Common beliefs of the Mongolian people

There are a number of taboos in the daily life of the people of the Mongolian ethnic group. The Mongolian people worship the fire god and the kitchen god. When you are in a yurt, do not warm your feet or dry your boots and shoes by a fire, step over a stove or kick at the stove, or poke the fire with a knife. The Mongolian people consider water as a pure deity. Washing hands and dirty objects or taking a bath in a river is therefore tabooed. When a Mongolian woman gives birth to a child, the family hangs a noticeable sigh under the eaves-a bow and arrow for a boy and a strip of red cloth for a gid.

Seeing the sign, the visitor should not enter the house. Mongolian herdsmen are known for their hospitality Nevertheless, there are taboos the visitor to a Mongolian family should observe. For example, the visitor should neither roll up his sleeves nor fasten the front of his garment on the waist-belt while entering the yurt. He should not walk into the yurt with a horsewhip in hand. Instead, he should place it on the right side of the door. Inside the yurt, the visitor should never sit in front of the niche containing a statue of the Buddha. What is more, kicking the threshold, touching head, and beating a dog are also taboos.

The Yurt- Known as 'a vault of heaven" or 'felt tent" in ancient China, the yurt is a tent-like dwelling with an umbrella-like top. It features a framework of willow-branch posts in even numbers and rafters. The top and sides are covered with one to two layers of felt. There is an opening in the middle of the top. A wooden door opens to the south or the southeast.