Comparative Study of the Xinjiang-Oirat and Kalmyk Legends about the Warrior Yobogon Mergen

Abstract

The article is devoted to the outcomes of the research on the oral stories about the Mighty Hero Yobogon Mergen undertaken with the aim to compare their Xinjiang-Oirat and Kalmyk versions. The folk stories about this hero have been published and studied by scholars such as B. B. Okonov, E. D. Muchkinova, D. E. Basayev, N. Buuva, S. Baazr, E. Badma, P. Dambipelj, Yuzmya, T. Namjil, and G. Gomb. The study of the available versions of the stories allow for distinguishing the two groups of works: the historical stories based on real events and legends. Thus, the researcher N. Buuva states that the story about the hero Yobogon Mergen published in the series of folklore monuments titlted “Khan Tengri” reflects some real events in the Oirat history. In all Kalmyk and Oirat versions, Yobogon Mergen - a foot hero - appears as a man of gigantic power whom no one can defeat. No horse is able to carry him, eighty oxen in one harness cannot move him, and five hundred men cannot lift him up. The image of a foot hero is an archaic one which is proved by the content of the studied texts: while picturing a strong, good shot, brave hero, the stories echo an ancient naming ritual related to initiation rites. According to the plot of Yobogon Mergen’s legends, the hero is an orphan or was caught out of water by childless old man and woman. He skillfully wields a bow - a traditional weapon of nomads. Yobogon Mergen shoots through the feather of a mythical bird Garuda making the Sun shine over Beijing, he also shoots down two heavenly stars from the Pleiades (in Xinjiang versions), with one shot disperses darkness over Tibet, and fulfills the order of a guardian-säküsen to hit a saiga without damaging its fell so that an arrow goes right through natural openings of an animal (in Kalmyk versions). Thus, it can be concluded that the stories about the warrier Yobogon Mergen relate to the Oirat mythology, pre-Buddhist beliefs, religious notions of Buddhism as well as Oirat rituals and traditions.