17th Annual Mongolian Studies Conference Keynote

Video Description

This year's keynote was be given by Simon Wickhamsmith of Rutgers University delivered the keynote to the 17th annual Mongolian Studies Conference on the subject, The Poetry and "Perfect Qualities" of Danzanravjaa, the "Wild Saint" of the Gobi, The 19th-century Mongolian monk-poet Danzanravjaa (1803-1856) is today regarded as one of Mongolia's most important cultural figures. His monastery, at Hamriin Hiid in the eastern Gobi desert, has during the last 30 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, become a significant site of pilgrimage, and his poetry is still recited and appreciated by people throughout the country. Danzanravjaa's legacy as a museologist and educator, moreover, is unusual in Mongolia, and the equality of opportunity accorded to girls and boys alike in his pedagogy and in the school he established renders him an important figure in the development of education in Inner Asia. His controversial life and death, his popularity with the people and unpopularity with the Buddhist hierarchy, and the strange developments of his legacy, likewise render him a central figure in Inner Asian Buddhism. This presentation focused on Danzanravjaa's poetry, written both in Mongolian and Tibetan, and what it can tell us about the nature of his personality and religious understanding, as well as about early 19th century Mongolian poetic literature. While much of his work is Buddhist in its message, its language and imagery reflects Danzanravjaa's desire to reach all people, regardless of their exposure to Buddhist ideas. His use of natural imagery, humorous and aphoristic language, and the experiences of nomadic livestock herders--especially in his Mongolian-language verses--show how he sought to connect with his audience on their level, and to transmit even the most advanced Buddhist ideas in down-to-earth language. His verses in Tibetan, on the other hand, were presumably written specifically for monks, and deal with Buddhism in much less varied ways, while still reflecting his direct and intellectually curious voice.