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Author: * Kazuo Minamoto -
1 Post
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69 Posts
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Date: Feb 23, 2008 - 09:26
The White Mare of the Mongols
Prologue to The Search for the Sacred White Mare
As part of LunarFest '08, the Orient is
offering a treasure/puzzle game based on the wonderful folk legends of the
Mongols and with its "heroine" the Sacred White Mare of the Great Khan. The
Mongols had an almost religious veneration for one of their favorite drinks, the
"kumiss" made from fermented mare's milk. At the same time, the Great Khan
himself, when he built the famed city of Shangdu (Xanadu), had a herd of sacred
white mares, whose milk only Kublai Khan could consume. As noted in the history of Shangdu:
The Mongols were a hunting race, and the Great Khan’s imperial hunt was not
forgotten in designing Shangdu. To the north and west of the outer city walls
was a game preserve, carefully landscaped in this seething sea of grass to
provide meadows, woods, coppices of trees, and lakes. It was stocked with game,
mostly varieties of deer, and dotted with fountains and streams. The park itself
was also surrounded by an earth wall, and apparently the Khan’s sacred white
mares – who provided milk which only the Great Khan could drink – were also
raised here.
Horses were utterly essential to the Mongol way of life, and the White Mare not
only symbolized perfect beauty but perfect utility...thus, the Khan's herd
symbolized the fertility and nurture found in the wild, harsh lands of the
steppes.
As for Mongol folktales, they are (not surprisingly) full of
violence, magic and striving. Our own 'take' on the White Mare
legend owes much to one of the best online sources for Mongol folk tales
(including the near-magic horses of the steppes), and provides an introduction
to the magical, dangerous world of Mongol folklore.
Sources
A Journey in Southern Siberia: Varhan Tulai
Habun
Mongolian Folktales
How Story-telling Began Among Mongols
Traditions, Values and Beliefs
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Follow the white mare to the first chapter
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The White Mare of the Mongols
Lunar Fest 2008
(- threads, 45 posts)
Sacred White Mare Treasure Hunt
(34 posts)
Sacred Mare Treasure Hunt-Clue 1
