몽골 유목문화 속의 색깔상징 고찰

Researches on Colour Symbols inside Mongolian Nomadic Culture: Focusing on Colour Symbols in The Secret History of the Mongols

This article analyses colour symbols inside the Secret History of the Mongols. As generally agreed among scholars the Secret History of the Mongols was written during the 13th century and thus it represents the nomadic culture around Central Asian regions including Mongolia at that time. When I thoroughly investigated this historical and folkloric material I found that there are three major subjects concerning colour symbols. These three main contents are: folk classification, folklore of time and five chief colours. Firstly, colour symbols are apparent among folk terms to classify Mongolian livestock in terms of age, sex as well as physical distinction such as colours. Most common examples of folk classification by delicate colours, reflected inside the Secret History of the Mongols, are particularly classificatory system of dividing horses. For instance, the diversity of various coloured horses are well described such as shinhur mor , sharga mor , hulagch güü, hongor mor , haliun, heer, unah mor , zost bor mor , etc. Secondly, colour symbols are also used to clarify a certain time. For example, in the section 81 of the Secret History of the Mongols, there is a description such as on the sixteenth day of the first month of summer, the red circle day . In this way nomadic Mongolians usually understand the precise time for celebration and memorial days. Lastly, in nomadic Mongolian culture five principle colours, such as white, black, red, blue and yellow, are deeply embedded. Likewise, in the Secret History of the Mongols, five colours are visible in various social and cultural contexts. White normally symbolises purity and nobility whereas black symbolises bad luck and common people. Other colours like red, blue and yellow symbolise energy, holy sky and motherland respectively. Furthermore, these five colours are closely linked to Mongolian shamanism, as it can be seen especially in the section 174 of the Secret History of the Mongols.