Mongolian Tengger Faith Study

This paper mainly studies the Mongolian Tengri(Heaven,Chinese:Tian)Belief and its cultural connotation.Mongolian Tengri Belief has a long history,and far-reaching impact.It is not only the main content of Mongolian folk religion,but also a very important part of the Mongolian traditional culture.Tengri Belief was shared as the common faith and custom of the Ancient Chinese Northern Minorities.The record of "Tengri" first appeared in Chinese historical documents Han Hun Biography.Meanwhile,the worship of the Heaven had been a common religion custom for Huns,Dong Hu,Wuhuan,Xianbei,Turkic,then the Khitan,Jurchen,and many other ancient northern Minorities.This content provides a valuable clue for exploring the occurrence of the Mongolian Tengri Belief and its origins.In addition,the records of the European missionaries,travelers,and businessmen during the mid-13th century to the 14th century,give a different perspective for the worship of the Mongolian Tengri.With the rise of the Mongolian nation in the northern grasslands,the concept of "Tengri" was inherited by the Mongols and had been further enriched,developed,and produced with Mongolian characteristics of Tengri Belief system."Mongolian Secret History",one of the most ancient Mongolian literature,mentioned "Tengri," in the beginning part.And according to statistics of the scholar,"Tengri" appeared as many as 70 times in the "Mongolian Secret History".The "Mongolian Secret History" can not only showed the ancient Mongolian Tengri Belief,destiny concept and its properties,but also help to understand the earliest Mongolian Tengri ritual.It can generalize the characteristics of Mongolian Tengri Belief.Therefore,the paper will try to show the cultural characteristics of the Tengri Belief and traces its origin.It will present the characteristics,and make cultural interpretation of the Mongolian Tengri Belief.As a kind of religious and cultural phenomenon,Mongolian Tengri Belief has its own process growth,development and changes.In Mongolian primitive belief system----Shamanism,"Tengri" which has many complex content is believed as the origin of human and the world.According to its argument,it has ninety-nine statue of the "Tengri".In fact,the number of all "Tengri" are much higher than ninety-nine in the Mongolian Shamanism.With the development of Mongolian society and Shamanism,"Tengri" of the shamanism system had experienced from the natural Tengri,to the personalization of Tengri,and then to achieve political promotion.In this historical process,the Tengri Belief was the burden of the nomadic people's the basic desire of livestock and social functions,which were longing for adequate rainfall,human and animal safety.It also maintained the concept of destiny under orthodoxy of Genghis Khan led by the golden family and rule of the same strain,while carrying the nomadic empire to open up territory,to expand the political ambitions.With the decline of shamanism,and the spread of the Tibetan Buddhism,Tengri Belief laid in the process of Tibetan Buddhism contact,gradually absorbed,transformed and systematic.Thus forming a Tibetan culture with Mongolian characteristics has become an important part of the Mongolian traditional culture.The TengrI Belief has undergone two important religious times of Mongolian society,Shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism.And it has maintained a living space in the symbiotic relationship between Tibetan Buddhism and Shamanism.After the changes of the times,and today,Tengri Belief is still in the form of folk belief,and exist in the Mongolian people's ideas,daily life and sacrificial customs.Tengri Belief not only has the formation of a unique track of evolution and development,also has a Mongolian national characteristics of the cultural connotation.Generation of Tengri faith cannot do without in animal husbandry of the nomadic culture.On the basis of exploring the source of the culture of Tengri Belief,the author analyzes the connotation of the Mongolian Tengri Belief in the sun,moon,stars and other celestial bodies,analytic planetarium and worship of natural objects,finally solve the Tengri belief's connotation problem.Especially through the history of Tengri content and characteristics of sacrifice,combined with the form and content of several Tengri ritual current representative in the Mongolia area,trying to uncover a belief behind the content of symbol and symbolic meaning.The connotation of Tengri Belief shows the Mongolian nomadic culture,and the Mongolian religious belief.With the background of"Tengri",Mongolian has created a very brilliant national culture.It is embodied in Mongolian philosophy,value system,literature and art,customs,ethics,and even national psychology,character and other aspects of spiritual and cultural fields.At the same time it has penetrated into the Mongolian People's daily clothing,food,housing,transportation,material life and culture.Therefore,to explore the Tengri Belief of Mongolian traditional culture and folk religion study has important theoretical value and practical significance.