Mongolian calligraphy

Mongolian calligraphy
Original: Unknown author Vector: AmygdalicGloss · Public domain · source
Name	Mongolian calligraphy
Caption	Traditional Mongol script example
Years	13th century–present
Cultural origin	Yuan dynasty Mongol Empire

Mongolian calligraphy is the practice of producing stylized writing in the traditional vertical scripts used by the Mongol peoples, developed within the milieu of Genghis Khan's successors and later imperial administrations. Rooted in contacts among the Yuan dynasty, Song dynasty, Jurchen people, and Tibetan Empire, it evolved under influences from the Uyghur alphabet, Nastaʿlīq, and Phags-pa script reforms while responding to administrative demands of the Ilkhanate and the Golden Horde. Patrons such as Kublai Khan and scribes attached to the Secret History of the Mongols court helped codify forms that persisted through the Qing dynasty and into modern institutions like the State Great Khural and cultural agencies of Mongolia.

History

Early development occurred when the Uyghur Khaganate's adaptation of the Sogdian alphabet met Mongolic phonology during the period of Ögedei Khan and regional administrators of the Ilkhanate. Documents produced for the Yuan dynasty bureaucracy, imperial edicts under Kublai Khan, and memorials exchanged with the Khitan people reveal shifts that paralleled diplomatic contacts with the Ming dynasty and religious exchanges involving the Sakya tradition and Tibetan Buddhism. During the Qing dynasty, the Manchu people court policies, tributary relations with the Dzungar Khanate, and colonial interactions shaped script standardization used in censuses, treaties such as those with the Russian Empire, and chronicles preserved by scribes in monasteries like Erdene Zuu Monastery.

Scripts and Styles

Scripts include vertical cursive forms derived from the Old Uyghur alphabet and formal bookhand used in scriptures copied for the Gelug and Kagyu traditions. Variants named by regional workshops reflect influence from the Phags-pa script devised under Kublai Khan, and decorative forms echoing Persian calligraphy traditions like Nastaʿlīq appear in illuminated manuscripts. Handstyles documented among literati in Ulaanbaatar, archives in Beijing, and holdings at the British Museum show transitions from formal chancery hands used by officials serving the Mongol Empire to grassroots cursive used by itinerant clerics and merchants traveling the Silk Road.

Tools and Materials

Traditional tools include brushes made from horsehair and goat hair similar to those used by practitioners recording the Secret History of the Mongols, inkstones shaped under artisans linked to workshops patronized by the Yuan dynasty, and paper similar to that produced in Dunhuang and by printers in the Ming dynasty. Inscriptions on wood, silk, and metal appear on artifacts associated with the Khitan Liao and relics preserved in monasteries like Gandan Monastery. Scribes used seals often carved in stone found in collections at the Hermitage Museum and employed pigments traded along routes connecting Samarkand and Hangzhou.

Techniques and Training

Training historically occurred in monastic scriptoria of the Gelug and lay academies sponsored by patrons such as princes from the Borjigin clan, with mentorship patterns paralleling apprenticeship in workshops of the Uighur Turks. Manuals circulated in courts of the Yuan dynasty and among registrars in the Qing dynasty bureaucracy codified stroke order and ligature conventions; calligraphers studied exemplar codices like official edicts and copies of the Secret History of the Mongols. Techniques adapted brush control used by Chinese calligraphy masters, stylistic borrowings from Tibetan thangka illustrators, and compositional rules seen in inscriptions from the Orkhon inscriptions tradition.

Cultural Significance and Uses

Calligraphy has marked identity and authority in documents such as imperial charters issued under Kublai Khan, legal codices used by administrators in the Ilkhanate, and religious texts circulated by the Gelug hierarchy. Works served as diplomatic gifts exchanged with the Russian Empire and Korean Joseon envoys, functioned in ritual contexts within monasteries like Erdene Zuu Monastery, and featured on monumental stelae akin to the Orkhon inscriptions. Calligraphic competence signaled status among elites in cities like Karakorum and later in capital centers such as Ulaanbaatar and Hohhot, while also being used in commercial ledgers held by merchants operating along routes to Lanzhou.

Preservation and Contemporary Practice

Preservation efforts involve archives and museums including the National Museum of Mongolia, the British Library, and the State Hermitage Museum, where scrolls and manuscripts undergo conservation. Contemporary practitioners operate in academic departments at Mongolian State University of Education and cultural programs supported by institutions such as the UNESCO national commissions, collaborating with conservators trained in methodologies promoted by the International Council on Archives and the International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property. Revival movements have been championed by calligraphers exhibiting in venues across Ulaanbaatar, Beijing, Seoul, Moscow, and Paris and by artists engaging with printmakers from Tokyo and New York to adapt traditional hands to modern media for exhibitions at galleries like the Mongolian National Gallery of Art.

Category:Calligraphy