ABSTRACT
Mongolia, a vast, sparsely populated nation, occupies a strategic landlocked position between China and Russia.1 It has relatively few permanently settled areas and is one of the last countries in the world with a substantial and vibrant nomadic population and culture. Once a dominant power on the Asian – and indeed global – stage during the age of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan and the Yuan and the Qing dynasties, Mongolia has more recently been subject to the inuences of its more powerful neighbors. The country suered particularly turbulent times during a brutal period of cultural repression from 1936 until 1938 under Marshal Khorloghiyin Choibalsan, the leader of the Mongolian People’s Republic, and again in the 1950s under his successor President Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal. During these periods, and particularly in 1937, much of the built religious heritage of Mongolia was destroyed and its traditional culture was persecuted.2
