MENGCHIANG-A COUNTRY IN THE MAKING

By ALFR.ED LUECKENHAUS

MongoNa is one oj the lea8t.known region8 oj the world. Yet there 18 hardlya part oj EaBt Allia whose l>try 'lOme evokes BUch u Jeeling of romance alld mch adesire Jor more knoldedge about it. So we hope that our readers will approve i.Ju'e deL'ote purt oj thi8 number to Mongolian topiC8.

The first article lalte8 U8 to presellt.day In.ner Mongolia: MengcJiia.ng.A fJred LlIed:e'lltalt.!/ 1(,'(18 Jormerly a German tleW8paper correspondent itl London.New Yor~, ancl ToJ.:yo und i8 now correspondent oj the German DNE News ServiceJor ~Vorth Chinct. Mengchiang, a'ld adjoining territorie8. He i8 tile author oj theart'icle "The Clultlgi71g Empire" pI/bU8hed in tlti8 tTwgaz;ine I:n December 1942 ",telhas recently pend an exte71si'/Je vi8it to the new 8tate oj .11,1/?:/lgchiang. He was giventhe opportu.71il.y oj i'18pecting !7lfmy indu8tr'/:al. cultural, milita.ry, ecJ'ucational, andoilier establishmcllis .. o/studying actuul co"ditio'18 at tile Jrollt line8" a Ild oj talkingwith tIIarlY political and m.ilitary leaders oj tile country. Hi8 article does ]lot dealwith Mongolia's romantic pailt, but with lIer remarkable deve10pmeut dllri"g tilelailt jew yearil.-K.M.

IF the saying that the least-talked­about women are the ones with thebest reputation is applied to COUll­

tries, then the autonomous state ofMengchiang must be a country with vir­tues second to none. Very little has beenheard or sa,id about Mengchiang, the landof the Mongols, since its foundation morethan six years ago. And yet there arenot many new countries which have solittle reason to hide their achievements.In fact, its development toward politicalmaturity and economic prosperity isquite remarkable, part.icularly in view ofthe fact that, during the few years ofMengchiang's adolescence, t.he UnitedStates and England pursued a policywhich kept the flame of unrest in EastAsia alive.

THE ORIGm OF MENGCHIANG

Mengchiang, whose territory of ap­proximately .so6,000 square kilometersroughly comprises former Inner Mongolia"is about as large as Germany. Thefoundation was laid in 193i when, withthe help of the Japanese, some of theMongol leaders, headed by Prince TehWang grasped the opportunity to satisfytheir people's craving for their own state,after several former attempts had failed.The name of ")lengchiang" was intro­duced at that time. It is a Chinese word,

meng meaning Mongol and chiang border­land.

When Mengchiang began life as a state,it consisted of a federation of threeautonomous governments. They were theUnited Mongolian Leagues, with Houho(formerly Suiyuan) as their capital; thegovernment of Chinpei or North Shansi(capital: Ta.tung); and finally, the govern­ment of Chanan or South Chahal' (capital:Kalgan).

At the beginning of 1943, however, theadministrative system of the Mengchianggovernment was completely reshuffled.Mengchiang now ceased to be a federationsince, in order to simplify the administra­tion, the governments of North Shansiand South Chahar were abolished. Bothterritories beca.me ordinary provinces,Tatung Province replacing the NorthShansi government and Hsuenhua Prov­ince ta.king the place of the South Chahal'government. Kalgan may now be re­garded a.s the capita.! of Mengchiang a.ndthe seat of the administration, althoughthe affairs of the Mongolian Leagues arefor the most part still directed fromHouho which is more centrally situatedand which the Mongols wouJd like at somefuture date to make Mengchiang's realcapital. In May of t.his year, as a pro­visional war-time measure, a special

MENGCBJANG-A COUNTRY IN THE MAKING

MENGCHIAN GJVVVV' Th. c,r• .t w.n-R..lwll'V'

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"we tern administrative area," con istingof PMtow city and the rural districts ofSaratsi, Ku) ang and Anpei, was estab­lished in order to cOllsolidate conditionsin the areas bordering on China's north­western territories as speedily as possible.

ITS PEOPLE

The meaning of Mengchiang's existenceand the role it has a,ssumed in the currentwar can be aptly described in the wordsof Wu Hao-liang, head of Mengchiang'spolitical council or, in We tern terms, itsPrime Minister. When talking to theauthor some time ago, he said: "Tomaterialize the Mongol people's ideal ofbecoming once more a trong, unifiedMongolia, and to help Japan win theGreater East Asia War as a prerequisiteof the new order in this part of the worlel-these are the two most important tusksMengchiang is now facing. ' The Mongols,he added hope one day to regain at leastsome of the former Mongolian Empire's

plendor. Viewed in the light of Japan'sGreater East A ia policy, which naturallyembrace strategical considerations, theJapanese policy in Mengchiang is, inPremier Wu 8 opinion in conformit.v withthe aspirations of the Mongol people.

The Mongols are at pre ent buildingtheir own house with the advice andactive support of the Japanese.According to estimates given the authorby official Japanese source'. there a·teapproximately 6 million people li\-ing inMengchiang, of whoDl Ie than :?40,OOOare pure Mongol. Mo t of the othersare Chine e pea~ant and town people, in­cluding scveral hundred thou and (,hine eMohammedan. In addition to the Mon­gob Iivin ill Mengchiang. there are,according to official Japan e statemcnt.s,1.3 milJion Mongol in Man houkuo andanoth r 900,000 in Outer Mongolia.

Lx year ago the political and economicsetup of Inner Mongolia. was far from

804 THE XXtb CENTURY

satisfactory, mainly owing to the intriguesof international diplomacy and the non­existence of a strong central governmentwith well-prepared plans of policy andconstruction. By now a far-reaching andimpressive change has taken place, andrelations between the composite parts ofthe population have noticeably improved.

Let us first examine the political andmilitary situation of Mengchiang. It isa remarkably quiet and pacified territory.Only three small communist groups ofaltogether several thousand men are stilltrying to disturb publio life in Meng­chiang, one group somewhere north ofKa.lgan, another north of Houho, and thethird south of Tatung. In addition,feeble forces of Chungking regulars arestill holding out west of Paotow and southof the Yellow River. The railway linebetween Kalgan and Paotow is now rarelyexposed to hostile action. Trade is brisk.One day, immediately behind the fore­most lines, I noticed a donkey caravanladen with valuable goods which had justarrived from northwest China. Donkeyswere being used instead of camels, whichat this time of the year shed their hairand so cannot be employed for long tripsin the burning sun.

With Outer Mongolia, however, thereis no longer any caravan traffic at all.The Soviets have hermetically closed theentire frontier. The three caravan routeswhich formerly connected Mengchiangwith Outer Mongolia are all closelyguarded. Impassable no man's land nowlies between.

VISIT TO THE FRONT

When I visited the westernmost frontlines, the exact location of which naturallycannot be revealed, the only sensationwas the complete absence of any fightingactivity. Calm reigned along the entiresector, and the opposing Chungking troopsdid not show the slightest desire to fireeven a rifle shot. 'When, in rare instances,Chungking forces make an exception tothe rule and try to attack, Mongol andChinese formations of the rapidly growingMengchiang army are quite able to copewith the situation. Indeed, larger and

larger parts of the front are being takenover by Mengchiang troops at their owndesire.

When calling on a fort occupied by aMongol formation, we met a Mongolcompany commander who, together withsome fellow officers, had been citedrecently by the Japanese commander inchief for special bravery and had, inaddition, been awarded a high medal byMengchiang's Minister for Public Safety.Mongol recruits, we were informed by aJapanese instruction officer, already pos­sess two important prerequisites for war­fare in this part of the world: their horse­manship and their marksmanship. Theydo not use field glasses, as their eyesightis remarkably good. What they stillneed in the early part of their training isto learn the importance of co-ordinatedaction. They have been taught howdevastating and demoralizing for theenemy a bayonet attack can be if it iscarried out with force and determination.The Mongols now generally prefer bayonetattacks to shooting assaults. Althoughwithout fear when facing the enemy, theywere as shy as children when they faceda German journalist for the first time intheir lives. A Mongol detachment stoodsmartly at attention when the visitingparty left and, after having fallen out ofranks, they smilingly returned the Germansalute with· which they had been greeted.

Late in the evening, when the partyhad returned to their quarters, theescorting officer, a middle-aged Japaneselieutenant of the reserves, turned up witha violin under his arm to play Schumann'sTriiumerei and other pieces for the benefitof the German guests.

MENOCHIANO'S ECONOMICS

What have they achieved in the eco­nomic field in Mengchiang where theycount the present year as that of 738after Genghis Khan1 A fair distributionof agriculture and industry is generallyrecognized as the most ideal conditionfor the soundness of any country'seconomy. There are few countries wherethe possibilities for materializing this idealare as great as in Mengchiang. While its

MENOCHIANG-A COUNTRY IN Tlt"E MAKINO 306

northern half still cODBista mainly ofpastures and steppes, agriculture andindustry are predominant in the south.Roughly speaking, the dividing line runsfrom Dolonor in the east to Wuyuan inthe west. It is south of this line thatmost of Mengchiang's indUBtries are nowbeing developed. Here not only coal(Tatung) and iron-ore deposita of almostunlimited quantities are to be found,but also graphite, quartz, asbestos, mica,and other materials.

In surveying the present situation, itshould be borne in mind that, in view ofthe still unfinished war, military neceBBityobliges the authorities to concentrate onwar-indUBtrial taaks rather than on peace­time planning. Once the war is over, areadjustment of the present industrialpolicy may be expected. At present, theexploitation of all mineral resources isstrictly controlled by the state. In duecourse pig iron will be produced, althoughfor export only, since the construction offurther processing planta is not envisaged,at least not for the time being. Lightindustries in particular will be furtherpromoted, since foreign currency is avail­able now in sufficient amounta to pay forthe import of raw materials, ohiefly iron,steel, and machinery from Manchoukuoand Korea.

THE TATIniG COAL FIELDS

While the blueprints are thus beingdrawn, a review of the situation on thespot revealed that no time is being lostin preparing for the execution of theplans. The general manager of one ofthe biggest coal mines in the Tatungdistrict informed me that the total de­posits of coal in Tatung, extending overan area of 1,870 squa.re kilometers, areestimated at no less than 29.3 billiontons. The coal district around the cityof Tatung, situated on both sides of theKalgan{Taiyuanfu railway, is roughly 110kilometers long and 70 kilometers wide.The Tatung coal can be found in twoseams, one being from 100 to 150 metersbelow the surface, the other at a depthof about 400 meters. The seams arefrom 2 to :?o meters thick, that is, thicker

than in most of the European or Americanooal fields.

Both as regards quantity and quality,the Tatung coal may be compared to thePennsylvania ooal in the USA, the generalmanager explained. The upper seam,which at the moment is the only onebeing "scratched," cODBists of soft coalwith a heating value of 7,000 calories.Part of it is already oxidizing and maytherefore be used like charcoal. As tothe rest, it serves various industrial pur­poses. The upper seam is so near thesurface that no accidents caused by theexplosion of coal dust or for similarmining reasoDB have ever occurred; nor isthere any danger of inwldation by under­ground water. As a matter of fact, theconditions of production are much betterthan in most coal fields. The depositsare so rich that neither wood (of whichthere is a scarcity) nor stone is needed tosupport the ceiling below, because suf­ficient coal can always be left standing todo the job. The lower layer which hasnot yet been touched can also be usedfor coking purposes. It is mixed withkaolin, the raw material for the manu­facture of porcelain. The miners hailmainly from Shantung and Hopei. Theirefficiency would be mu.ch greater but fortheir disastrous habit of swoking opium.

Six years ago there existed in thisdistrict three mines; four hl\.\'e beenadded since. Only 20 per cellt of theTatung coal production is Leing cunsumcuin tho country itself. Mechullicli.1 pro­duction has been introduced, ~OlDe ofthe machinery and pit instllilati, ,n" heingof German manufacture. A hig-l'icalemining plan aiming at an annual outputof 30 million metric tollil is alrcauy underway. An entirely ncw llcttlcment ofclean dwelling houses for mining ufficials,of schools for overseers of mines I1nd otherengineering personnel, of administrationbuildingll, etc., has been erected on thesite of sume of the dil:ltricts during thelast two years. A hospital and a Shintoshrine for the Japanese statT Hving therecould also be seen. The only questionstill cau ing something of a headache isthat of transporting the coal production

306 THE XXt.h CENTURY

to the aport and the centers of coalcommmpt.ion, but it, is Leing vigorouslyta 'kled now.

Th deputy governor of Tatun Prov­in e, Yujiro Moru emphasiz d that thepa ification of tbis territory wa makingTtl-pid progreRs. Interviewed by t.he au­thor and 'ommenting on Cermany'poli'y in the occupied territorie.. ofEurope. Morii agreed that to win thegood will l\.nd the co-opera.tion of thepopulation for the attainment of the newurder bOlllJ a.nd would be th principalamLition of Loth Japan and C rrnany.

I nOBLF~MS Ole THE LAND

A riclIl ur is ext nding over e\-erInrger ar as whore not long ago onlnomad u ed to live. The I' rnainingpaHtur for the grazing herds, still plenti­ful, have L n divided up in u h a. wayIi t avoid enmit and cl hCJ b tweenth' va.riou· nomad tribe. During myent.ire trip I found uflicient foud every­where, and th surplu goes to n 'ighbor­ing t rritorie, parti ularly to ~orth

Chinl\. Th pric'e le\'e/ for fo d t.uffs andvarious other eomnlUdit ie is I w com­pared with that of ome of the arealIrr unding Mengchian .

The lack f water for irrigation pur­POflP.' con t.it.lltefl on of the Dlo--t im·portant, llcgrieultural problems at present..Ther i a seheme tu utilize the \\ aters ofth Yellow Hin'r by WIlV of clUlaln ·tillto be built; but tl;o m~\.terilllizution oft.his plan cl1nnot be cXJlected in the nearfutul'C. be au the ta;;k is too stupendoustl) b arricd out und I' war-t,imc con­ditions. Meanwhile, many n w wells arebcing drill d. Cattle-rui.. ing is also re­l·civing con ·tant attentiun. Fl'c1"h bloodis h ina intl'Odu ·ed to improve the exi l­in I reds. For t.h pI' vention of cattledisCiLl"e' ther is a vel'. modern laboratoryin Mengchjang. Thur' lire als IIp-to­Jat tlairiel". for ome of wb)·h :crmanulliri ;~ have rved 81< m deh'. \\"heat,mill t, kauliung, c:Iliaumai potatoes. andtouaceo ar t,he maiJl l1gricultuml prod­uctt'.

~l .'t, f th agricultul" j' ca.rried on by'hincl'e. and effort.s to sctt.le 80m of the

Mongolian nomads and to train them inagricultural methods have 80 far b enunsuccessful. However, the nomads areby no means a problem since. as we ha\'etated above, there is still ample grazing

land, permitting the nomad to be usefulsuppliers of hides, camel hair, furs. etc.,which they trade for artictal of dailyuse.

Looking far into the future. the .Japa­nese have caused the Mongol Governmentto carry out a systematic policy of for­estation, not only along the railroads butalso in the interior. More than ;iOO,OO(}t.rees were planted this spring. In viewof the scarcity of water and of t he pro­gressive erosion, the inauguration of thispolicy was an urgent nece sity. Accord­ing to expert opinion, the <.: bi Desertmay one day extend beyond its presentboundaries unless dra tic coulltermcasur Ii

are taken. Billboards and new"pal rarticles as well 88 public lecture con­stantly remind the inhabitants of thevital importance of forestation.

COMM NICATIONS A..'\D EDl'CATI N

Mengchiang enjoys good communica­tions with the adjoining countrie of theGreater East Asiatic spher railrol.\d~,

air lines, telegraph. telephone. and mailservice. In the country it8elf, manynew roads have been added tu thoRealready existing. Faraway Paotow rllJwboasts aspha./tstreets. Pla.nts for generat­i.ng electricity arc on the illcreu..-;c.There are also factories for l1Iunuf~lcturillg

cement, 'igarette, etc. A Ilew"pap rwith modern rotation machin and cir­culating throughout the coulltry appeardlLily in three languages: Ja.JlHllese. ]\1011­

golian, and Chinese.

In the field of education. schooL~ findot,her institutions of learning tlll\-e he nfounded during the last few years. HNC,Mongol children are given e\- 'I'y facilityfor making good their formerly n (II ·tt'dmental or vocational training. \\"hil illHouho, I visited a Mongolillll middle~chool whieh was originally foullded b.Prince Teh as a . tongoLian acadelllY.receiving it pre._ent charaet I' three yelll'ago. Jt, L the only sehool (If ill" kind in

MENGCHlANG-A COU1Io"fRY lli THE MAK1NG 307

Houho. For the 214 Mongolian pupils(includibg 30 girls), there are eight Mon­golian and fivc Japanese teachers. Onlygraduates of primary chools are admittedafter pas ing an examination; but, sincethe standard of education in Mongolianprimary schools i till comparatively lowone preparatory year i necessary for thenewly admit.ted pupil .

MONGOL MODEL S 'HO L

Boys attend tho school for four yearsand girls for three. The latter arc thenqualified as teachers for girls' chools.The male pupils, all wearing uniforms, areunder strict military discipline. Theirworkillg schedule includes eight hourseach a week for learning Japanese andMongolian, sbc hours for mathematics,three hour for natural sciences, twohours each for geography, music, drawing,and history. The history Ie ons nat­urally center around ~longolian history,with Genghis Khan as the country'sprincipal idol. Pictures of this historicalfigure can be seen in almost every sohool­ro m, just as they are to be observed inevery office of the Mengchiang adminis­tration. The afternoons are usually re-en'cd for the pupils' physical training,

which in winter consists mainly of militarydrill and in summer of agricultural workunder the guidance of an experiencedfarmer.

During the first two years of schooling,the teaching language is Mongolian, andafter that both Mongolian and Japanese.The reason is that the Mongolian language.tit,ill lacks many words needed for thehigher-grade faculties suoh as the naturalsci nces, algebra, otc. 'Vhi1e the directorof the school is a Mongol, his second-in­command is Japanese. The promotionof the pupils' sense of duty and of per­sonal initiative is one of the principalitems in the educational system of thitlchool. The pupils have their own musicorp. On festive occasions, they carry

with them their own flag which combinesthe Mongol colors and the Rising Sun.The ohool al 0 owns a wealth of portingeq uipment inoluding kendo sticks (forJapanese fencing), tennis rackets, skatinghoes, etc.

LAMA REFORMS

In r ligiou' matters, t,oo. th Japane ehave takeu a hand b.v appointing Bud­dhist expert· from Japan in order to h IpLamai m to put through certain reformwhich mallY yOlUlg Mongol lamas them­selves regard a ind' pen able. In thefirst place, there is a tendenc'y to revitalizeLamaism by reducing the number oflamas. It i' e. timat d that there ar 110

les than 20,000 Lamaist priests in lellg­chiang. Even £rom lUI economic pointof view, this large figure is consideredn itllCr j u -tifiable nor in the inter t ofLamaism.

There aro also plans to train andeducate Lamai t novices ill the countryitself instean of in Tib t. as was hithertothe case. It i intend d to found choolRfor this purpose with money rais d inMengchiang. The determination of theyoung Lamaist generation to put nece .sary reforms into practice is being met bythe Japanese 'bingon ect, a Buddhi tsect with rites similar to those of Lama­ism. It is thi, s ct which ha.c; offerer!it.s co-operation to the young Lamaitltmovement. Circles interel:itcd in the re­form plnn hope that it will be p - ible toemploy all Larnaitit priests in u efultrades who havc turned out unworthyof tllOir mis ion. That it is deemed de­sirable that Lamai t priests should al 0

be good Mongol patriots goes withoutsaying. The question of finding a 1m/uk/It(supreme lama of Mongolia) recognizedby all lamas plays an important part inconnection with the plan to reformLamaism in Mengchiang. There is a boyof thirteen years of age who, in theopinion of mauy reformers. seem!> topossess all the neccssary qualifications.He is the object of highe t r pe t amongthe Mongol people and resides in Mong­ohiang's ilingol League.

TRAr.\I?oiG TUE ARMY

The fa t that t\ higWy effi ient Meng­chiang army has been established, trained,and advised by the Japanese but underthe supr:eme command of General LiShou-hsin, has contributed in no smalldegree toward enhancing the national

308 THE XXt.h OENTURY

•••The people of Mengchiang although

still under Japanese guardianship, arenow enjoying the very things to whichRoosevelt is only paying lip service.namely, freedom from want and freedomfrom fear. They have every reason tolook to the future with full confidenceand to continue their preparations forMengchiang's role of becoming a usefulmember in the society of East Asia.'sstates. This may be regarded 88 the

underlying idea of Japan'spolicy in Mengchiang, where theJapanese Army authorities haverecently handed over to the civilgovernment all administrativeaffairs of a not strictly militarycharacter. It is perfectly naturalthat Japan's policy should alsoserve the interests of Japanherself; but the beneficiaries ofth is policy will at the same timebe the people of Mengchia.ng and,in the last analysis, the com­munity of East Asia's nations.

self-respect of tbe Mongol people. InHouho, I had a chance of inspecting thenewly founded officers' school of theMengchiang army to which the graduatesof the now three-year-old cadet's schoolare being transferred. At the time of myvisit, twenty young. Mongols were beingtrained as company commander. All ofthem were of excellent physique andcomparatively tall. After three years oftraining they will join the regular annyunits as lieutenants. Specially qualifiedgraduates will be given an oppor-tunity to continue their militarytmining at one of the militaryacanemies in Japan. The headof the officers' sohool is a Mongolmajor general, while the instruc­tion officers are Japanese. Thecleanliness and tidiness of theinmates' living quarters couldhardly be surpassed. In thecourtyard of the barracks I wasshown a Genghis Khan altar infront of which the future officerRpay homage twice a. day.

"'n the spirit of'J!rtue and luaU.,.,"

(written for thIs artlel II)' U Shou-haln.commander In chief of the !llongoUan army)

LAMAISM IN MONGOLIA

By HERMANN CONSTEN

No other reliyion has given rj.,e in the mind of the average peraon to 8'UCJ&

fcmtllat,ic ideo8 a.a Jill.. l"",mailtm; partly bccau.ac it i.a indeed a atrange religion, a,ltdtKJ.rtly because the littroture Olt thia a'ubjecJ 'a cit/lIsr '"com,>reh.,m..ibl.e to tlae /n,yrrUln--bei"g wriltC11 for the speciali4t oll/~r the prod'ad of an ad"eltturoua and wildimagination, appealing to th.e reader'a duirc for excitemtllll roJher than hia thiralfor h,o'lJledge. The follotui7lU pagea give tM wyman a fad·ual and inLereating oe­coum of £omaiam in M(m(Jolia, of ilJl deve/opm.elll and preaem .taU., foU~ bya brief aummary of the ao-cal/ed "direct way" of Lamai.",.

The amhor has lived rrw"y yeara in Mongol1a, where he hcu peraonal/y knownmo,,,!! of the high la,maa und Khubi/{Jona; he haa mapped OuJ.er Mongolia otld hoapub/,i..hed a book enllit.lcd "Weidepliilze dor Mongolen" (Mongol P08turu). 7'hephotOll he aupplied for thj., article have never bew publi.ahed before. .4a there ia710 8tamlard tra'",cnption of MOllgol word.! into Eng/iah, the aulhor hlJ8 uaed the t~t

co,"mon fom&$.-K.M.

SOME centuries after the death ofthe Buddhn. there OCCUlTed a splitwithin Buddllislll into two branches,

Mahayana and H inayana. The .differencebetween these two. a~ described in TheXXth Centu.ry of March 1942 (p.178), is

mainly to be found in the fact that inHinayana the ultimate goal of theindividual's efforts is the attainmentof liberation-Nirvana-for himself. InMahayana, on the other hand, the sainti supposed to renounce his right to enter