BUDDHISM IN MONGOLIA
THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT THAT BUDDHISM was initially introduced in Mongolia from Central
Asia and China as early as the 4th century, although its later development there was
almost entirely dominated by representatives of the Tibetan Buddhist orders. Indigenous
Mongol religion was shamanistic, although also reflecting Persian religious ideas through
its contact with the Manichaean Uighurs of Central Asia. Very little is known of the
nature of Buddhism in Mongolia at this time.
The first place of the transmission of Buddhism to Mongolia occurred as a result of the
Mongol expansion of the 13th century, in which Mongol emperors secured vast territories
throughout Asia. This expansion was accompanied by a policy of encouraging foreign
statesmen and religious to attend the Mongol court (as hostages). As a result a large
number of Tibetan Buddhists, mainly of the Sa-skya Order, gained influential footholds at
court, where they stimulated general interest in their forms of Buddhism. Most notable
among these was Phags-pa (pronounced pak pa; 1235-80), who managed to engage the
interest of Kublai Khan (1260-94) who became a Buddhist himself, receiving initiation from
the Hevjra Tantra. At this time the entire Mongolian court was converted to late Vajrayana
Buddhism, and one can speculate that the shamanic character of Tantric Buddhism had
considerable appeal for the Mongols. By the time of the last Mongol emperor, several
monasteries had been founded and a part of the Tibetan canon translated. However, Buddhism
was still largely the interest of the Mongolian ruling class, and suffered a decline until
the second phase of transmission.
The second and farther reaching phase of the transmission of Buddhism to Mongolia began
with new contacts with Tibet resulting from military expeditions led into the eastern part
of the country by Altan Khan (1507-83). The dGe-lugs Order, seeking political support in
its struggle against the Sa-skya Order within Tibet, made overtures of friendship to the
Altan Khan, and as a result of this the title of Dalai Lama, Great Ocean (of Wisdom)
Lama, was conferred on the dGe-lugs, lama, or teacher, bSod-nams-rgya-mtsho.
Posthumous conferral of the same title upon two predecessors meant that bSod-nams was
therefore the third Dalai Lama. Thereafter the success of the dGe-lugs in Mongolia was
unchecked. The fourth Dalai Lama was himself a Mongolian, thus cementing the new
religio-political link between the dGe-lugs Order and Mongolia. After their conquest of
Tibet in 1641, the Mongols installed the dGe-lugs Dalai Lama as the secular authority in
Lhasa.
The Ching emperors of China (1662-1911), who were Buddhists themselves, also
found Buddhism to be a suitable mechanism of control of their territories in Inner
Mongolia. For this reason they heavily patronized Buddhist monasteries and temples in the
region. By 1629 the Tibetan bKagyur had been translated into Mongolian. A
translation of the bsTangyur was completed in 1749. By the end of the 18th century
the fortunes of Buddhism in Inner Mongolia took a downturn with the restriction of
patronage from the Ching emperors of China, although in the same period Buddhism
began to spread for the first time from Outer Mongolia into the northern region of Buryat
Mongolia, which had remained fully shamanistic until the 19th century.
Source: Andrew Skilton (1994), A Concise History of Buddhism,
British Library, England.
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Computer typesetting: Lydia Quang Nhu