Genesis

This blog is dedicated to my research exploits related to the Society for Creative Anachronism.  In Society, I go by Erdene Qadajin, a resident of the East Kingdom residing in the Shire of Quintavia but primarily playing in the Barony of Stonemarche.  I currently have the persona of a 14th to 16th century Mongol from deep in the Asian steppe, but no particular location as of yet.

My latest project came about from a couple different areas.  First, I am admittedly a junky for being authentic.  I like to know what I'm creating and putting on my body is as accurate as can be or can be afforded.  I like to know that that I'm doing and how I'm doing it is a best can be represented in the culture I'm displaying.  It's especially compounded by being one of a small number of the populace with a primary of persona from the Mongol tribes.

Second, I haven't been able to find very many specific resources in the SCA.  Many are introductory and, while that is useful for someone who's "dipping their toes" into making Mongol garb, it becomes less useful as I've tried to develop my persona.  There is extensive research and exampling on European cultures, especially Western Europe and there's a fair amount of research in Islamic cultures (Persian, Mamluk, Abbasyd, Ottoman) with its recent surge in popularity.  However, the resources on an important European contact culture like the Mongols are difficult, if not impossible to find without academic library and database access.

So, I turned to Pinterest for initial inspiration.  Pinterest has a wide array of visual information on Mongols in period (pre-1600) -- from extant examples to Chinese and Persian manuscripts.

As I have assembled my army of resources I noticed something peculiar:
in depictions of Mongols, they are typically shown in plain clothing.  A single color deel, sometimes even lacking the second (short sleeved) deel layer.
in extant Mongol clothing from grave finds, the clothing is rich in color and pattern, often blindingly so even after centuries of degradation of fabric.

My goal in my research is two-fold and broken into large "stages".

Goal one is to figure out why the miniatures depict the Mongols in the way that they do.  My primary focuses are on Persian and Chinese manuscripts -- in particular paintings -- contemporary to the Mongol invasions and occupations of those cultures.

My current theories, which are based on general guidelines, are three-fold.
First, did the artist have enough space to make the patterns associated with extant finds, in the case of miniatures
Second, did the Mongols have Court versus "Day Wear" clothing depending on the task at hand, or is this a symbolism of an emergent Mongol class system
Third, is this propaganda on the part of these cultures to prove their superiority through the arts they created.

My plan is to first start with Persian miniatures, as my personal connections within the SCA are stronger for finding examples.  I need to learn how the Persians depicted social classes and foreigners within their miniatures, and how those models are transplanted onto the pictured Mongols.

If necessary and possible, I will then take that information and cross-compare the miniatures with size dimension to determine if space may also be a factor in details.

Second, I will repeat the process through learning about the Chinese style and applying the same precepts and principles and that culture.

Third, I will take those two cultures and what I've learned and apply it to the extants and what can be learned about the social circumstances of those who wore the garments.

Finally, is an analysis for what this means in terms of SCA persona building and Mongol re-enactors for the focus time period in general.