’The Story of Usun Debeskertu Khan’: Image of the Virtuous Woman according to the Tibetan King’s Homilies

Precepts regarding mutual attitudes between husband and wife in many traditional cultures can essentially be reduced to a single common postulate: with equal mutual love and respect stipulated, husband is assigned the role of head of household, and wife - that of the latter’s subordinate. And views on the woman’s role in the context of the Indo-Tibetan cultural tradition are no exception. Through the use of different educational techniques, including those of verbal precepts (homilies) addressed to respective groups and individuals involved, the Buddhism was actively shaping an image of the ideal Woman. One such literary manifestation is the text containing homilies of the legendary Tibetan king Ralpachen. Goals. The paper aims to introduce into scientific discourse the text of an Old Kalmyk literary monument titled ‘The Story of Usun Debeskertu Khan’.Materials. The work deals with nine versions (handwritten copies) of the text housed in Oirat manuscript collections of Russia, Mongolia, and China. Other parts of the composition contain special instructions describing features that essentially characterize noble and common women, as well as some views on relations between husband and wife. All the mentioned attitudes are evident enough and can easily be perceived by the bulk of society. There is no doubt that in ethnic mentality the norms corresponded to the ideal that had been elaborated long before the conversion to Buddhism and received another impetus during the consolidation of its positions. Conclusions. So, the published text attests to the fact that, admitting the moral equality between man and woman, Buddhism still allots the latter with modest and useful functions actually restricting her activities to the family circle where she can sophisticate private life, i.e. vitalize and decorate it.

precepts, woman, moral qualities, ideal image of family

1. [A Kalmyk-Language Reader for Aimag- and Preliminary District-Level Schools Compiled by Sh. Boldyrev]. (In: Khonkho journal). Is. 3. Prague: Kalmyk Commission of Cultural Workers, 1927. 255 p. (In Russ.)

2. [Woman in Islam]. G. Nurullina (ed., comp.). Moscow: UMMAH, 2004. 382 p. (In Russ.)

3. Armuor R. Islam, Christianity and the West: a Troubled History. Moscow: St. Andrew’s Biblical Theological Institute, 2004. 336 p. (In Russ.)

4. Badmaev A. V. [Kalmyk Historical and Literary Texts: Russian Translations]. A. V. Badmaeva (comp., foreword, ed.). Elista: Kalmyk Research Institute of Language, Literature and History, 1969. 203 p. (In Russ.)

5. Edou J. Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chod. M. Malygina (transl.). Moscow: Otkrytyi Mir, 2008. 321 p. (In Russ.)

6. Gerelmaa G. Brief Catalogue of Oirat Manuscripts Kept by Institute of Language and Literature by Gerelmaa Guruuchin. Ulaanbaatar: Mongolian Academy of Sciences, 2005. 270 p. (In Eng.)

7. Kychanov E. I., Melnichenko B. N. [History of Tibet: from the Earliest Times to the Present Days]. Moscow: Vost. Lit., 2005. 351 p. (In Russ.)

8. Prozritelev G. [The Military Past of Our Kalmyks: Stavropol Kalmyk Regiment and Astrakhan Regiments in the Patriotic War of 1812]. Astrakhan: Executive Office of Astrakhan Governorate, 1912. 384 p. (In Russ.)

9. Radnabkhadra [The Moon Light: a Story of Rabjamba Zaya Pandita]. G. N. Rumyantsev and A. G. Sazykin (facsimile of manuscript and transl.); A. G. Sazykin (translit., foreword, etc.). St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie, 1999. 176 p. (In Russ.)

10. Sazykin A. G. [Catalogue of Mongolian Manuscripts and Xylographs Housed by the Institute of Oriental Studies, USSR Academy of Sciences]. Vol. I. Moscow: Nauka, GRVL, 1988. 507 p. (In Russ.)

11. Shantideva. The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra). St. Petersburg: Uddiyana, 2000. 216 p. (In Russ.)

12. Troitsky S. [Christian Philosophy of Marriage]. Klin: Khristianskaya Zhizn’, 2001. 222 p. (In Russ.)

13. Voroshilova O. N. Image of woman in religions. Nauchno-metodicheskiy elektronnyy zhurnal «Kontsept». 2017. Vol. 23. Pp. 33–37. A Internet resource: http://e-koncept.ru/2017/770428.htm (accessed: August 20, 2019). (In Russ.)

14. Yakhontova N. S. [The Oirat Language: a Dictionary of Poetic Expressions]. N. S. Yakhontova (facsimile of manuscript, translit., etc.). Moscow: Vost. Lit., 2010. 615 p. (In Russ.)