Mongolian Ger

Mongolian ger

Hello everyone! I am back with my next blogpost little later that I intended. This time, I am writing about Mongolian traditional housing as it is one of the few things that most foreigners know about Mongolia.

Climate and culture shape our housing in very interesting ways. Especially our traditional dwellings are like the footprints of nature we live in and our evolutionary past, just like Igloos of Eskimos, rueans of Thais, and tepees of Native Americans of plains.

Mongolian ger, a traditional dwelling used for centuries in Mongolia are still a popular housing in modern Mongolia. Not only do people live in ger in country side, but also sizable percentage of the population residing in the outskirt of the cities dwells in gers. Like many names for traditional housing in different cultures, ger simply means home.

Figure 1. Mongolian ger in countryside.

Mongolian ger takes around 2 hours to be mounted and even shorter time to be dismounted by two to four people. It is designed to be dismantled and the parts carried compactly on camels or yaks to be rebuilt on another site. This is the reason that ger has been preserved as the main dwelling for Mongolian nomads for centuries up to today.

igure 3. People assembling Mongolian ger.

As mentioned above, many people still live in gers in the outskirts of the cities for several reasons. Firstly, Mongolian gers are native to the people and they are the center of many customs and traditions. So people who were born and brought up in ger only feel natural living in it. Secondly, average ger is much cheaper than building a house or buying an apartment. So many people choose ger for financial reasons. Finally, it is easier to heat or cool ger than most other housing and it allows better air circulation. People who live in houses or apartments sometimes prefer camping in gers during summer for this very reason, too.

Figure 3. Gers seen in the outskirt of Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia.

In 2013, the “traditional craftsmanship of the Mongol Ger and its associated customs” was recognized as a part of our Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. So you can assume that making it and living in it can take more than what we can see from its simple round shape. So in my next blog I will try to write more about parts constituting Mongolian ger, and the customs related to living and even visiting Mongolian ger as much as I can for a city girl.

                                                       

(For level: Intermediate- Upper intermediate)

Mongolian traditional costume

Mongolian traditional costume

This time, I decided to write on Mongolian traditional costume, deel. Deel has been worn by Mongolians for centuries both during ordinary days and celebrations. Deels worn during ordinary days are usually simple in style and color and made of either silk or cotton. During celebrations people wear more decorative ones (Figure 1). Design and styles of deels differ in various ethnic groups, too (Figure 2). Winter deels have a layer made of animal fur or cotton to make it warmer.

It is believed that Mongolian deel style has not changed much from its 13^th century shape, because the design of deel is well- suited for nomadic way of life (Figure 3). But for the past two decades, people living in the city, especially youths have started trying to customize their deels to make them more fashionable (Figure 4).

Deels are still worn widely by the people living in countryside. In the city people no longer wear them on daily basis, except some elderly people. However, deels are the main costumes during most ceremonies and national celebrations. For example, just like I see Japanese girls wear kimono during their university graduation ceremony Mongolian girls wear their customized Mongolian deel during their graduation ceremonies.

These days, people are trying to encourage each others to wear our traditional dress as often as possible.

Meg

(For level: Upper beginner- Intermediate)

Figure 1. Deels worn during celebrations

Figure 2. Different ethnic deels

   

Figure 3. People still wear deel widely in countryside

  Figure 4. Deel in modern style

Sain baina uu ?

Sain baina uu?

I am from Mongolia, a country of a little more than 3 million people. Since I came to Japan
I asked friends and people I came across what they know or think of Mongolia. Many say they don’t have any information or opinion except for the fact that there are successful sumo wrestlers from Mongolia or people live in a small movable housing. So we thought it is interesting to tell you a little more about Mongolia from insider’s point of view.

As most people around the world know we have been traditionally living as nomads. Many think that we still live the exact same way today. It is partly true. Roughly, thirty percent of the population is still nomads. But at the turn of 20^th century, settled and later urban life started taking shape and has been growing since. With sizable population living nomadic life, some more even combining both keeps Mongolia embracing interesting culture of nomadism, urbanization and modernization. This synergy is not only limited to where people live, it extends to our art, music and sports. For example, along with traditional music with morinkhuur, urtiin duu and khuumii we enjoy all genres of music that are popular all around the world. We have a history of more than half a century of classical music and dance, too. Culture and the way of life are shaped by many factors from nomadic tradition, shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism to Former Soviet influence and western popular culture and education. So you will see mix of many interesting elements in Mongolian contemporary culture.

I hope our monthly blogposts will familiarize you with at least some of the interesting topics about Mongolia with less biased view. In our future posts, I would like to write on specific topics like music, youths, fashion, food, nomadic life, history, literature, sports and festivals etc. To reach people with different levels of English I will write each of our post at different English levels and let you know the level by tagging. 

Looking forward to meeting you all with our next post!

Peace,

Meg