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Legacy of the Clear Script


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Authors

Bulag, Uradyn E. 
Fuerwa, Dorjraa 

Abstract

Namjil Lama collected most of the clear script books in Mongol Khüree County in Ili. In this video, he explained what and why he has been doing over the years. He inherited hundreds of Tod Bichig scripts from his grandfather, who went to Lhasa at a young age and brought back many Buddhist sutras and translated them into clear script. Among Altan Gerel, Chagan Shühürtü, and Har Shühürtü, Namjil preserved a classical Mongolian script Banzaragchi, which is the oldest scripture in Mongol Khüree, written during the reign of Khublai Khan according to the date mentioned in the book. Additionally, he also holds the knowledge of handwriting and the woodblock Tod scripts. Handwriting and woodcutting with sophisticated rules and aesthetic styles, he takes at least a month to write full-time every day to complete an entire Tod Üsüg script on paper, whereas the other takes over three months to complete. Given that it is part of his life, Namjil did not count how many woodblock scripts and paper scripts she made from old scripts.

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Keywords

Tod Üsüg Scriptures, woodblock Scriptures, Calligraphy, Buddhism, Cultural Heritage, Preservation

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Publisher

Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge

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Sponsorship
Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin.