Outer Mongolia

This article is about a historical region of the Qing dynasty. For the present day country, see Mongolia.

Outer Mongolia (ᠭᠠᠳᠠᠭᠠᠳᠤ ᠮᠤᠨᠭᠭᠤᠯ Gadagadu Monggol, Chinese: 外蒙古; pinyin: Wài Měnggǔ)^[1] was a territory of the Qing Dynasty = the Manchu Empire. Its area was roughly equivalent to that of the modern state of Mongolia, which is sometimes informally called "Outer Mongolia" today. There was and is some confusion about whether Outer Mongolia only consisted of the four Khalkha aimags (Setsen Khan Aimag, Tüsheet Khan Aimag, Sain Noyon Khan Aimag and Zasagt Khan Aimag), or of Khalkha plus Oyirad areas Khovd and Tannu Uriankhai.^{[citation needed]} In explaining its independence from the Chinese Republic in 1912, the Mongolian government around the Bogd Khan stressed that both Mongolia and China had been administered by the Manchu, but that after the fall of the Manchu government the contract about submission to the Manchu had simply become invalid.^[2]

The name "Outer Mongolia" is contrasted with Inner Mongolia (Dotugadu monggol, Chinese: 内蒙古; pinyin: Nèi Měnggǔ),^[1] an autonomous region of China. Inner Mongolia was given its name because it was directly administered by the Qing; Outer Mongolia had a more autonomous government within the Qing domain.^{[citation needed]} The term "Northern Mongolia" is often used instead of "Outer Mongolia"^[3] when a distinction with Inner Mongolia needs to be made, so as to elide the history of Qing rule and rather imply a geographic unity of Mongolia.^[4] It can also be used to refer to Mongolia synchronically.^[5] In the Mongolian language, the word ar refers to the back side of something, which has been extended to mean the northern side of any spatial entity, e.g. a mountain or a yurt. The word öbür refers to the south (and thus protected) side of a mountain.^[6] A meaning extension to 'inner' is improbable given uses such as horigloltiin övör egnee 'first line of defence',^[7] which is the outer line. So the difference between Inner Mongolia and the Mongolian state is conceived of in the metaphor as at the backward northern side vs. the south side of a mountain. However, Chinese Chinese: 南蒙古; pinyin: Nán ménggǔ would rather refer to the southern part of Mongolia, while the sinocentristic historical terminology "Inner Mongolia" (Chinese: 内蒙古; pinyin: Nèiménggǔ) was left in usage.

Today, "Outer Mongolia" is sometimes still informally used to refer to Mongolia. Outer Mongolia is also used quite commonly in the Republic of China (Taiwan). To avoid confusion between the sovereign nation of Mongolia and China's Inner Mongolia, but to recognize the sovereignty of Mongolia, media in the China generally refer to the former as "State of Mongolia" (Chinese: 蒙古国; pinyin: Ménggǔ guó) instead of just "Mongolia" (Chinese: 蒙古; pinyin: Ménggǔ).

See also

• Outer Manchuria
• Timeline of Mongolian history

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Huhbator Borjigin. 2004. The history and political character of the name of 'Nei Menggu' (Inner Mongolia). Inner Asia 6: 61-80.
2. ^ Bawden, Charles (1968): The modern history of Mongolia. Weidenfeld & Nicolson: 194-195
3. ^ cf. Norcin, C. (1999): Monggol kelen-ü toli. Öbür monggol-un arad-un keblel-ün qoriya. Page 170.
4. ^ Bulag, Uradyn (1998). Nationalism and Hybridity in Mongolia. Clarendon Press. pp. 179-180. 
5. ^ Bawden, Charles (1997): Mongolian-English dictionary. London: Kegan Paul. Page 23
6. ^ cf. Norcin, C. (1999): Monggol kelen-ü toli. Öbür monggol-un arad-un keblel-ün qoriya. Page 169, 580. öbür: agula dabagan-u engger tal-a-yin gajar.
7. ^ Bawden, Charles (1997): Mongolian-English dictionary. London: Kegan Paul. Page 268