A RAM AS A SYMBOL OF PROSPERITY IN THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF THE KHAKAS (LATE 19TH — MID-20TH CENTURIES)
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6119-2021-1-144-152
The purpose of this article is to characterize the image of a ram / sheep in the traditional culture of the Khakas, as an animal that gives a person well-being and prosperity. The chronological framework of the work covers the late 19th — mid-20th centuries. The choice of such time boundaries is due to the state of the source base for the research topic. Leading in the study is the principle of historicism, when any cultural phenomenon is considered in development and taking into account a specific situation. The research methodology is based on historical and ethnographic methods: remnants (relic) and semantic analysis. As a result of the analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. in the traditional culture of the Khakas, the ram / sheep and its image occupied an important place. The animal in question was extremely in demand due to its utilitarian and sacred meaning. In practical terms, it was undoubtedly perceived as an important and accessible source of meat food and raw materials for household needs; 2) The presence of a large number of small ruminants along with other domestic animals was the basis of material prosperity and a high social status of a person in society; 3) In folk life, the ram served as a measure of the value of goods and services, was widely used in exchange trade and was a widespread subject of gift exchange processes; 4) The image of a ram was consistently associated with the idea of vitality and fertility; 5) Some rams / sheep were included in the category of sacred domestic animals — yzykh. They acted as living sacrifices to various patron spirits. They believed that they mystically contributed to the well-being of the economy. Yzykh had the status of an inviolable creature and were distinguished by ritual ribbons — chalama; 6) The images of some patron spirits of sheep, to whom the yzykh were dedicated, had their own material image and were called tos. There was a ritual practice in relation to them; 7) The Khakass also gave sacred status to special animals called mal kizik or mal talaan. They usually had the appearance of a lamb and personified the center of happiness and well-being of the entire human economy; 8) In the cult practice of the Khakas, the veneration of a stone statue of a ram khucha tas, the embodiment of the life force of livestock, became widespread.
Keywords: Khakas, traditional culture, rituals, ram, sheep, yzykh, tos, image, symbol, fertility, stone statue
References:
AMAES TGU, № 680-8 a «Etnograficheskaya ekspeditsiya TGU v Khakasiyu. Tetrad’ no 2. Leto 1972 g.» [Ethnographic expedition TSU in Khakassia. Summer 1972]. 11 p. (In Russian).
AMAES TGU, № 680-8 a «Etnograficheskaya ekspeditsiya TGU v Khakasiyu. Tetrad’ no 8. Iyul’ 1974 g.» [Ethnographic expedition TSU in Khakassia. July 1974]. 40 p. (In Russian).
AMAES TGU, № 681-5 «Etnograficheskaya ekspeditsiya TGU v Khakasiyu. Tetrad’ no 5. Avgust 1975 g.» [Ethnographic expedition TSU in Khakassia. August 1975]. 35 p. (In Russian).
Arkhiv MAES TGU (dalee — AMAES TGU) [Archive of the Museum of archeology and ethnography of Tomsk state university (further — AMAES TGU)], № 677-4 а «Dnevnik uchastnika etnograficheskoi ekspeditsii TGU v Khakasiyu» [Diary of a member of an ethnographic expedition TSU in Khakassia], 41 p. (In Russ.)
Burnakov V. A. Fetishi – tesy v traditsionnom mirovozzrenii khakasov (konets XIX — seredina XX veka) [Fetishes – tes in the traditional Khakass worldview (late 19th — mid 20 th centuries)]. Novosibirsk: IAET SB RAS Publ., 2020, 188 p. (In Russian).
Butanaev V. Ya. Burkhanizm tiurkov Sayano-Altaia [Burkhanism of the Sayan-Altai Turks]. Abakan: KhSU Publ., 2003. 260 p. (In Russian).
Butanaev V. Ya. Khakassko-russkii istoriko-etnograficheskii slovar’ [The Khakass-Russian Historical-Ethnographic Dictionary]. Abakan, Khakasiya Publ., 1999. 240 p. (In Russian).
Butanaev V. Ya., Butanaeva I. I. Mir khongorskogo fol’klora [The world of Khongor (Khakass) folklore]. Abakan: KhSU Publ., 2008, 376 p. (In Russian).
Domozhakov V. I. Khakasskie zagadki [Khakass Riddles]. Zapiski Khakasskogo nauchno issledovatel’skogo instituta yazyka, literatury i istorii [Notes of the Khakass Research Institute of History, Language and Literature. Issue 2]. Abakan, Khakas the regional. State. Book. Publ., 1951. Vol. 2. Pp. 60–84. (In Khakass, in Russian).
Grigor’ev V. Iy. K voprosu o pozemel’nom ustroistve inorodtsev Minusinskogo kraia [On the question of the land arrangement of foreigners in the Minusinsk region] // Izvestiia Imperatorskogo russkogo geograficheskogo obshchestva [News of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society]. 1906. Vol. XLII. No. 2–3. P. 353–485. (In Russian)
Kastren M. A. Puteshestvie v Sibir’ (1845–1849) [Travel to Siberia (1845–1849)]. Tiumen’: Iy. Mandriki Publ., 1999. 352 p. (In Russian)
Katanov N. F. Narechiya uryankhaitsev (soiotov), abakanskikh tatar i karagasov: (Obraztsy narodnoi literatury tyrkskikh plemen, izdannye V. V. Radlovym) [Adverbs Uryankhays (Soyots), Abakan Tatars and Karagases: (Samples folk literature of Turkic tribes issued V. V. Radloff)]. S-Peterburg, 1907. Vol. 9. 640 p. (In Russian)
Katanov N. F. Zamechaniya o bogatyrskikh poemakh minusinskikh tyurkov Eniseiskoi gubernii [Remarks on the heroic poems of the Minusinsk Turks of the Yenisei province]. S-Peterburg: Bussel Publ., 1885. 8 p. (In Russian)
Khakassko-russkii slovar’ [Khakass-Russian dictionary]. Novosibirsk, Nauka Publ., 2006. 1114 p. (In Khakass, in Russian).
Kore Saryg, ezdyashchii na Kerbe-kaurom kone [Kore Saryg riding on the Kerbe-kaur horse] // Khakasskie narodnye skazki (Pamiatniki fol’klora narodov Sibiri i Dal’nego Vostoka. T. 33) [Khakass folk tales (Monuments of folklore of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East. Vol. 33)]. Novosibirsk: Omega print Publ., 2014. 769 p. (In Khakass, in Russian).
Kuznetsova A. A., Kulakov P. E. Minusinskie i achinskie inorodtsy [Minusinsk and Achinsk natives]. Krasnoiarsk: Enis. gub. upr-ia Publ., 1898. 298 p. (In Russian).
Ostrovskikh P. E. Etnograficheskie zametki o tiurkakh Minusinskogo kraia [Ethnographic notes about the Turks of the Minusinsk region // Zhivaia starina [// Living antiquity], 1895. Vol. 3–4. P. 297–348. (In Russian).
Posviashchenie zhivotnykh u turetsko-mongol’skikh plemen [Dedication of animals among the Turkish-Mongol tribes] // Dyrenkova N. P. Tiurki Saiano-Altaia. Stat'i i etnograficheskie materialy [Dyrenkova N. P. Türks of the Sayan-Altai. Articles and ethnographic materials]. S-Peterburg: MAE RAN Publ., 2012. P. 189–199. (In Russian).
Shamanstvo i shamany [Shamanism and shamans] // Niva [Niva], 1871. Vol. 12. P. 185–188. (In Russian)
Spasskii G. I. O dostoprimechatel’neishikh pamyatnikakh sibirskikh drevnostei i skhodstve nekotorykh iz nikh s velikorusskim [About the most interesting monuments of Siberian antiquities and the similarity of some of them with the Great Russian] // Zapiski Imperatorskogo russkogo geograficheskogo obshchestva. Knizhka XII [Notes of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. Book 12]. S-Peterburg. 1857. 181 p. (In Russian).
Subrakova O. V. Iazyk khakasskogo geroicheskogo eposa [The language of the Khakass heroic epic]. Abakan: Khakas. book Publ., 2007. 184 p. (In Russian).
Sukhovskii V. O shamanstve v Minusinskom krae [About shamanism in the Minusinsk region] // Otdel’nyi ottisk [Separate impression]. Kazan’, 1901. 9 p.
Teneshev N. S. Brak, sem’ya, svadebnye obryady i obychai sagaitsev [Marriage, family, wedding ceremonies and customs of the Sagay] // Arkhiv MAE RAN [Archive of the Museum of archeology and ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. F. 5. Op. 6. D. 19 [Fund 5. Inventory 6. File 19]. 1956. 117 p. (In Khakass, in Russian).
Toporov V. N. Ovtsa [Sheep] // Mify narodov mira. Vol. 2 [Myths of the peoples of the world. Vol. 2]. Moscow: Sov ents. Publ., 1988. Pp. 237–238. (In Russian)
Yakovlev E. K. Etnograficheskii obzor inorodcheskogo naseleniya doliny Yuzhnogo Eniseya i ob’yasnitelnyi katalog etnograficheskogo otdela muzeya. Opisanie Minusinskogo muzeya [Ethnographic survey of the alien population of the valley of the Southern Yenisei and the Explanatory Catalog of the Ethnographic Department of the Museum. Description of the Minusinsk Museum]. Minusinsk, V. I. Kornakov Publ., 1900. 212 p. (In Russian)
Yarilov A. A. Byloe i nastoyashchee sibirskikh inorodtsev. Materialy dlya izucheniya. Vyp. 3. Kyzyl’tsy i ikh khozyaistvo [Past and present of Siberian foreigners. Materials for study. Issue 3. Kyzyl people and their economy]. Iur’ev: K. Mattisen Publ., 1899. 366 p. (In Russian)
Issue: 1, 2021
Series of issue: Issue 1
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 144 — 152
Downloads: 623