ОРШИЛ

INTRODUCTION
Written Mongolian literature emerged in the 13th century
from oral traditions, and it developed under Indo-
Tibetan, Turkic, and Chinese influence. The most
significant work of pre-Buddhist Mongolian literature is
the anonymous Mongqolun niuča tobča’an (Secret
History of the Mongols), a chronicle of the deeds of the
Mongol ruler Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan) and of
Ögödei, his son and successor. Written in prose, it
features alliterative verse, myths, legends, epic
fragments, songs, eulogies, dialogues, army regulations,
and proverbs.
MONGOLIA
MONGOLIAN
LITERATURE

At the beginning of the 13th century, the Mongols created their written
language. After that, various kinds of written works in history and literature
appeared, one after another, and some of them were handed down to the
present.
Three Greatest Mongol
Historical Works

The most famous ones are “Mongol Secret History”, “Mongol Golden
History”,”Mongol Headstream”—which together are called the “Three Greatest
Historical Works”.
Three PEAKS

Mongol literature has been greatly

influenced by its nomadic oral traditions.
The "three peaks" of Mongol literature,
The Secret History of the Mongols, Epic
of King Gesar and Epic of Jangar. all
reflect the age-long tradition of heroic
epics on the Eurasian Steppe. Mongol
literature has also been a reflection of
the society of the given time, its level of
political, economic and social
development as well as leading
intellectual trends.
Three PEAKS

“Mongol Secret History” is also called

“Yuan Dynasty Secret History,” or “Yuan
Secret History.” In the Mongol language, it
is called "Manghuotaniuchatuobuchaan“.
The author is unknown. The book was
finished around the middle period of the
13th century. The Secret History is
regarded as the single most significant
native Mongolian account of Genghis Khan.
Linguistically, it provides the richest
source of pre-classical Mongolian and
Middle Mongolian. The Secret History is
regarded as a piece of classic literature in
both Mongolia and the rest of the world.
WHO IS GENGHIS KHAN?

Genghis Khan was the founder and first

Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which
became the largest contiguous empire in
history after his death. He came to power
by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of
Northeast Asia. After founding the Empire
and being proclaimed Genghis Khan, he
launched the Mongol invasions that
conquered most of Eurasia.
Three PEAKS

Epic of King Gesar is an epic cycle,

believed to date from the 12th century,
that relates the heroic deeds of the
culture hero Gesar, the fearless lord of
the legendary kingdom of Ling. It is
recorded variously in poetry and prose,
shuochang being the style of traditional
performance, and is sung widely
throughout Central Asia and North East
of South Asia.
Epic of King Gesar

King Gesar is a heroic epic created by

the Tibetans from a collection of ancient
legends, myths, verses, proverbs and
various other folk cultures of Tibet. The
Tibetan people are an ethnic group native
to Tibet. In addition to living in Tibet
Autonomous Region, significant numbers
of Tibetans live in other parts of China,
as well as in India, Nepal, Bhutan and the
western world.
Three PEAKS

The epic begins by recounting the

story of Jangar's grandfather, Tahil Zul Khan,
who is described as being kind and honest.
Tahil Zul Khan leads his people to a land
called Bomba where he hoped to create a
place where they would be no suffering or
death. His tribe settles in Bomba and after 10
years of struggle, they manage to build a
paradise there. However, one day Tahil Zul
Khan goes to check on his horse herd and a
blizzard strikes, forcing him to take refuge in
a valley. When the blizzard finally waned
after several days, he tried to leave, only to
be buried by an avalanche.
EPIC OF JANGAR

The epic of Jangar or Jangar epic is a

traditional oral epic poem of the Mongols.
It was long thought to be particular to
the Kalmyks, but is now know to also be
widely told among the Buryats and Oirats
in Mongolia, China and Russia. The story
is recited by singers called Jangarchi.