The following doha by the Mongolian scholar-poet Zava Damdin (b. 1976) is a praise of wholesome human virtues as they appear in different figures of social life. Moving by way of contrast and correction, it sets aside crude and diminished stereotypes in order to bring forward a more generous moral vision: dignity instead of greed, wisdom instead of brutality, constancy instead of vanity, and inner cultivation beneath outward simplicity. Its concern, therefore, is not with any fixed essential identity, but with the qualities of character that human beings may honour, embody, and aspire to in themselves and in one another.
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WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CALLED MONGOL
(English translation)
When one speaks of Mongol land and soil,
is it some realm of greedy demons who see only money and coin,
and at their own whim fence it off, split it open, and dig it up?
No, surely not.
That which is called Mongol land and territory
is the vast Continent of the Four Seasons,
where true herding folk let their five kinds of livestock* graze at ease.
When one speaks of Mongol history,
is it merely that of invading marauders,
murderous bandits with haughty gazes,
marvelled at across the world?
No, surely not.
That which is called Mongol history
is a Golden History,
where holy sages gathered in numbers like the stars
and fashioned their works of wisdom
in the peace of the three times.*
When one speaks of a Mongol in a man’s body,
is he a coarse and savage being,
with a tiny mind, dark brute muscles knotted tight,
a foolish lout?
No, surely not.
That which is called a Mongol in a man’s body
is a gentle heroic man
who contains the finest of knowledge
within the folds and convolutions of his mind,
and who does not sell and consume his own breast and heart.
When one speaks of a Mongol in a woman’s body
is she a human being who rages and shouts,
laughs without shame,
and at the slightest thing raises a shield
made of her flowing tears?
No, surely not.
That which is called a Mongol in a woman’s body
is a rare and precious celestial being
who, like the steadfast Golden Pole Star*
devotes her true love
in one single direction.
When one speaks of a Mongol rich man,
is he a servant and lackey
to a beggar from foreign lands,
his miserliness excessive,
his spirit dried up?
No, surely not.
That which is called a Mongol rich man
is a noble-hearted person
who knows his measure and knows when enough is enough,
whose generous spirit overflows
simply by what is in him.
When one speaks of a Mongol poor man,
does one mean a helpless fool
reeking of filth and matted grime,
fit for nothing but guzzling liquor?
No, surely not.
If there is such a thing as a Mongol poor man,
it means one who conceals his own learning,
who outwardly bears a plain, humble, modest appearance,
yet inwardly holds a breast full of wisdom.
When one speaks of a Mongol scholar,
does one mean a vain and arrogant collector
of titles, certificates, medals, and decorations,
staring loftily and craving worship beneath them?
No, surely not.
That which is called a Mongol scholar
is one complete in learning,
in the scriptures and treatises of past and present,
in sayings, principles, and knowledge,
one with far-seeing vision
and broad, capacious understanding.
When one speaks of a Mongol leader,
does one mean those shameless butchers
who are venomous toward others,
indulgent toward themselves,
and to their nation like a boar
thrust upon it?
No, surely not.
If there is such a Mongol leader,
it is one who governs his own desire and greed,
who becomes master of himself,
and who is awakened enough
to cherish and support other people.
When one speaks of a Mongol lam,
is he one of a herd of donkeys
draped in leopard skins,
assuming forms like clay Buddhas cast from one mold,
worshipping the famous,
and casting aside their teacher in arrogance?
No, surely not.
That which is called a Mongol lam
is one who, with unbending resolve,
trains in the path of enlightenment,
who outwardly bears the form of a renunciant,
yet inwardly meditates upon his vowed Yidam;
they are like warriors
armoured and helmed in the Dharma.
The Boy Who Gladdens Mañjuśrī
06.12.2023
In the city of Ulaanbaatar
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Any errors in the above translation are entirely my own, and for these I humbly apologise.
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МОНГОЛ ХЭМЭЭХ НЬ
(Original Mongolian)
Монгол газар шороо гэхээр л мөнгө зоос болж харагдаад дураараа торлож хагалж ухдаг шуналт бирдийн орон уу гэвэл үгүй дээ үгүй
Монгол газар нутаг хэмээх нь жинхэнэ малчин ард таван хошуу малаа тааваар нь бэлчээдэг дөрвөн улирлын уужим тив буй заа
Монгол түүх гэхээр л эзлэн түрэмгийлсэн харц дээгүүр алуурчин зандалчид дэлхий дахинаа шагшин гайхагдсан юм уу гэвэл үгүй дээ үгүй
Монгол түүх хэмээх нь гэгээнтэн мэргэд оддын тоогоор чуулж эрдэм үйлсээ гурван цагийн амар амгаланд туурвисан алтан түүх буй заа
Монгол эр гэхээр л бяцхан тархитай мунаг хар булчин зангирсан бүдүүлэг балмад бодгаль уу гэвэл үгүй дээ үгүй
Монгол эр хэмээх нь эрдмийн сайныг эрээн хуниаст тархиндаа багтааж өвчүү зүрхээ худалдаж иддэггүй аруухан баатар эрс буй заа
Монгол эмэгтэй гэхээр л уурсаж хашхирсан ичгүүргүй инээсэн сав л хийвэл урсах нулимсаараа бамбай барьдаг хүмүүн үү гэвэл үгүй дээ үгүй
Монгол эмэгтэй хэмээх нь хувираш үгүй алтан гадас мэт чин хайраа нэгэн зүг лүгээ зориулдаг тэнгэрсийн ховор нандин дагина буй заа
Монгол баян гэхээр л харам нь дэндэж сэтгэл нь ширгэсэн харь нутгийн гуйланчийн барлаг зарц юм уу гэвэл үгүй дээ үгүй
Монгол баян хэмээх нь хэмжээгээ таньж болилоо мэддэг нүнжигт сэтгэл нь байгаагаараа бялхаж л байдаг тансаг сэтгэлт ард буй заа
Монгол ядуу гэхээр л хир даахь ханхлуулж архи гудрахаас өөр идгүй арчаагүй мунхгийг хэлдэг үү гэвэл үгүй дээ үгүй
Монгол ядуу хэрэв байдаг бол өөрийн эрдмээ нууж гаднаа эгэл даруу борогжуу дүртэй дотроо цээж дүүрэн сэцэн ардыг хэлэх буй заа
Монгол эрдэмтэн гэхээр л хараа өлийсөн бардам зантай өргөмжлөл батламж одон тэмдгийн цуглуулга дор шүтэгчийг хэлэх үү гэвэл үгүй дээ үгүй
Монгол эрдэмтэн хэмээх нь эртэн эдүүгээгийн судар шастир эш онолын эрдэм төгөлдөр бөгөөд холч мэлмийтэй уудам багтаамжтай нугууд буй заа
Монгол дарга гэхээр л бусдад хорт мигуй өөртөө шинулт тахиа улсдаа шахсан бодон мэт ичгүүргүй болоод яргачин нугуудыг хэлэх үү гэвэл үгүй дээ үгүй
Монгол дарга хэрэв буй аваас өөрийн дур шуналаа захирч өөртөө эзэн болж өрөөл бусдыг ачлан тэтгэж чадах сэхээрсэн нэгэн буй заа
Монгол лам гэхээр л нэг хэвэнд цутгасан шавар бурхад лугаа адил дүр үүсгээд алдартныг шүтэж багшийгаа ялдар хаясан ирвэсний арьс нөмөрсөн илжгэн сүрэг үү гэвэл үгүй дээ үгүй
Монгол лам хэмээх нь мятаршгүй зоригоор бодийн явдал дор суралцаж гаднаа хуврагийн дүр барих ба дотроо тангаргат ядамыг бясалгагч номын хуяг дуулгат баатрууд лугаа буй заа
Манзуширийг баясгагч хөвгүүн
06.12.2023
Улаанбаатарын балгад
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NOTES
From an ethnographic perspective, the title “What It Means to Be Called Mongol” is read not as a claim about an immutable essence lodged inside a people, but as a statement about a historically shaped, socially negotiated, and morally aspirational name: in other words,
“Mongol” here functions less as a fixed substance than as a relational category through which people articulate valued ways of acting, remembering, and appearing in the world.
This broader reading is well supported by contemporary scholarship. David Sneath has argued that collective identity in Mongolia is actively constructed through political and social processes rather than simply inherited as a timeless cultural core (Sneath 2010); Uradyn E. Bulag likewise shows that “Mongol” identity has been repeatedly reformulated across differing historical and political contexts, making it more accurate to speak of contested identifications than of a single essential Mongol nature (Bulag 2010); Orhon Myadar’s work on post-socialist nationalism further demonstrates how ideas such as purity, authenticity, and belonging are territorially and discursively produced, not merely discovered (Myadar and Rae 2014); Franck Billé’s ethnography of contemporary Mongolia similarly shows that national identity often takes shape through moral discourse, anxiety, and boundary-making, which again points to an ongoing ethical and social project rather than an inherited essence (Billé 2017); Lise Gardelle and Zhao Yanjie, examining representations of herding and nationhood, show how “being Mongol” is taught and idealised through institutions and public narratives, underscoring its normative and pedagogical dimensions (Gardelle and Zhao 2019); and Jennifer Ellis’s recent work on ethnicity and essentialism in western Mongolia is especially helpful here, since it suggests that people may indeed speak in essentialising idioms while, in practice, mobilising them within particular moral histories and local social worlds rather than as simple biological or metaphysical truths (Ellis 2024). Read in this light,
[T]he title of Zava Damdin Rinpoche’s doha can be interpreted, in deliberately broad anthropological terms, as naming a field of wholesome qualities—dignity, restraint, fidelity, generosity, courage, learnedness, moral discipline—that a community seeks to commend and cultivate under the sign “Mongol,” without requiring us to treat those qualities as the exclusive property or eternal essence of Mongols as such.
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TRANSLATION NOTES
- “Five kinds of livestock” refers to the traditional Mongolian five pastoral animals: horses, cattle/yaks, camels, sheep, and goats.
- “The peace of the three times” most likely evokes peace across past, present, and future.
- “Golden Pole Star” renders алтан гадас, the Pole Star, a symbol of constancy and orientation.
- “Yidam” is left partly untranslated because it is a specific Vajrayana Buddhist term for a meditational deity.
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FURTHER READING
Billé, Franck. Sinophobia: Anxiety, Violence, and the Making of Mongolian Identity. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2017.
Bulag, Uradyn E. “Alter/native Mongolian Identity: From Nationality to Ethnic Group.” In Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance, edited by Elizabeth J. Perry and Mark Selden. London: Routledge, 2010.
Ellis, Jennifer. “Exemplary Differences: Ethnicity, Mythic Histories, and Essentialism in Khovd, Mongolia.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 30, no. 3 (2024).
Gardelle, Lise, and Zhao Yanjie. “Being a Herder in Contemporary Mongolia: Nomadic Identity and Nationhood Building at School.” Asian Ethnicity 20, no. 4 (2019): 453–472.
Myadar, Orhon, and James D. Rae. “Territorializing National Identity in Post-Socialist Mongolia: Purity, Authenticity, and Chinggis Khaan.” Eurasian Geography and Economics 55, no. 4 (2014): 365–387.
Sneath, David. “Political Mobilization and the Construction of Collective Identity in Mongolia.” Central Asian Survey 29, no. 3 (2010): 251–267.
Please refer to the INDEX for other articles that may be of interest.
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