Includes bibliographical references (pages 295-320) and index.

Machine generated contents note: -- Acknowledgments -- Contributors -- Introduction -- Vesna A. Wallace -- Part I -- 1. What Happened to Queen Jönggen? -- Johan Elverskog -- 2. The Western Mongolian Clear Script and the Making of the Buddhist State -- Richard Taupier -- 3. Shakur Lama: The Last Attempt to Build the Buddhist State -- Baatr Kitinov -- 4. Modernities, Sense Making, and the Inscription of Mongolian Buddhist Place -- Matthew King -- 5. Envisioning a Mongolian Buddhist Identity through Chinggis Khaan -- Vesna A. Wallace -- Part II -- 6. Establishment of the Mergen Tradition of Mongolian Buddhism -- Uranchimeg Ujeed -- 7. Zanabazar (1635-1723): Vajrayana Art and the State in Medieval Mongolia -- Uranchimeg Tsultemin -- 8. The Power and Authority of Maitreya in Mongolia Examined through Mongolian Art -- Uranchimeg Tsultemin -- 9. A Literary History of Buddhism in Mongolia -- Simon Wickham-Smith -- 10. How Vajrapani Became a Mongol -- Vesna A. Wallace -- 11. What Do Protective Deities, Mongolian Heroes, and Fast Steeds Have in Common? -- Vesna A. Wallace -- 12. Buddhist Sacred Mountains, Auspicious Landscapes, and Their Agency -- Vesna A. Wallace -- Part III -- 13. Criminal Lamas: Court Cases Against Buddhist Monks in Early Socialist Mongolia -- Christopher Kaplonski -- 14. Transition and Transformation: Buddhist Women of Buryatia -- Karma Lekshe Tsomo -- 15. The Social and Cultural Practices of Buddhism: The Local Context of Inner Mongolia in the First Half of the Twentieth Century -- Hurelbaatar Ujeed.

"Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture, and Society explores the unique elements of Mongolian Buddhism while challenging its stereotyped image as a mere replica of Tibetan Buddhism. Vesna A. Wallace brings together an interdisciplinary group of leading scholars to explore the interaction between the Mongolian indigenous culture and Buddhism, the features that Buddhism acquired through its adaptation to the Mongolian cultural sphere, and the ways Mongols have constructed their Buddhist identity. The contributors explore the ways that Buddhism retained unique Mongolian features through Qing and Mongol support, and bring to light the ways in which Mongolian Buddhists saw Buddhism as inseparable from "Mongolness." They show that by being greatly supported by Mongol and Qing empires, suppressed by the communist governments, and experiencing revitalization facilitated by democratization and the challenges posed by modernity, Buddhism underwent a series of transformations while retaining unique Mongolian features. The book covers historical events, social and political conditions, and influential personages in Mongolian Buddhism from the sixteenth century to the present, and addresses the artistic and literary expressions of Mongolian Buddhism and various Mongolian Buddhist practices and beliefs"-- Provided by publisher.

"Buddhism in Mongolia explores the unique historical and cultural elements of Mongolian Buddhism while challenging its stereotyped image as a mere replica of Tibetan Buddhism. The book illuminates the historical, social, and cultural contexts within which Buddhism has operated as a major social and cultural force among the Mongols"-- Provided by publisher.