Seven Decades of Oirat Studies in China: 1949–2019

Introduction. Historically, the Oirats of China mainly live in the territory of Xinjiang, in the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, and in the Western part of Inner Mongolia. Some of the Olets (descendants of Dzungars) live in the steppe part of the Emin Gol of the Hulun Buir Aimag of Inner Mongolia, in Fuyu County of Heilongjiang Province, and in Chengdu, Hebei Province. In the modern historical science of China, until the mid-20th century the Oirats were not distinguished from the bulk of China’s Mongols, and, consequently, their history, culture and language were not subjects of individual studies. Only after its formation in 1949, Chinese Oirat studies started gaining visible features as an important part of Mongolian studies and the historical science of China as a whole. At the same time, Oirat studies as a historical direction were created by several generations of scientists of different nationalities (Han Chinese, Mongols, and Oirats themselves). Goals. The article aims to provide a general overview and scientific analysis of the formation and development of Oirat studies in China over the past seven decades (1949–2019), and to identify the historical paradigm of conducted researches and prospects of further development. Methods. The main research method is historical and chronological analysis. Despite Oirat studies have been existing as an integral part of Mongolian science for seven decades, no analysis of its historical development was ever carried out. Results. This work fills the gap and highlights the most important achievements in the study of China-based Oirats’ history and culture. A prominent attention in this study is given to the materials of ten scientific conferences that have the status of ‘all-China’ ones and were devoted to the study of the history and culture of the Oirats, as well as the scientific journal ‘Barayun mongyol sudul’ (‘Journal of Western Mongolian Studies’), which plays an important role in the development and determination of promising areas of Oirat studies. Conclusion. The analysis of Oiratological research over the past seven decades has revealed the historical paradigm of Oirat studies and prospects for their further development.

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