The Roar of Euphonious Speech by Ven. Lubsan-Rinchen Nomtoev Revisited

Introduction. The article describes a treatise titled The Roar of Euphonious Speech by renown 19th-century Buryat Buddhist cleric and educator Ven. Lubsan-Rinchen Nomtoev. The text examined is a xylograph printed at the Atsagat Datsan. Goals. The article aims at analyzing and introducing results of a preliminary insight into the mentioned historical and grammatical work, which is concise enough though valuable in terms of its informativeness and textual harmony. Materials and methods. So, the paper investigates a xylograph headed Degedü šasin erdeni ber mongɣol oron-i tügegülügsen uɣ-i üjegülügsen iraɣu kelen-ü kürkirel neretü orusibai and housed at the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs (IMBT SB RAS, Mongolian Collection, file ID БМ-658). The source analysis proper is preceded by a brief historiographical introduction to studies that have dealt with the to be examined writing and some other treatises by L.-R. Nomtoev. Results. The work notes R. Nomtoev’s efforts were highly appreciated by A. Pozdneev, M. Bogdanov, B. Vladimirtsov, F. Kudryavtsev, P. Baldanzhapov, Ts.-A. Dugar-Nimaev, B. Bayartuev, Mongolian scholars T. Pagba, Ts. Damdinsüren, D. Tserensodnom, etc. The content analysis reveals the essay consists of two parts, namely: Part One describes the history of how Buddhist teaching was disseminated among Mongols and how Lama-donator relations were established, including the rise of the Gelugpa school to power; Mongolian-language Part Two discusses the history of Buddhism’s dissemination and the importance of delivering sermons in Mongolian. Conclusions. The study identifies Part One is the author’s revision of Chapter Four (‘How the [Holy] Teaching Was Spread in Mongolia’) of The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems by Thuken Losang Chökyi Nyima (Mong. Tugan-Gegen Luvsanchojinima, 1737–1802). The work determines main sources of the writing and emphasizes the latter is a historical and philological composition covering the history of Mongolian Buddhism and Mongolian script.

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