Political Value and Tradition of Mongolian Civil Service

Introduction

This article explores the value and statehood of Mongolia by utilising Woodrow Wilson’s categorisation of “Judging by the constitutional histories of the chief nations of the modern world, there may be three periods of growth through which government has passed in all the most highly developed of existing systems, and through which it promises to pass in all the rest. The first of these periods is that of absolute rulers, and of an administrative system adapted to absolute ruling; the second is that in which constitutions are framed to do away with absolute rulers and substitute popular control, and in which administration is neglected for these higher concerns; and the third is that in which the sovereign people undertake to develop administration under this new constitution which has brought them into power” (Woodrow Wilson, 1887, Jun., p. 204).

In this respect, the author divided the public administration development of Mongolia into the following three periods:

The first phase or the Age of Supreme Khaan’s (King) period. This period covers with consideration of the period of the Hun dynasty (209 BCE - 93 CE), the first ancestor of Mongolia, the time when the ruling of Genghis Khaan (or Chinggis Khaan in Mongolian) united all of Mongolia and then founded the Great Mongolia. Temujin, who united all of Mongolia, was honoured with the title of Genghis Khaan in 1189 and was declared as the supreme King of Great Mongolia in the year of the Red Tiger in 1206, and Bogd Javzundamba Khaan ended his unrestricted privileges as the supreme King of Mongolia in the year of the White Pig in 1911. However, a tragic period that happened to Mongolia, which was the year of the White Sheep in 1691, when the princes of the four provinces of Khalkh subjugated to the Manchu-Qing Dynasty at the Dolnuur Assembly, until the beginning of the first year of the rise of Mongolia in the year of the White Pig in 1911 should be separately examined.

The second phase covers from the 1921 “Oath Agreement curtailed the Bogd Khaan’s power, prior to the establishment of the People’s government, including the period of the monk rule50F  in the late 1930s, the administration under the conditions of the 1924, 1940, and 1960 Constitutions until the adoption of the democratic Constitution of 1992. This period, as formulated by Woodrow Wilson is when “the constitutions are framed to do away with absolute rulers and substitute popular control, and in which administration is neglected for these higher concerns” (Woodrow Wilson, 1887, Jun., p. 204).

The third phase as defined by Woodrow Wilson “the sovereign people undertake to develop administration under this new constitution which has brought them into power” is after 1992. For this period, our research report is publicly available (Research Team, 2023), and thereby it is not worth to cover everything in detail in this brief article.

This article concentrates on the gnosiology-cognitive aspect of what Mongolians have realised in the course of history, in the context of state, statehood, and public service, and what basic words and understandings they have expressed and passed on throughout the history.

Right, value and tradition

When talking about the value and tradition of the Mongolian public service, a question of “what have Mongolians respected the most since their beginning?” arises. From birth, human beings have an ability to understand and think about things compared to other animals in nature. For the Mongolians, there was no other important thing than valuing a right, true and correct knowledge and belief, and carrying them from generation to generation as a tradition. That’s why our ancient book, such as Altan Tovchi or Golden Summary says that a nobleman sees a truth, belief and faith based on the truth, rather than material value of things (valuable things) with a price and cost:

“Instead of protecting gold, sized like a mountain

Take care of education until you die” (Luvsandanzan, 1990, p. 123).

Historically, progressive thinkers have traditionally expressed the view that human values should not be related to wealth, but to right beliefs and knowledge. For example, Togtokhtör noyon51F , chief of Setsen Khan Aimag of Khalkh, in his book “The teachings of the Hebei Wang” wrote” What a person values in this world are to work with respect for order, to be aware of afterdeath, to cherish religion, and to do good deeds” (Natsagdorj Sh., 1968, p. 123).

Considering the essence of value, value is the virtuous views and veracious beliefs that have captured people’s hearts and survived the test of time. Values may differ in priority and type depending on community (õ¿é ýëãýí) levels such as individual, family, relatives, neighbourhood, local communities, country, and nation, clarifying orientations for daily and long-term activities and establishing norms of communications between them and other spheres of nature and society. Value is expressed by morals, beliefs, attitudes, and principles that gained relative substantiality for the subject (Äîëãîðæàâ, 2022).

Mark H. Moore, a professor at Harvard University, gave new impetus to the development of modern public value theory with his article, “Public value as the focus of strategy” published in the “Australian Journal of Public Administration”. Meynhardt, T, Van der Wal, and others have followed in his footsteps (Zeger Van der Wal, 2019, pp. 171-176). Mongolian researchers, too, are striving for deeper knowledge and advancement in cultural value analysis. The basis of respect belief was considered in connection with the meaning of the words “right” and “truth”, however there is no tradition of using the word “valuable” which carries the root meaning of price and cost, which is now a very stereotyped phrase in our country.

The word “erkh”, which carries the root meaning of the words “erkhemj” (value) and “erkhem” (sincere), is used in the Mongolian historical documents, such as Altantovch or Golden Summary as “heavenly rights”, “rightful sky” and “human rights” (Luvsandanzan, 1990, pp. 84, 93, 95). The words “right” here, as well as the words derived from them such as “erkhin”4, are the meaning of the word “right” used by Western thinkers at that time, it means “correct”. In general, the words “right” in English, and “parvo” in Russian have a legal and juridical content on the one hand, but on the other hand, they have a gnosiologic- cognitive content such as “right”, just like Mongolian “erkh”, “erkhem” and “ekhrmamj” (value). The main meaning of words with the same root is “right”.

Even in the religious doctrines, which have an important place in the history of human thoughts, the noble and true faith was considered in connection with “right” and “correct” views, which is one of the important signs that brings the intersection of religious and scientific thinking closer together.

However, in the history of the Mongolian public service, one concept that is important for clarifying which of the many rights and righteousness that were considered correct and cherished at that time has been passed down from generation to generation is the natural or inherent right of nature, which is called “world right”. Mongolians created the concept of world right in the process of understanding nature, society, and human cognition. This concept is similar in meaning to the concepts of the “human right”, “heavenly right” and “divine right” mentioned in our reports, but it is of a much higher order than the concepts of religious teachings and the theories of the scholars at that time, and it should be subservient to World Right.

V. Injannashi, the 28th-generation grandson of Genghis Khaan once wrote that “I always use books and writing together, but I do not go beyond the rights of the world. It should be used after the establishment of the state, if it is the case during the establishment of the state and opening of confrontation, it should follow the world rights to be correct. One of Shakyamuni and Confucius may be a leader, perhaps, but will become hindrance in making things happen. That’s why our Blue Mongolia was founded early on... my ancestor Genghis Khaan was the one who publicly prohibited the doctrines, non-aligned with the world rights” (Injannashi V, 2005, pp. 37-39). “Is there a law (regularity) that led to defunct the a state, and scholastic52F  script or doctrine53F  (theories and teachings) that led to disgrace the government neglected the world rights? “asked a serious question about the reason for the state’s demise, and took and example of” The Liao dynasty was corrupted by the school of Buddhism, whereas the Jin dynasty perished by the teaching of doctrine” and explained that “The teaching of Shakyamuni tames the human quality, and the teaching of Confucius equalises the human body. While these are good things, people who cannot use these teachings in a balanced way in society, if they see one, neglect the other and lead to sin, they will lose the world rights, and “when the world rights are neglected the good doctrines cannot be relied and lead to deterioration” (Injannashi V., 2005). From this, he came to the conclusion that “any country that has been peaceful for a long time and forgets war and rebellion will crash its world rights and become greedy for something wrong, lead to fall of the state, and it will suffer the sin of the greed.” In this, the state of Liao was in peace, and now, due to the greedy spread of the religion, the rights of the state were lost, it was contrary to the world rights, then the state was fallen, and it can be concluded that the Liao state was destroyed by Shakyamuni’s doctrine. Also, the Jin dynasty drowned in easy criticism, and the doctrine was valued over the military preparedness. It has been pointed out that the state lost its world right and perished to extinction due to the teachings of Confucius. These histories are case examples, not just a reference, but a very instructive lesson.

The Mongolian public service tradition refers to a wide range of things that are passed down from one generation to the next like relaying a baton. These included social relations, public service relations, and a wide range of ideas, practices, customs, laws, and rules. This doubles the fact that any traditional thing has a noble character. Therefore, the value and traditions of the Mongolian public service are expressed by morals, attitudes and principles that are relatively stable at any time, contain certain normative characteristics and reflected in policies, propaganda, religion, oats, disciplinary principles, vision, mission, rules and laws.

However, due to disregard for world rights and real laws and regulations, the truth and right things faded away, and wrong and illusory doctrines spread. Just as it happened many times in the histories of other countries and public service, it also happened in our country.F .

Therefore, the great thinker V. Injinnashi, when valuing knowledge and belief based on the nature, laws, and rules of the world: “Wrong morals/manners will not last long in the world, and false doctrines shall not be spread” (Injinnash, 2005). This is the important principle that all people working in the field of education adhere to their activities. This means that only the right thing, the truth, the right (correct) knowledge, and the faith and belief based on it should be inherited as a true tradition.

Traditions and values of the Mongolian public service

From the study of the Mongolian history, truth and rightness (rights) in our public service have been understood at the cognitive level, tested in the life and practice, and became social trust, belief-value, and stable legal basis of operation, laws, rules, morals, and customs. A number of principles are evident within this context. These are:

• To respect an order in public service.

• To be based on the world rights or naturalness in the structure and functions of the public service.

• To serve the state and the master (the people) honestly and take an oath for it/ him.

• To reward for a merit in the public service.

• To give a penalty for mistakes in the public service.

• To inherit the value in public service as a belief through training and concepts, etc.

All of them are epistemologically right correct, and in most cases they are based on the rights of the nature or the world rights. For example:

To respect an order in public service. If the root concept of value as we use it here as truth, correctness, rightful knowledge, especially the world right, then only things that meet this criterion should be passed down from generations to generations regarded as the value and order in the public service as order itself is the right thing of the world, and the law of nature. Aristotle didn’t just say that “there is absolutely nothing useless in nature” and that everything is under the rule of space and time in an order. Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote in The Social Contract that social order (referred as order by Dolgorjav Yadam) is a sacred right, as the basis of all other rights” (Rousseau, 2015, p. 16). However, much earlier than this, the Mongols realised the importance of order and order in human society. According to the Secret History of the Mongols, Mongols adhered this order when they formed the state, and developed and implemented the public service. This is evidenced by the conversation between Bodonchar55F  and Bukha Khatig as a body needs a head, a garment (deel) needs a collar” and explaining his words, Bodonchar said: Those people camped around the Tunggelik stream do not distinguish between the great [lord] and the small [folk], between good and bad, between head and hooves. Everyone is equal. They are simple people, Let us plunder them” (Secret History of the Mongols, pp. 33-35). This means people without a leader or order will gradually end up with destruction.

The structure and functions of the public service must be based on the world right or naturalness. Since its formation the structure and function of the Mongolian public service is consistently based on anthropocentric or people- centred principles. One of the unique cognitive principles established during the Hun dynasty and passed on to the public service was to model the state structure and administrative system similar to a human being. They organised the state system consisting of right and left hands, main body, tenth, hundredth, thousandth and ten thousandth system in the public administration and management system in a way that could be easily managed and administered like one’s body and ten fingers (the smallest organizational unit of soldiers are tenth same as ten fingers). These are cognitive principles based on natural rights at that time as well as today.

From a subordination perspective, the lower part of the political structure or state system leans upward from beneath the top part, while the upper part suppresses the lower part. In terms of human organs, for instance, Shanyu is at the top and Shanyu’s eldest son as Tuzi is right below his father in the neck position. Tuzi leans upward to Shanyu. It is evident that the names and ideas of the two primary roles in the Mongolian state administration - the head56F  and the official - were developed from this organic and ordered relationship.

To realise the laws of nature and society, the Mongolians have a principle to understand themselves at first, and then compare it to themselves is similar to the doctrine of the ancient Greek sages on “Be/Know yourself” (Theon). The Mongolians used their self-knowledge, words and expressions to recognize the structures of the state and society and used them as models. This is manifested in defining the body of politic structures mainly by naming them after the human organs. This is illustrated in the figure 1.

Figure 1. The parts of the whole are named after human tissues and organs

Genghis Khaan further improved and enhanced the law of divine right. The introduction of law and value at this time reveals an unwritten norm that elevates the words of the elders to the status of root-causes and turns the ancient words into law. This is also mentioned in text 78 of the Secret History of the Mongols (Ìîíãîëûí íóóö òîâ÷îî, 260-ð ç¿éë).

To serve the state and the master (the people) honestly and take an oath for it is one of the principles that have been established in the public service since the time of Genghis Khaan. The word honestly in this principle indicates that honesty has been passed on in the public service and has a epistemological meaning of being right-correct. Behind the principle of honesty57F , for example, if the state should be honest, its attributes have a natural order, and the correct understanding of the belief becoming the guide and honour of a public servant to serve for the state and the public honestly. The words “Pravo” and “Rechts” which mean truth, right and correct are included in the words “Ñïðàâåäëèâîñòü” in Russian and “Gerechtigkeit” in German, which have the same meaning as the word honesty in Mongolian. It is clear that it is a common principle with the same foundation of law and knowledge. Without defining the meaning of the public service value and tradition of the Mongolian public service, it will be difficult for the public service of Mongolia to develop its state in an orderly manner. Therefore, the next part will explain it in a depth with consideration of statehood.

State and state value: statehood

Mongolians and their ancestors, the Huns, not only realised the relationship between community and its highest form as State is based on a natural-historical order, but also in the real life, they believed that creating the state properly means doing good deeds for both them and others.

That is why the political entity called the state, and the political values and beliefs about it have long been established among the Mongolians.

Although the classical theoretical definition of the state is a regular process that is created according to the world rights as stated by the ancient Greek thinker Aristotle (Aristotle, 1946, p. 1252a), there are other thinkers expressed various opinions on where and who established and developed the first state. The renowned German philosopher and thinker G. Hegel (1770-1834) stated in his well-known work Philosophy of History that world history proceeded from east to west, and that ... history begins with China and Mongols with the theocratic public in reference to the formation of the state structure (Ãåãåëü, Ôèëîñîôèÿ èñòîðèè., 1993, õóóäñä. 90-108). Many scientists agree with this point of view. In the spring of 1206, Temujin staged an enthronement ceremony near the Onon River under a giant flag, and he was titled as Genghis Khaan (in Mongolian, Chinggis Khaan) one of them wrote in a book named Birth of the History of the Universe. This marked the beginning of world history and the establishment of the Mongolian Empire Okada Hidehiro, a Japanese physicist and historian, came to this conclusion (Îêàäà Õèäýõèðà, 2012, õóóä. 15).

Not only did they consider it realistically, but so did scholars of ancient Chinese history and writings. Taij Injannashi Vanchinbalyn (1837-1892), the twenty- eighth generation grandson of our ruler Genghis Khaan, mentioned this in his well-known book The Blue Sutra. For instance, Injannashi wrote that the name Mongolia ( -meng gu), “Mongolian” should not be spelled as “Meng gu” in ancient Chinese. It is possible to derive the meaning of the term antique status also known as antique state from the two letters “Mengu.” It is said that Zhu-Yuan Hui, the creator of the old “Zhu-Tzu Tun Jian Gan-mu” created these two letters. He stressed that Zhu-Yuan Hui was an upright scholar and famed as a saintly minister without malice (Èíæàííàøè Â., õóóä. 68). In fact, it is clear that the Mongols are a people who have established a state since ancient times and cherished the political values and beliefs of the state. According to historical sources, the date of establishment of the first sovereign and independent state called the Hun with the state headed by the ruler Shanyu in the vast territory of the nomadic people of Mongol origin dates back to the year 209 BCE or even earlier.

Figure 2: A vase with inscription "Shanyu descended from the heaven (sky)" on it

As the great scientist Injannash.V said “A well-educated person (administrator or envoy) never neglects his or her origin” and “Every Mongol (registered or counted) should know own roots and origins”, the history of the northern Hunnu is unmistakably connected to the history of today’s Mongols and current state of Mongolia. A well-known historian, scientist, eloquent defender of Mongolian independence and former Prime Minister Anandyn Amar58F  wrote in his work “A Brief History of Mongolia in the 1930s: About 5,000 years ago, Fu Xi, Shen Nun, and Huang Di were the most prominent lords of Ningxia. The last king of the Three Kingdoms (S n Guó) was Huang Di who defeated the Hun army to the north. Ghengis Khaan was born 3858 years after this event (Àìàð, 1989, õóóä. 20). It hints that even though statehood wasn’t mature yet, but Huns existed as tribes, states and ethnic groups 5000 year ago. This evidently shows that it requires long time for people to become politically organized and create the statehood, and until then they live within the common primary and mid-level communities.

Current state of Mongolia inherited the state, statehood, administration and the public service to protect and strengthen it since the powerful Hun (Shanyui was Modun) dynasty, established in 209 BCE in huge territory covered and centred on the Mongolian Plateau.

In fact, since the time of the Hun dynasty, the state as a political entity in Mongolia has been created in the more complex form. Especially, one of the principal components of statehood, the integrity and inviolability of the territory, or the land as one of the main foundations of the state has shaped as values, robust and consistent concepts, views, and beliefs. These values used as strict rules by the king of Hun, Modun Shanyu (Òàãíóóëûí áàéãóóëëàãûí ò¿¿õýí òî÷îîí I, 2002, õóóä. 34), (Ñ¿õáààòàð, 2002).

In this sense, Mongolia unquestionably possesses and regards the Hun dynasty’s rich cultural heritage as its own. Numerous examples show how Mongolia and the Mongols are derived from and inextricably linked to the Hun Dynasty’s genetics, history, legacy and way of living. It is a known fact that Great Mongolia’s founder and leader, Genghis Khaan, made some remarks regarding this in his letter59F  to Qiu Chuji (×àí ×óíü áîìáî).

“Throughout my life as a king on the Great Steppe in the north, I always prioritize peace and tranquillity, share my clothes and food with horse and cattle herders, see my people as my children, regard my soldiers and my men as my brothers, forbade wasting and useless consumption, and donation and mercy are deeds to be spread for me. In just seven years, I oversaw the enormous task of mobilising the human community, risked my life in numerous battles, and completed the enormous task of building the state. Today, I gathered countries of four directions, eight corners, five colours, and four foreign, and united them under justice within single bridle. This achievement is not due to my limited virtue and actions.

But when the governance of Altan (Jin dynasty) was unstable, with blessing of the Eternal Sky the great duty has been granted to me, I formed the state with the neighbouring Song state in the south and bordered the Uigur state in the west. As a result, many foreign nations from east and west, submitted to join and became affiliated. Taking this into account, no such phenomena has happened since Shanyu’s state (Hun dynasty) hundreds of years ago. I worry that in my role as a ruler I won’t be able to reach every corner when strengthen peace in the state. The skill of making boats, oars and rudders is for crossing rivers and streams. Now, I desire to rely on scholars, sages, talented and skilful people, so that the world can find peace. Since I ascended the throne as a king, I have been worrying about thousands of governance problems for the people and state, yet there aren’t wise advisors among the officials and commanders.

When I investigate and hear that Teacher Qiu’s judgments are clear, morals are tight, views are universal, learned the best virtues, comprehension is deep, range of knowledge is wide, and ethics is right with noble morals, and can strengthen the emperors highness by combining all of his good deeds into one body. As the distance is far with mountains, rivers, and deserts, and my duties are heavy, it is my fault being not able to visit you personally. To invite you from a distance, I am currently dispatching a team of light chariots with chosen officials. (This will be the fifth month of the 1219 yin reckoning. The edict was recorded in the tenth volume of the Zhu Geng Lu Book) (Ñàéøààë, 2004, õóóäñä. 664-665).

Numerous key concepts concerning the role that the expertise of public servants and academics may play in the establishment and modification of the state were discussed throughout this letter. We also emphasise that in this passage, Genghis Khaan refers to “Our Shanyu.” Given the requirements for statehood, both the Hun state and the state of Genghis Khaan shared many characteristics and can thus be referred to as Ours in terms of territory, multiethnicity, governance, management style, and the legality of the exercise of the state authority.

The content of statehood was then determined by the agreement signed by the international conference of the countries of the Americas held in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay on December 26, 1933, and later became a requirement of the United Nations Charter. According to the agreement, the main attributes of a state as an international legal entity are: 1) permanent population (citizens), 2) a defined territory, 3) government, and 4) sovereignty or capacity to enter relations with other states60F  (Convention on rights and duties of states, December 26, 1933).

The People’s Republic of Mongolia, which was reestablished because of the People’s Revolution of 1921, and the Bogd Khaganate of Mongolia were the periods during which the ideal values and beliefs passed down from generation to generation concerning to the state and statehood were elaborated and implemented.

In order to accomplish, forming a state ubesuben (ourselves), to strengthen its sovereignty, and mature its statehood, they gave prominence to: a) As the rightful owner conquer the northern world and make it whole; b) All of Mongolian tribes unite, in other words, collect our people as the core of all Mongol ethnics; c) Regaining sovereignty and “not allowing others to govern us; d) In order to accomplish all this, we are establishing a completely new government (ÌÓ¯ÒÀ. ÕÀ-2, Ä-1, ÕÍ-73. Á.1), (Ìàãñàðæàâ, 2015, õóóäñä. 16- 28, 56-68).

Even after the People’s Revolution (1921), the Mongolians made efforts making the state like statehood, as once noted by A. Amar, a noble man worked as the prime minister, we aimed to establish a special and full-fledged state that does not come under the authority of any country and develop the special freedom of our people in the territory that passed to us from our ancestors. He wrote this clearly in his small booklet issued on the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the Mongolian People’s Republic (Amar, A, 1933, p. 3).

Considering all this, Mongolians have had their own comprehensive understanding of the main attributes that make a statehood from a relatively early time. However, this concept should not be confused with the concept of “public relations.”

Mongolians are loyal to their state and statehood values-beliefs. When Beijing’s intended to tie Manchu, China, Mongolia, Hui people, and Western hundred- Tibet into a single-family Mongolians protested it and sent a letter stating “... Mongolian and Chinese teachings are different, religion is different, speech and writing is different, one is in the seam of the sky and the other is in the eyelid of the earth, and both of them will not be able to compete with each other, if the Mongolian people that keep the old traditions living in the countryside sit in the same house as the Chinese citizens, they will mismatch and motivated by mutual faults, let them stay separately as mutually friendly states and regulate themselves in the friendly manners and it is better to set the government policy and state separately (ÌÓ¯ÒÀ. ÕÀ-2, Ä-1, ÕÍ-73. Á. 1), (Ìàãñàðæàâ, Í, 2015, õóóäñä. 16-28, 56-68).

During the difficult times when Mongolians lost their state status under the control of the Qing Dynasty, revolutionary Mongolians reminded the public of the ancient tradition, which has been inherited by the state value among Mongolians. This is reflected in the relevant documents of that period. For example, in the proclamation of the Mongolian People’s Party, dated March 3, 1921, it is written: Many of our Mongolian national provinces have been oppressed as forced slaves of other countries and suffered many times from the clutches of cruel people. We have a history of people who go out and build their own state by respecting their own land and values.” According to this tradition and value, they fulfilled their will to restore the country (ÌÓ¯ÒÀ, ÓÒÍÎÍÁÁÀ) and declared the independent state in the reality. It is to this state value that the objectives and activities of the public service should be subordinated.

Public and comprehensive norms of public relations

One of the concepts that have been passed down within the framework of the Mongolian public service is the public itself. The basic meaning and usage of the word public in the Mongolian language has changed a lot in the course of history, and instead of becoming concise, it has become confusing and misleading. Nowadays, public is considered to mean almost the same as the state, sometimes including the government, or the entire system of legislative, judicial, and executive powers61F. 

However, in the early days, under the concept of public, public things such as principles, customs, language, culture, morals and other norms of right-correct were comprehensively understood. This meaning governed relations between the state, the public, and all members of society and evidenced by historical scripts. However, the word honour is often used alongside the word public, it is used in connection with the regulation of personal (private and personal) behaviours and norms.

According to some examples in the historical scripts, the words public expressed the customs, strict principles, and moral standards that are aimed at the proper regulation of relations between the state and citizens, the protection of common interests, and the direction towards setting the right/correct (epistemological meaning). Let’s try to prove it:

As noted in text 121 of the Secret History of Mongols, in response to the words of Khorchi62F  shaman to Temujin regarding the issue of the country, and who will lead and rule the country, Temujin said: Tell me the truth and let you appoint as a tümen-ü noyan (a governor of 10,000 people). But Horchi did not agree with that and said: How make the person happy who taught the public? Make me the lord of the people and gather 30 beautiful girls from the country as wives. Also, always listen to my advice (Ìîíãîëûí íóóö òîâ÷îî. Ýðòíèé ¿ã õýëëýãèéí ò¿ãýýìýë òàéëáàðòàé øèíý õºðâ¿¿ëýã, 2019, õóóä. 69). The word public mentioned here is considered in its meaning as the doctrine related to the public relations covering principles, norms, and established customs.

The public is a value, principle and custom to be respected in the relations between state and people and violating or rejecting the public is regarded as the most unworthy wrong act like breaking oath and losing the great duty. This is evidenced by the speech of Wang (Toghrul) Khan in 178th text of the Secret History of Mongols:

Oh, no

Separation from my son is nothing than Separation of the public.

I lost my son

I got rid of my deed (Ìîíãîëûí íóóö òîâ÷îî (Ýðòíèé ¿ã õýëëýãèéí ò¿ãýýìýë òàéëáàðòàé øèíý õºðâ¿¿ëýã. Ø.×îéìàà), 2019, õóóä. 125). Wang Khan uttered these words as a sign of remorse for breaking the alliance, the national customs, and the oath he made with Genghis Khaan.

This ancient meaning of the word public can be seen not only in the above texts but also in other historical documents. For example, in Luvsandanzan’s Golden Summary, when Genghis Khaan gave his daughter Ilaltun (Alaltun bekhi)63F  to Iduud khan of Uyghur, he told a clear message to his daughter:

The lady has three men. The first man is the golden norms of public relations. The man after him is a honor (dignity). The third is the married man. If the norms of public relations is strengthened, the honor will come naturally. Protecting the honor, the married man will not go away (Luvsandanzan, 1990, p. 99).

The word public used here is not the meaning of the state, government, government institutions etc., as it is used now, but it is understood as the norms governing relations between people, the morals, customs, principles, procedures and respect established among the people. These shall be more important and something to be cherished even more than honour (personal interests, etc.) and a spouse. In addition, the meaning of the word public as mentioned above, has both natural or destined (the norms and rules that should be respected and followed by the public), and artificial norms created to regulate the social relations of the time. This can be seen from Luvsandanzan’s 

“Golden Summary” words: “natural norms” and “artificial norms.”

In the “Golden Summary”, it states Shortly after Genghis Khaan married Börte Üjin, he fell in love with Khulan, the daughter of the sage Dair Usun. Thus, Mukhulai Goo Wang64F  explained the reason to Börte Üjin why Genghis Khaan did not come back sooner:

It did not happen with the artificial norm.

It happened in the will of the natural norm.

He did not listen the objections of commanders.

And attracted to the tiger-coloured home

Bogd Khan married Khulan Khatan (Queen) (Ëóâñàíäàíçàí, Àëòàí òîâ÷, 1990, õóóä. 116). The term natural norms used here is consistent with the meaning of the world right that we have considered as the natural right, and the manners and behaviours established as a result of its reflection. This shows that it is much stronger than the theories, doctrines, and moral standards that depend on the characteristics of that time, and it has the power to control it. Realising this, Börte Üjin (Queen) forgave Genghis Khaan and spoke to him submissively:

The power of my Khaan (king) is good 

The owner will decide whom to marry

There are many swans and geese in 

Hulst Lake My master will decide how many to shoot 

There are many girls in the country

The owner will decide the endowment of the citizen 

A woman wants to have a man to belong

A green horse should have a saddle on its back... 

May the Khaan’s golden belt be strong

What I can say on this as his wife.

After these positive words, the Khaan happily agreed and went down to his golden palace. By this, we do not mean to diminish the meaning of the monogamous principle of our modern family law. It is important to clarify that any laws and regulations approved by the current parliament align with the principles of natural norms and world rights. This is stated in the Panchatantra or Five principles of the ancient Indian scriptures:

Clouds do not move against the wind.

Laws do not go against the rights (Øàðìàà, 2013).

Public servant-In order to realise the value and noble will of the state, the owner, and the people, the formation of the public service and the appointment of special employees came together since the establishment of the state. In the early days, the term state servant or public servant was not used. Instead of that, the words state thinking and state striving were used in the historical scripts that meant to respect the noble norms and principles followed among the public. For example, in text 208 of the Secret History of Mongols, Genghis Khaan gave Ibaga bekhi65F  to Jurchidei in honor of his help in the creation of the state: Ibaga bekhi was given to you in appreciation of your efforts because you sacrificed your life on the day of the battle for uniting a divided state and making a broken state as a whole. Later, when my son succeeds to the throne of the great Khaan, may he consider this kind of service to the state as my commandment, and may he not cut off the queen name of Ibaga until his offspring.

It is also mentioned in text 281 of the Secret History of Mongols, Ögedei Khaan66F  repented of his wrongful act of desecrating Dogolhu, who had defamed his father and the state, and said, Who will desecrate me now? In front of my Khaan father I condemned myself for thinking (revenge) without knowing the person whom the state should strive for (Ëóâñàíäàíçàí, 1990, õóóä. 253).

If we take the phrase a person who strives for the state” mentioned here in its general meaning, it also means a person who faithfully performs his duties by following the established customs and traditions of the people, or in today’s parlance, a public servant.

The understanding of the public in connection with customs and manners led to the creation of short words and expressions such as the public relations and ethics. These two phrases are both found in text 263 of the Secret History of Mongols. To understand its content, it is important to consider these expressions in relation to actual examples of their use. Because Genghis Khaan respected the historically established customs and traditions of any country and ethnic group as his own customs and public relations, he kept the customs and manners of the public relations of the lands and cities under his control intact. It can be seen from the content of text 263 of the Secret History of Mongols that the people who know the customs and manners of that particular city became the leaders and officials. There: “Also, Genghis Khaan, having taken Sartuul’s citizens, issued an order to appoint chiefs/ambassador: From Urungechi city, Yalavachi with his son Mashud Hurumshi came and explained the customs of cities to Genghis Khaan, and he appointed Mashud Hurumshi as the chief/ambassador of Bukhara, Semisgen, Urungechi, Odan, Kisgar, Uriyan, Gusen and Daril,67F  and appointed his father, Yalavachi, as the chief of Jundu from Liao. As Yalavachi and Mashud knew the public relations of these cities, Khaan made them as chiefs of Liao and other citizens to support their leaders (Luvsandanzan, 1990, p. 230). Two things stand out here. It is: 1) The tradition of establishing the state and public relations to regulate the common relations between the state and the people, making it respectable, and then appointing chiefs and officials who can honestly and wholeheartedly implement it, and who have the faith and ability to strive for the state; 2) The concept of the pubic and public relations is not related to the concept of statehood, but it is the customs, morals, language, culture, law, and rights that are respected and followed in order to regulate the common relations between the state and the people. It is an abstract concept that expresses the comprehensive norms of public relations.

This is what Ögedei Khan said: As I understood, the great state that established and gathered by my father Khaan and us, need to be peaceful by resting our feet and hands on the ground, keeping our citizens in our palaces, maintaining the public relations (highlighted by Dolgorjav Yadam) stable, and making the youth happily grow up (Luvsandanzan, 1990, pp. 105, 120).

However, Mongolians started to use the word public instead of the word state after Mongolia was under Manchu-rule (Qing dynasty). At this time, Manchu used only the words Mongolian public on documents and official seals related to Mongolia, or more specifically, to outer Mongolia. This can be seen from the fact that the Ministry of Manchu, which was in charge of Outer Mongolia, was called Manchu Jurgan or Ministry of Reforming the Public of Outher Mongolia, and the wording of its seal was Seal of the Ministry of Reforming the Public of Outer Mongolia.

Figure 3. Seal stamp with the inscription Seal of the Ministry of Reforming the Outer Mongolian Public

This trend was later repeated after the Bogd Khanate of Mongolia in 1919, when the Chinese invaders destroyed the autonomy of the outer Mongolia and brought it under control.

Figure 4. Order to not write “MONGOLIAN STATE” from China (1920)

On June 23 of the 9th year of the Republic of China (or 1920), the Chinese order banning the use of word state was published on page 4 of the 10th newspaper “Xue Pan” (daily magazine) and on page 5 of its appendix. This newspaper was directly administered by the General Ministry for Improvement of the North-West Territories68F.  The content of this order was:

The Ministry’s announcement (order) was sent to the Ministry of Erdene Shanzav, the head of many provincial assemblies. We added a title Bogd Khaan since the government was destroyed. For all the official documents administered by the Bogd Khaan, it is customary to use the politically honoured title diligently. Let Bogd Khaan not use the words lord and supreme command which will send your reputation down secretly. Since now on, the words Mongol state and a year of ascension shall not be used or included in the official letter of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Don’t get into an accident. It is the order for this reason. Its content is a clear indication of the Chinese policy towards Mongolia at that time. For Mongolia, the attitude of the Manchurian period about not using the term state and Xu Shuzheng’s order was a very strict requirement at that time, so this was kept for a long time and Mongolians avoided the word state and replaced it with the word public. It is important to note that the replacement of the word state to the word public is observed not only in political documents, but also in historical and literary works.

Conclusion

The main purpose of this article is to explore the nature and natural order of the world from an early age of Mongolia by considering the rights and noble things that can only be understood through a cognitive process that recognises the truth and right (correct) thing, and then cherished and created more precious belief and value in building the state and shaping the public service. Through the document analysis, I noticed that our ancestors and sages did not use the words and terms of value derived from the words of price and cost, but the words derived from the word of right and correct and right and noble, were used. Instead of the word valuable which is now commonly used in our country, the word value (erkhemj) is then used in this article. The content of the word value is knowledge that is proved to be true and correct. So, I believe that all concepts and principles that are understood and accepted at the level of value (erkhemj) can ultimately become a reliable guide and norm for determining the attitude of human actions.

For the Mongolians, they have the nomadic culture that is the closest to the nature and the world. Thus, the Mongolians recognise and understand nature’s regularities, they have accumulated knowledge of true and correct understanding of the world’s rights or natural regularities and have been organising their social relations based on the world’s rights as rules and norms of their life and action. Therefore, knowledge, experience, and tradition has been reflected in the concepts such as value, state, statehood, public, comprehensive norms of public relations, public ethics, and public service value. It is the right of the academic community to critically discuss what is wrong and what is right. Only we need to consider that how true and right is the saying: Wrong manners will not last long in the world, and false doctrines shall not be spread!

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