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Bicheev B. The Putting on Horseback Rite Among the Oirats of Xinjiang

B. Bicheev
Kalmyk State University named after B. B. Gorodovikov
Elista, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-9352-7367
E-mail: baazr@mail.ru

 

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ABSTRACT. The article analyzes the ancient rite practiced by the Oirats of Xinjiang that involves putting a boy of a certain age on horseback for the first time. This rite of passage leads to a new stage in the boy’s life and a radical change in his lifestyle. The research is based on the field materials obtained during the expeditions to Xinjiang (2016–2019) and on rare publications by Chinese scholars of Mongolian studies. The birth of a boy means the appearance of an heir and a successor in the family. A significant event in the boy’s life is the rite of mounting a horse at age five or six. Usually, the boy’s father first performs the ritual, which indicates that the boy passes into a qualitatively different age category and social role. Notably, the horse on which the boy is mounted belonged to him since birth. A practical meaning of the act is that from the moment the rite is performed, the boy is to ride the horse himself, and no one can put him on a horse behind their back – like a small child. From that time, he also learns how to use horse equipment, such as a lasso and a whip, to look after cattle during the day and at night, to use weapons (knife, bow, rifle), and he takes part in hunting expeditions. This training continues until he is recognized as an adult, i. e., until his first participation in a battle.

 

KEYWORDS: Oirats, nomadic culture, the rite of putting on horseback, ocialization of an individual

 

DOI 10.31250/2618 -8 6 0 0 -2023 -2 (20) -93 -110
УДК 392.17

 

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