The Folk Practice And Characteristics Of Shamans Of Chahar Mongolians Of Contemparery Xinjiang

It is well-known that, Mongols believed in Shamanism in early days, and they are one of the nationalities for which Shamanism culture used to be the dominant. Though at present time, Mongols have already converted their belief from Shamanism to Lamaism, Shamanism still survives as a traditional culture in various forms and continues to influence the life of the Mongols. Therefore, the more knowledge of Shamanism we have, the better understanding we will have of the Mongolian cultural changes, the national psychology, the ethnic identity and their spiritual life. Based on above understanding, a great deal of attention has been paid to Mongolian Shamanism by scholars both at home and abroad. Although research on Mongolian Shamanism has been well documented, many of them mainly focus on the areas of Buryat and Inner Mongolia. And, we can hardly find materials about Shamanism of Mongolians living in Xinjiang, where 169,600 of Mongols live, and what is their Shamanism like?In the present study, Chahar Mongols have been selected as the subject. Based on the theories of Ethnology, Religion and Shamanism, the author describes the current situation of their Shamanism and analyzes the characteristics of Chahar Mongols'Shamanism by comparing the Shamanism of sects of other Mongols with that of Chahar Mongols living in Xinjiang. The main contents of the thesis are as follow:The first part reviews the previous studies on Shamanism, and the purpose, significance, methods of the study are also presented.The second part introduces the situation of contemporary Shamanism of Chahar Mongols living in Xinjiang. Based on the field research, this part...