Tea in the traditional culture of the Kalmyks and Tuvans
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2019.4.12Keywords:
tea; milk tea; Kalmyks; Tuvans; tea ceremony; traditional rites; everyday life; traditional cuisineAbstract
The article analyzes the traditions and current state of consumption of milk tea among the Tuvans and Kalmyks. It was – and still is – considered a most required product characterized as vital, therapeutic, and, currently, ethnically essential.
The paper examines the history of tea distribution, the established traditions of its preparation, depicts practices of its use in household and ceremonial activities of Kalmyks and Tuvans. The study reveals the use and significance of milk tea is associated with the introduction of extensive livestock breeding and the traditional worldview, with the sacred meaning (and value) of milk as a ‘white’, ‘sacred’ product.
Methods of preparation of traditional milk tea – ‘khalmg tsӓ’ of the Kalmyks and ‘süttüg shay’ of the Tuvans – have certain differences in terms of brewing, order of ingredients, final stirring techniques, etc.
References
Alekseeva, P. E. (1999) Rasskazy o kalmytskom chae [Stories about the Kalmyk tea]. Teegin gerl, no. 1, pp. 106–109. (In Russ.).
Arutyunov, S. A. (2001) Osnovnye pishchevye modeli i ikh lokal'nye varianty u narodov Rossii [Peoples of Russia: basic food models and their local versions]. In: Traditsionnaya pishcha kak vyrazhenie ehtnicheskogo samosoznaniya [Traditional food as an instrument of ethnic identity]. Ed. by S. A. Arutyunov, T. D. Voronina. Moscow, Nauka. 293 p. Pp. 10–17. (In Russ.).
Bakaeva, E. P., and Guchinova, E.-B. M. (1990) Alkogol' v obryadovykh deistviyakh u kalmykov [Alcohol in ceremonial activities of the Kalmyks]. In: Problemy izucheniya traditsii v kul'ture narodov mira [Traditions in world cultures: research problems]. Ed. by O. I. Brusina, N. Ya. Daragan. Moscow, Institute of Ethnography (USSR Academy of Sciences). Is. 1. 119 p. Pp. 57– 67. (In Russ.).
Bakaeva, E. P. (2003) Kalmytskii chai u stavropol'skikh turkmen [Kalmyk tea among Stavropol Turkmens]. In: Mongolovedenie v novom tysyacheletii: (k 170-letiyu organiztsii pervoi kafedry mongol'skogo yazyka v Rossii) [Mongolian studies in the new millennium (celebrating the 170th anniversary of the establishment of the first Russia’s university-based Mongolian language department)]. Proceedings of the international scientific conference (September 22–26, 2003). Ed. by G. M. Borlikov. Elista, Kalmyk State University. 320 p. Pp. 234–238. (In Russ.).
Butanaev, V. Ya., and Mongush, Ch. V. (2005) Arkhaicheskie obychai i obryady sayanskikh tyurkov [Archaic traditions and rituals of the Sayan Turks]. Ed. by I. N. Gemuev. Abakan, Katanov Khakas State University. 200 p. (In Russ.).
Bordzhanova, T. G. (2000) Eshche raz o kalmytskom chae [Once again about the Kalmyk tea]. In: ALTAICA. Is. VII. Moscow, Institute of Oriental Studies of RAS. Pp. 36–46. (In Russ.).
Vainshtein, S. I. (1961) Tuvintsy-todzhintsy. Istoriko-ehtnograficheskie ocherki [The Tozhu Tuvans: historical and ethnographic sketches]. Ed. by L. P. Potapov. Moscow, Vostochnaya Literatura. 218 p. (In Russ.).
Vainshtein, S. I. (1991) Mir kochevnikov tsentra Azii [The world of nomads inhabiting Asia’s center]. Moscow, Nauka. 294 p. (In Russ.).
Grum-Grzhimailo, G. E. (1926) Zapadnaya Mongoliya i Uryanhajskii krai [Western Mongolia and the Uriankhai Contry]. Vol. 3. Part 1. An anthropological and ethnographical sketch of these countries by G. Grum-Grzhimailo. Leningrad, State (Russian) Geographical Society. 412 p. (In Russ.).
Datsyshen, V. G. (2011) Kitaitsy v Tuve v nachale XX veka [Chinese in Tuva in early 20th century]. The New Research of Tuva, no. 1, pp. 143-159. (In Russ.). [online] Available at: https://nit.tuva.asia/nit/article/view/446/821 (access date: 18.06.2019).
Dongak, S. Ch. (2018) Mal ydyktaar tyva ezulaldar. Tuvinskie obryady osvyashcheniya skota [Livestock blessing rituals of the Tuvans]. Kyzyl, Zhurnalist. 51 p. (In Tuv. and Russ.).
Dushan, U. D. (1976) Obychai i obryady dorevolyutsionnoi Kalmykii [Traditions and rituals of pre-revolutionary Kalmykia]. In: Etnograficheskii sbornik [Collected ethnography research papers]. Is. 1. Elista, KNIIYaLI. Pp. 5–89. (In Russ.).
Zhitetsky, I. A. (1893) Ocherki byta astrakhanskikh kalmykov (ehtnograficheskie nablyudeniya 1884–1886 gg.) [Astrakhan Kalmyks: sketches of everyday life (ethnographic observations of 1884–1886)]. Moscow, M. G. Volchaninov. 87 p. (In Russ.).
Istoricheskie puteshestviya. Izvlecheniya iz memuarov i zapisok inostrannykh i russkikh puteshestvennikov po Volge v XV–XVIII vekakh [Historical travels/ Excerpts from memoirs and travel notes of foreigners and Russians to have travelled along the Volga in the 15th-18th centuries] (1936). Comp. by V. Alekseev. Stalingrad, Regional Book Publ. 326 p. (In Russ.).
Kalmyki [The Kalmyks] (2010). Ed. by E. P. Bakaeva, N. L. Zhukovskaya. Miklouho-Maclay Institute of Ethnography and Anthropology of RAS, Kalmyk Humanities Research Institute of RAS. Moscow, Nauka. 568 p. (In Russ.).
Kereitov, R. Kh. (2005) Chai v pishche nogaitsev [Tea in meals of the Nogais]. Bulletin of the Kalmyk Institute for Humanities of the RAS, no. 19, pp. 188–191. (In Russ.).
Kon, F. Ya. (1936) Za 50 let [Within 50 years]. Moscow, Sovetskii Pisatel. 2nd ed. 355 p. (In Russ.).
Larina, E. I., and Naumova, O. B. (2008) Traditsii chaepitiya u kazakhov [Tea traditions of the Kazakhs]. In: Khmel'noe i inoe: napitki narodov mira [Alcohol and other things: national beverages of the world]. Ed. by S. A. Arutyunov, T. A. Voronina. Moscow, Nauka. 504 p. Pp. 221–248. (In Russ.).
Lipinskaya, V. A. (2008) Chai v russkoi kul'ture (XVI — nachalo XX veka) [Tea in Russian culture (16th – early 20th cc.)]. In: Khmel'noe i inoe: napitki narodov mira [Alcohol and other things: national beverages of the world]. Ed. by S. A. Arutyunov, T. A. Voronina. Moscow, Nauka. 504 p. Pp. 20–44. (In Russ.).
Nebolsin, P. I. (1852) Ocherki byta kalmykov Khosheutovskogo ulusa [Kalmyks of Khosheutovsky District (Ulus): sketches of everyday life]. St. Petersburg, Karl Krai. 192 p. (In Russ.).
Nefediev, N. A. (1834) Podrobnye svedeniya o volzhskikh kalmykakh, sobrannye na meste N. Nefed'evym [Detailed data about the Volga Kalmyks collected on site by N. Nefediev]. St. Petersburg, Karla Krai. 290 p. (In Russ.).
Potanin, G. N. (1883) Ocherki Severo-zapadnoi Mongolii: Rezul'taty puteshestviya, ispolnennogo v 1876-1877 g. po porucheniyu Imperatorskogo Russkogo geograficheskogo obshchestva chlenov sotrudnikom onogo G. N. Potaninym [Sketches of Northwestern Mongolia: summarizing the results of the 1876-1877 trip commissioned by the Imperial Russian Geographical Society and undertaken by its employed associate G. N. Potanin]. In 4 vols. St. Petersburg, V. Bezobrazov & C°. 372 p. (In Russ.).
Potanin, G. N. (2003) Zametki o semeinom, obshchestvennom i religioznom byte [Sketches of family, social and religious activities]. In: Traditsionnaya kul'tura tuvintsev glazami inostrantsev (konets XIX — nachalo XX veka) [Tuvan traditional culture in the eyes of foreigners (late 19th – early 20th cc.)] (2003). Prep., foreword, comment. by A. K. Kuzhuget. Kyzyl, Tuvan Book Publ. 224 p. Pp. 23–29. (In Russ.).
Potapov, L. P. (1969) Ocherki narodnogo byta tuvintsev [The Tuvans: sketches of the folk lifestyle and related household activities]. Moscow, Nauka, GRVL. 402 p. (In Russ.).
Poyu stepnoi nektar — poyu Kalmytskii chai [I praise the steppe nectar – I praise the Kalmyk tea] (2016). Comp. by A. T. Bayanova, P. E. Alekseeva. Elista, Kalmyk Book Publ. 191 p. (In Kalm. and Russ.).
Pyurbeev, G. Ts. (1996) Tolkovyi slovar' traditsionnogo byta kalmykov [Traditional everyday life of the Kalmyks: an explanatory dictionary]. Elista, Kalmyk Book Publ. 176 p. (In Kalm. and Russ.).
Sem' zvezd: kalmytskie legendy i predaniya [The Seven Stars: Kalmyk legends and tales] (2004). Comp., transl., foreword, comment. by D. E. Basaev. Elista, Kalmyk Book Publ. 415 p. (In Russ.).
Smirnov, P. A. (1999) Putevye zapiski po Kalmytskim stepyam Astrakhanskoi gubernii [Across the Kalmyk steppe of Astrakhan Governorate: travel notes]. Ed. by A. B. Lidzhiev. Elista, Kalmyk Book Publ. 248 p. (In Russ.).
Tyurkskie narody Vostochnoi Sibiri [Turkic peoples of Eastern Siberia] (2008). Ed. by D. A. Funk, N. A. Alekseev. Moscow, Nauka. 422 p. (In Russ.).
Khabunova, E. E. (2009) O chainoi tseremonii kalmykov [About the Kalmyk tea ceremony]. Volgograd, Tsaritsyn. 35 p. (In Russ.).
Erdniev, U. E. (1970) Kalmyki (konets XIX — nachalo XX v.). Istoriko-ehtnograficheskie ocherki [The Kalmyks (late 19th-early 20th cc.): historical and ethnographic essays]. Ed. by G. G. Stratanovich. Elista, Kalmyk Book Publ. 312 p. (In Russ.).
Yusupov, M. M. (2003) Kalmytskii chai u chechentsev [Kalmyk tea among the Chechens]. In: Mongolovedenie v novom tysyacheletii: (k 170-letiyu organiztsii pervoi kafedry mongol'skogo yazyka v Rossii) [Mongolian studies in the new millennium (celebrating the 170th anniversary of the establishment of the first Russia’s university-based Mongolian language department)]. Proceedings of the international scientific conference (September 22–26, 2003). Ed. by G. M. Borlikov. Elista, Kalmyk State University. 320 p. Pp. 220–222. (In Russ.).
Yakovlev, E. K. (1900) Etnograficheskii obzor inorodcheskogo naseleniya doliny Yuzhnogo Eniseya i ob"yasnitel'nyi katalog Etnograficheskogo otdela Muzeya [An ethnographic review of the South Yenisei Valley and the explanatory catalogue of the Museum’s Ethnography Research Department]. Minusinsk, V. I. Kornakov. 357 p. (In Russ.).
Published
How to Cite
Sharaeva T. I. and Aiyzhy E. V. Tea in the traditional culture of the Kalmyks and Tuvans. The New Research of Tuva, 2019, no. 4 [online] Available at: https://nit.tuva.asia/nit/article/view/890 (access date: ...). DOI: 10.25178/nit.2019.4.12
Issue
Section
Author Biographies
Tatyana I. Sharaevа, Kalmyk Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences
Candidate of History, Senior Research Associate, Department of History, Archaeology and Ethnology, Kalmyk Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Postal address: 8 Ilishkin St., 358000 Elista, Russian Federation.
Tel.: +7 (84722) 3-55-06.
E-mail: sharaevati@yandex.ru
Elena V. Aiyzhy, Tuvan State University
Candidate of History, Associate Professor, Department of World History, Tuvan State University.
Postal address: 32 Lenin St., 667000 Kyzyl, Republic of Tuva, Russian Federation.
Tel.: +7 (394-22) 2-19-69.
Email: aiygy@mail.ru
Author(s) license holder(s) grant rights for their work to the journal (grantee of a license) under the simple non-exclusive open license in accordance with Art. 1286.1 «Open license for a research work, work of literature or fine arts», Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
New Research of Tuva publishes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license (CC BY-NC).
Since it is an open license, author(s) reserve the right to upload the article to their institutional repository, submit it to another journal (if it allows republications), or republish it on their own website (in full, or in part).
However, several conditions apply here:
a) The republished version must always contain the name(s) and affiliation(s) of the author(s), the original title and the hyperlink to the original version on the New Research of Tuva website;
b) It must be in open access, free of charge, and no category of readers must be in any way whatsoever advantaged over general readership.
c) should the contribution be submitted elsewhere by its author(s) without substantial modification (30% or more of original text unchanged), the body of the article should contain a disclaimer that the original version was published in New Research of Tuva (with a link to the respective page)
The CC-BY-NC is a non-revocable license which applies worldwide and lasts for the duration of the work’s copyright.
