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Tengri

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Gök Tanrı

Tengri (Turkish: Tanrı, Mongolian: Тэнгэрээ, Bulgarian: Тангра) is the supreme god of the old Turkic (Xiongnu, Hunnic, Bulgar) and Mongolic (Xianbei) religion named Tengriism. It is analogous with the early Chinese concept of Tianli in Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC to 8th century BC), and later Daoist coinage of 靝 (with 青 "blue" and 氣 "qi", i.e., "blue heaven") and derived Confucian concept of Tianli. The four direction symbols of Blue Dragon (East), White Tiger (West), Red Phoenix (South), Black Snake-Turtle (North) in Chinese cosmology is also analogous with the four direction symbol used in Tengriism.

There are no official symbols of Tengriism, however the symbol of the World Tree and the four directions symbol are common. It is often confused with a sun-worshipping religion, but the sun is merely a symbol of Tengri. A dramatic pyramidal mountain peak, long believed to be the highest point on the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, is called "Khan Tengri".

Xiongnu version

First appeared in Chinese records as “dhiu liei” (Chinese: 撑犁).[1][2] "匈奴谓天为撑犁” : The Huns call Tian (天 meaning sky or heaven in Chinese) as Tengri

Mongol version

The core beings in Tengriism are Sky-Father (Tengri/Tenger Etseg) and Mother Earth (Eje/Gazar Eej). In history, Genghis Khan, the unifier of the Mongolian nation, based his power on a mandate from Tengri himself, and began all his declarations with the words "by the will of Eternal Blue Heaven." Father Heaven is worshipped for what he is, the timeless and infinite blue sky. He is not visualized as a person, although he is said to have at least two sons. "Eternal Blue Sky" is /Huhe Munhe Tenger/ in Buryat.[3]

Geser is a great hero of Tengriism and he is a reincarnation of a sky spirit sent to earth to help serve people as a shaman. His story is recounted in a very long epic text, meant to be performed over the course of several days with a horse head fiddle (moriin huur).

Bulgar version

The Sky-Father Tangra is the prime deity. The Khan is the supreme shaman to the god. However, in reality, the one who was the first among the shamans is the nedjin, the eldest shaman of the tribe.

Turkic version

The word tengri in Orkhon script.

Tengri or the god of blue sky was the main god of the Turkic pantheon, controlling the heavenly universe.[4] In the ancient Turkic mythology, Tengri is a pure, white goose that flies constantly over an endless expanse of water, which represents time. Beneath this water, Ak Ana ("White Mother") calls out to him saying "Create". To overcome his loneliness, Tengri creates Er Kishi, who is not as pure or as white as Tengri and together they set up the world. Er Kishi becomes a demonic character and strives to mislead people and draw them into its darkness. Tengri assumes the name Tengri Ülgen and withdraws into Heaven from which he tries to provide people with guidance through sacred animals that he sends among them. The Ak Tengris occupy the fifth level of Heaven. Shaman priests who want to reach Tengri Ülgen never get further than this level, where they convey their wishes to the divine guides. Returns to earth or to the human level take place in a goose-shaped vessel.[5]

In former Turkic states before the Middle Ages, among them the Göktürks, the khans based their power on a mandate from Tengri themselves. These rulers were generally accepted as the sons of Tengri who represented him on Earth. They wore titles such as tengrikut, kutluġ or kutalmysh, based on the belief that they attained the kut, the mighty spirit granted to these rulers by Tengri.[6]

Traditionally Turks' ancestors were animists and nature worshippers. Through their shamanistic beliefs, they revered celestial gods and the natural forces on earth that were important to them. In the ancient Turkish world as it is now, the word for god is "Tengri". In their religious beliefs, the sky is identified with Tengri. Tengri is considered to be the chief god who created all things. In addition to this celestial god, they also had minor divinities that served the purposes of Tengri.[7]

According to Mahmud Kashgari, Tengri was known to make plants grow and the lightning flash. Turks used the adjective tengri which means "heavenly, divine", to label everything that seemed grandiose, such as a tree or a mountain, and they stooped to such entities.[8]

In modern Turkish, the derived word "Tanrı" is used as the generic word for "god", also for the Abrahamic God, and is often used today by Muslim Turks to refer to God in Turkish as an alternative to the word "Allah", the originally Arabic Islamic word for "God". Also, "Tengri" is the oldest known Turkic word, believed to have originated in the 6th century B.C.[9]

Tengriism, a monotheistic religion, replaced an earlier polytheistic Turkic religion; it was also the religion of the Huns, Eurasian Avars, and early Hungarians.

According to a recently advanced hypothesis by Stefan Georg, the epithet "Tengri" may be of ultimately Yeniseian origin.

Similarity with Chinese Tian "Sky"

Main article: Tian

Tengri is analogous with Tianli. The German sinologist Axel Schüssler suggests tengri as an etymology for tian 天 "sky; heaven; god" and li 理 "reasoning; rites; etiqutte; morality":

"Because the deity Tiān came into prominence with the Zhou dynasty (a western state), a Central Asian origin has been suggested, note Mongolian tengri 'sky, heaven, heavenly deity'" (Shaughnessy Sino-Platonic Papers, July 1989, and others, like Shirakawa Shizuka before him). (2007:495)

While some linguists argue that actually the word tian is the etymology for tengri [citation needed], some other linguistic studies accentuate a Turkic etymology.[10]

Honour

Tangra Mountains on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after the deity, Tangra being the Bulgar version of the name.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 《汉书·匈奴传》：“匈奴谓天为撑犁”
  2. ^ 《册府元龟·300》：“撑音田庾切”
  3. ^ Sarangerel 2001, p. 216
  4. ^ Abazov, Rafis. "Culture and Customs of the Central Asian Republics". Greenwood Press, 2006. page 62
  5. ^ Göknil, Can. "Creation myths from Central Asia to Anatolia". Yapı Kredi Art Galleries, 1997. [1]
  6. ^ Käthe Uray-Kőhalmi, Jean-Paul Roux, Pertev N. Boratav, Edith Vertes. "Götter und Mythen in Zentralasien und Nordeurasien"; section: Jean-Paul Roux: "Die alttürkische Mythologie" ("Old Turkic Mythology") ISBN 3-12-909870-4
  7. ^ Kaya, Polat. "Search For the Origin of the Crescent and Star Motif in the Turkish Flag", 1997. [2]
  8. ^ Baldick, Julian. Animal and Shaman: Ancient Religions of Central Asia. I.B.Tauris, 2000. [3]
  9. ^ TDK Online Dictionary - Tanrı, Allah
  10. ^ The Tower of Babel. Turkic Etymology by Anna Dybo. teŋri

References

  • Brent, Peter. The Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan: His Triumph and his Legacy. Book Club Associates, London. 1976.
  • Sarangerel. Chosen by the Spirits. Destiny Books, Rochester (Vermont). 2001
  • Schuessler, Axel. ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese. University of Hawaii Press. 2007.
  • Georg, Stefan. „Türkisch/Mongolisch tängri “Himmel/Gott” und seine Herkunft“, "Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia 6, 83-100
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