okay...i've done my essay on mongolian culture now, chose a different topic. please tell me if i can send it away as it is oh and does it make sense? cheers :P

Mongolian Language and Literature

The Mongolian Script

The Mongolian script is, unlike the Chinese script, an alphabetical one. In the year 1204 it derived from the Uighurian and was adapted to the needs of the Mongolian language. The Uighurian script dates back to the Soghdian, which itself derived from the Aramaeian. The Uighurian – Mongolian script is still used in the People’s Republic of Mongolia today. However, those Mongolians who live in Mongolia today write their language in Cyrillic letters, as do the Burjat tribes living in Russia. Following Christianity, the individual lines of the Mongolian script run from top to bottom.

In the field of Chinese literature two genres dominated during Mongolian times: drama and novel (the novel only in attempts).

Drama

The drama as well as the novel are based on the language of the ordinary people, not on classical standard language. The drama gained increasing popularity in Yuan times. It was partly spoken and partly sung, whereby the sung parts were often accompanied by music and dance. At those events there were usually no props, so several conditions had to be acted out using gestures and facial expressions. These are of vital importance even for today’s theatre. In terms of content the dramas were assembled rather simple and divided into four parts.

Novel

The origin of the Mongolian novel dates back to the ending Song era and beginning Yuan era. However, the novel experienced it’s period of glory in the Ming era. It’s origins can be found in the Buddhist narrations of the Tang era, when the historic novel was especially valued. Back then, an interesting historical event was selected and used in writings. Later the base of history was abandoned and the plot as well as the characters were completely fictitious. Imagination gained a greater importance.

The most famous Chinese novels are “The history of the three empires” (14th century), “Journey to the West” and “The robbers of Lianshan-Moor” (chin.: Shui-hu-zhuan) in several versions. As a result it is often very difficult to state the author and the exact date of creation of those works of literature. Most of these great novels are products of the Ming era.

The novel literature was further continued in the Qing dynasty. From this era a famous family novel, named “Dream of the Red Chamber” (chin.: Hong-lou-meng), is still preserved. In deals with the life of an aristocratic family in great detail, 400 persons are being characterised in an interesting way.

Many of the most famous novels have been translated into western languages, such as German. Due to them being written in colloquial language and not in standard language, they were regarded second-class literature up until the 20th century. However, today their true value is recognised all over the world.