition, the rythm, distinctive colour combinations and the entire figurative reproduction give a vivid idea of the artistic side of the fine arts in that distant past. As far as the burial rituals of the Turks are concerned, according to Suishu, the dead was placed in a wooden structure its walls covered with depictions of the dead's combat feats. In the 1st and 2nd centuries AD the Mahayana branch of Buddhism penetrated into Mongolia via the Silk Road, which spread during the Kushan rule that controlled the north of India and Central Asia. Uighur, (8th century AD), the most Buddhist of all states and a prosperous one at that, which existed in the territory of Mongolia, had a concrete influence on the artistic culture of the Mongolian nation. During the excavations conducted by a Mongolian-Soviet expedition in 1946-47, pieces from part of Buddhist temples with fragments of wall-murals on them were dug out from be Ogedei Khan's palace "A Thousand Tranquilities." Scientists attribute these murals to a number of schools of the Uighur and Central Asian painting of the 9th-10th centuries AD. Dai-Lyao, a Mongolian-speaking state of the Khidans existed for two hundred years in the 10th and 11th centuries. It maintained broad relations with China, Korea and countries of Central Asia. It boasted of a prospering portrait and landscape genres and wall-murals on historical subjects. Of considerable interest are wall-murals of a temple found by Japanese archaeologists in 1932 near the Tsagaan Stupa in Inner Mongolia. A row of men, armed with bows and arrows, is painted amidst Asian looking figures. Their attire, facial features and posture apparently testify that they are Mongolians. The manner of the drawing is realistic, soft and sure with accurate observance of the characteristic proportions of the body. The Hangai landscape in eastern Mongolia, in four seasons, as well as the animal and bird kingdoms of that place are depicted on the murals. By its manner and form of execution, this mural is essentially different from the Tang and Sung landscapes. It contains perfectly balanced depictions of mountains, rivers and forests, deers and antilopes in the taiga and birds on tree branches. The clouds, floating in distance, are rendered in rich shades. The entire landscape, very much resembles works in Mongol Zurag style of later period. According to historical sources, from among the Khidan towns and settlepients in the Mongolian territory, the most noteworthy among them was the Herlen Bars. And in this town there is a great deserted pagan temple with two pagodas near it. Buddhas painted on the walls of these seven-storey and five-storey pagodas have been preserved intact.In the 13th century, the MongoUan conquerors did not confine themselves to the strengthening of their states only but also established their protectorate over numerous countries in the East and West. They brought back craftsmen from those land to Kara Korum, where the lavishly decorated palaces and temples were built. For instance, the portraits of the Yuan rulers were in the Ancestor's Temple in Beijing. They could possibly be viewed as the Mango! Zurag productions with Central Asian art influence. These paintings are the direct continuation of the Khidan portrait and artistically, bear a profound depiction of the ancient Mongolian aristrocracy. Judging by the attire, the outfit and the jewellery of the personages painted, they fully coincide with the descriptions in historical sources and traveller's notes, which evidently leads to the conclusion that the artists were contemporaries of the portrayed Khans and their wives and their works - portraits of real historical individual. Paintings from the Topkapu Museum in Istanbul(Turkey), reproduced in a book "Mongolian Painting," give a reaUstic idea of ancient Mongolian painting.