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"The country will fully restore the use of the traditional Mongolian script from 2025!"
On March 18, 2020, Mongolia officially adopted the National Outline of Mongolian Script, confirming the return of the "traditional Mongolian script" to Mongolia.
Due to various historical reasons, when this news spread to China, many friends were sincerely happy about Mongolia's reform.
However, few people know that Mongolia's seemingly "righteous" move is actually a naked "conspiracy......
Lost traditions
Mongolia is not a people that has had its own script since its birth.
As sons and daughters of the steppe, for a long period of time, "survival" was the first priority that Mongolians had to face.
It was not until the 13th century A.D., after Genghis Khan, a "fierce man", conquered the Uighurs and the Western Liao successively, that in order to better rule the newly absorbed peoples, the "Uighur Mongolian script" was created on the basis of the original Uighur script.
And this is what we call "traditional Mongolian" today.
So, the question is, since it has its own script, why did the later Mongolia suddenly choose to abandon it?
This question also needs to start with the "independence" of Outer Mongolia.
In 1911, taking advantage of the collapse of the Qing government and the chaotic political situation in China, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia, the 8th Jebtsundamba, led Outer Mongolia to "independence".
Subsequently, in 1921, with the "participation" of the Soviet "Comintern", Outer Mongolia established a constitutional monarchy with theocracy, and Jebtsundamba was elected as the monarch.
In 1924, Jebtsundamba died suddenly, and the cause of his death is still a mystery to this day, although the official claim is that he died of cancer, but according to the data, this "living Buddha" has been in good health during his lifetime.
However, in any case, after the death of the "monarch", the constitutional monarchy in Outer Mongolia could not be sustained, so under the leadership of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, the "Mongolian People's Republic" was established.
According to the concept of the "Comintern", after the establishment of the Mongolian People's Republic, "the transformation of all the remnants of feudal society" became the primary political task of Mongolia.
Among them is the "traditional Mongolian script", which symbolizes the feudal class.
As a result, from 1925 onwards, Mongolia launched a "writing reform" movement, which in fact coincided with the "general environment" at that time.
With the "assistance" of the Soviet Union, in the 20~30s of the 20th century, all the "republics" in Central Asia successively began the "writing reform".
For example, the Republic of Azerbaijan has abolished the traditional Arabic script, and the Autonomous Republic of Buryatia has abolished the traditional Mongolian script.
In order to better learn from the experience of the Soviet Union, Mongolia was naturally not to be left behind, and gradually began to promote the "Latin script" among the whole people, and in 1941 began to establish the Cyrillic script commonly used by the "Slavic people" as orthodox.
On January 1, 1946, Mongolia officially announced that Cyrillic Mongol had replaced Uighur Mongolian as the official language of Mongolia.
Since then, the "traditional Mongolian script" has temporarily withdrawn from the stage of Mongolian history.
Mongolia's "Cultural Revival"
In fact, Mongolia's sudden decision to reinstate the "traditional Mongolian script" was not a whim, it had been in the mood for a long time.
In the late 80s of the last century, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe gradually moved towards "drastic changes", and a wave of reform was inevitably set off within Mongolia.
Among them, since 1989, under the appeal of some intellectuals, there have been more and more voices in Mongolia to restore the "traditional Mongolian language", some primary and secondary schools have begun to teach "traditional Mongolian", and many people have spontaneously set up relevant organizations to vigorously promote Mongolian national culture.
However, at that time, Cyrillic Mongolian had already penetrated into all aspects of Mongolian society, coupled with Mongolia's domestic economic difficulties, there was a serious shortage of teachers who knew "traditional Mongolian", and the plan to "revive traditional Mongolian" was doomed to be difficult.
In 1994, after several efforts, the Mongolian State Great Hural (Mongolian National Assembly) made a compromise decision to make the old script (Cyrillic Mongolian) the popular language and the new script (traditional Mongolian) the national language.
Although it seems that they have made a compromise in the face of reality, the Mongolians have never given up their desire for a "cultural revival".
Today, 30 years later, Mongolia has finally achieved all of this.
Why, then, is Mongolia so obsessed with restoring the status of the "traditional Mongolian script"?
The answer is simple, in order to find your own "roots".
For a country, traditional culture is a huge spiritual force and a social spiritual form.
Therefore, as an independent and sovereign state, it is imperative for Mongolia to protect the subjectivity of its own culture, regardless of its considerations.
And in order to do this, Mongolia must restore the "traditional Mongolian script".
On the one hand, it can help bring back Mongolia's historical traditions, since it is the traditional Uighur Mongolian script, not the Cyrillic Mongolian script, which is heavily influenced by the Russian language, that carries the glorious past of the entire Mongolian state.
On the other hand, it can help Mongolia politically, economically and culturally get rid of its dependence on Russia and find its own path of development, so as not to be overly "Slavicized".
Therefore, changing the text seems to be a trivial matter, but in fact it is the result of careful consideration by Mongolia in combining history and reality.
Return to "Traditional Mongolian"
As we all know, unlike Mongolia, which once "voluntarily" abandoned the "traditional Mongolian script", China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has never abolished the use of "traditional Mongolian script" in its long-term historical development.
In fact, this also reflects the Chinese government's full respect for all ethnic groups and the generosity and tolerance of Chinese culture.
Therefore, when Mongolia officially restored the "traditional Mongolian language", from an objective point of view, the two Mongolians once again achieved the "same track" after a century.
And this is also where Mongolia's "Yangmou" is located today.
Many people may have the impression that the current Mongolian government is an extremely "Western" existence.
After all, in recent years, the two sides have been eye-to-eye in the international arena, and the United States has repeatedly stated that it will be the best choice for Mongolia's "third neighbor".
However, in reality, Mongolia is a country with only two neighbors, so if Mongolia wants to achieve long-term development, it must rely on the development of its neighbors.
Among them, China is where Mongolia's hope for "rejuvenation" lies, so it must "move closer" to China.
In the past, during the Soviet era, Mongolia has always been "wary" of China for various reasons, and if China and the Soviet Union had good relations, then the situation would be okay, but once the two sides fell into conflict, Mongolia would immediately become "one-sided" close to the Soviet Union.
Under such circumstances, it is really difficult to say that there is any friendly relationship between China and Mongolia, and it is naturally difficult for the dividends of China's development to benefit Mongolia.
However, seeing that China's rise has been increasing rapidly in recent years, can Mongolia really remain indifferent?
The answer is clearly no.
Therefore, Mongolia now also hopes to get China's attention and get on China's "development train".
So, in the face of Mongolia's "conspiracy", how should China respond?
In fact, China does not need to think about how to deal with it, it just needs to do its part.
Today, China is the largest investor in Mongolia, and it is not difficult to see that China is willing to share its development dividends with Mongolia.
As we have always emphasized: "China's development is a blessing to the world", we will not be stingy with our own success, this is not for the purpose of achieving any conspiracy, but China has the belief that "the world is in harmony".
"If you are poor, you will be good to yourself, and if you are good, you will help the world", this is the "Tao" of the Chinese.
In fact, we can understand Mongolia's proximity to the West over the years.
Mongolia is caught between China and Russia, and it is impossible not to be afraid, which is why it has adopted "equidistance" diplomacy to maintain friendly relations with the United States and get close to the West.
To put it bluntly, this is the desire to find a balance between large countries, which is a typical "small country mentality".
Nowadays, Mongolia is going further and further on the road of restoring the "traditional Mongolian language", and whether their "yang plan" can be realized depends fundamentally on their future choices and actions.
Resources:
Nationalism in Mongolia during the transition period
On Mongolia's full resumption of the use of Uighur Mongolian script_Yang Fucheng
The History and Present Situation of Mongolia's Writing Policy_Muren Gaowa
Mongolian Script_A Question of Cultural Inheritance and Political Orientation_ Together
Changes in Mongolia's Diplomatic Strategy from the Perspective of Writing Reform_Wei Lisu