 |
Click photo to
enlarge
Tsam dancer |
The ancient religious mask dance, or Tsam, is a significant religious
ritual which reflects Buddhist teachings through images. It is a theatrical
art performed by skilled dancers wearing magnificently ornamented
costumes, which represent characters of different holy figures and
devils, animals, and people.
Through story, music, and dance, the wide range
of personalities of the characters are depicted. To symbolize positive
and negative attributes, characters from popular stories, and animals
such as the Khangarid (lord of flies), lion (the king of wild animal),
stag (the beauty among animals), crow (the soothsayer) and various
domestic animals are immitated. Furthermore, the colors and decoration
of the costumes are clues as to the nature of the personalities
of the characters.
Tsam mask dancing is included in the art form
called "Doigar," which embodies independent imagination,
one of the ten kinds of wisdom according to ancient Indian philosophy.
The Tsam dance ceremony was first introduced to Mongolia in the
8th century, when the famous Indian Saint Lovon Badamjunai was invited
to Mongolia to sanctify the construction of the first Tibetan Buddhist
temple, Samya. From that time, the Tsam dance was performed following
the traditional teaching of Nyambdeyan, and during the 16th century,
it became popular in Dash-Ihum temple Uigien Namjra and other places.
Eventually, more than 500 monasteries of the 700 Mongolian monasteries
had their own local variations of the ceremony.
 |
Click photo to
enlarge
Tsam mask |
There were two kinds of tsam dances. "Mil
Bogdo" Talking Tsam died out, but the Geser tsam, famous for
its elaborately rich decorations, remained. An example of the Geser
tsam was the most popular tsam in Mongolia, the "Jahar tsam
" or "Erleg Nomun Khan Tsam." It was first performed
in 1811, and told the story of how the disciple Yamandag destroyed
the aggressive Erlegs' mettalic citadels, thus taming them.
In "Khuree Tsam" or the "Tsam
of the Erleg Nomun Khan," a total of 108 costumes we worn,
including 21 diciples and dieties, such as Congor, Namsrai, Combo,
Ochirvaany, Jamsran, Lham, and Damdinchoijoo. This tsam was staged
every year on the 9th day of the last summer month, and was an important
ceremony.
The person who choreographed the first tsam dance
after the establishment of Erdene-Zuu monastery in Kharkhorin (Chinggis
Khaan's capital city) was a Mongolian. Folk art and native wisdom
played an important role in the production of the individual Tsam
dances. Song and dance, music, decorative arts, and other kinds
of folk art are included in the Tsam ceremony.
Despite the fact that the Mongolian Tsam dance
was based on Indian folk art and was popularized in Tibet, it was
highly developed in Mongolia. For this reason the Mongolian-Tibetan
tsam dance, the Geser and Nomun Khan fancy-dress tsam, and Mil Bogdo's
Talking Tsam will have a permanent position in the history of the
world's theater arts. |
