Jalair Batbayar was born in Ulaan Baatar on 2nd April 1959 and still lives there today. He is a painter, a poet and a calligrapher. He has written, in beautiful calligraphy, the poems that accompany thirty photographs he selected from this book. Jalair Batbayar is a self-taught master of calligraphy. He learned it secretly during the Soviet era. At that time, Buddhist temples and books were destroyed. Nomads were entrusted with the books from monasteries and they protected them by hiding them in rock crevices in the middle of the steppe. Jalair Batbayar was therefore able to keep on learning and practising the arts of painting, calligraphy and poetry clandestinely. Since 1991, when Mongolia became officially independent, he has been practising these arts openly and has had exhibitions in various locations in Ulaan Baatar, Japan and, more recently, in Washington, in the United States with the National Geographic Society. In 2001, he wrote and published a book on the history of Mongolian writing and has been teaching painting since 1990.

Mongols were nomadic people for many centuries, yet they have succeeded in passing down their script and cultural heritage to successive generations.

There has been little study of the origins and evolution of the traditional Mongolian script in Mongolia. This is set to change with the publication of this book by D. Batbayar, which is considered one of the first research books into the traditional Mongolian script, its origins, and the art of calligraphy, wooden printing blocks and the pictograms used in the traditional script.


D. Batbayar's book shows that Mongols not only used more than one script, but then created and spread many popular scripts throughout the world and created the art of calligraphy.


With the publication of this book Batbayar, himself a calligrapher and fine arts teacher, is attempting to revive the forgotten art of calligraphy. He spent 10 years researching the origins of calligraphy in Mongolia.


This book is about the traditional Mongolian script, its origin and evolution into the art of calligraphy and holographic printing. It explores the uses of the brush and pictorial images in the Mongolian art of handwriting.


The six chapters of the book offer a wealth of knowledge obtained from a careful research into the literary and cultural heritage of the country. The 210 illustrations make the reading a pleasant journey into a section of Mongolia's history and tradition.

Writing is an important part of world culture, and calligraphy is an exciting art combining the beauty of a language's style with the elegance of its written symbols. The light movement of the writing brush can reveal national traditions, history, culture, everything. We talked about the art and science of beautiful writing with calligrapher D.Batbayar.

What can you tell us about the historical development of calligraphy?

Calligraphy has a very long history. The rock inscriptions from the time of Genghis Khan are calligraphy. These inscriptions are about a thousand years old. Even today, we haven't been able yet to determine the exact date when The Secret History of the Mongols', a work belonging to the cultural world heritage, was written. This monumental epic is itself a part of calligraphy. Talking about the history of calligraphy means talking about the history of a nation's writing and culture.

So you can tell the history of Mongolian writing and culture by looking at how Mongolian calligraphy developed?

Yes. The Mongolian script has always been vertical, from top to bottom. We've been reading and writing like this for thousands of years. In the entire world, there is nothing similar to our elegant Mongolian writing, which doesn't tear its letters apart. So, we may say that we've been writing in calligraphy from ancient times until this day. Of course, every nation is different. Japanese, Chinese, and others write in Chinese characters. Of course, they have all developed their own calligraphy in their own way. Actually, a nation's character and culture can be immediately discovered by looking at its calligraphy. The characteristic of the Mongolian language consists in its melodious sound rich in vowels. Therefore, the Mongolian script is harmonious and attractive, too.

Can you tell us which other nations has been developing calligraphy since the distant past?

Every nation has developed calligraphy in its own way. There are India, the Arabs, China, and Japan. Calligraphy is an art involving thought and feeling. Mongolian calligraphy has always been a wonder of the world. When we write from top to bottom, we make people go, 'Wow, how interesting!' We've written half of the world's history, we have a calligraphic culture. We are the major representatives of this art form. I think we can rival even the Chinese. We should be proud of it.

The heritage of calligraphy consists of inscription on stone and manuscripts. In order to take photos for my book about the history of calligraphy, I had to roam about twenty countries, taking stock. This should give you a notion of how old the origin of calligraphy really is.

No, no, of course not. Calligraphy is an art of the future. It's no! Only beautiful hand writing. The calligrapher hears an inner music in different keys, major and minor. The spectators don't just get a pleasant feeling while looking at a calligraphic writing. They hear music in their minds, so people with a keen sense for art will enjoy looking at it. Once, a man from Austria wanted to buy one of my works right away, he just wouldn't quit. 'No, please buy something else', I said, but he insisted, 'No way, I'll buy none other than this!' Actually, he didn't have the slightest idea of what was written there. But when he looked at the writing, he was captured by the music behind it, because he was a very sensitive and alert person?

Now if some people get it and others don't, aren't we in need of some sort of development?

Japan is a truly developed country today. But they are establishing an academy for the development of the calligraphic arts over there. And people take a great deal of interest in it. Calligraphy is concerned not only with beauty but with ideas. It's what you're calling 'design' nowadays. In the new century, nothing goes without ideas. As our society develops materially and mentally, we'll be increasingly drawn towards calligraphy.

A work of art is a product of pure mind. Beauty, how you see the world, this all reflects your philosophy. The Italians and the French usually can't read the Mongolian script. But, surprisingly, they are enthusiastic about Mongolian calligraphy. How do they understand it? The language of art acts as a translator. Art has this surprising ability. When a woman from Chicago saw one of my works, she exclaimed, 'I'm a collector of books, how beautiful this is. Please write the word 'book' for me.' She was genuinely delighted. Talking about calligraphy is always intellectually stimulating. The more you study calligraphy, the more you'll be drawn towards it.

For calligraphy only a few. But there are some promising young people. I have even some foreign students, Japanese and Korean. Studying calligraphy takes a lot of time and effort.

I think they're worth very much, because the right mood can't be repeated. But people who understand them, who know how to take pleasure in them, don't find them too expensive. And I'm not interested in copying and reproducing, either.

Italian and French people buy a lot. But these last few years, Mongolians have begun to buy, and they order a great deal, too. Today, the major companies are using calligraphic signboards and logos. This means that they are beginning to appreciate the rich inheritance of our national arts. With time, more and more people will acquire the artistic feeling and knowledge to love and appreciate calligraphy. Then, the young people will be attracted towards calligraphy and become acquainted with the art of the writing brush, I believe.

The word "Calligraphy" is said to have originated from ancient Greek. All the cultured nations of the world have their own calligraphic traditions. The arrangement of different scripts and letters, worked out and used by the Mongols, has a history of almost 2000 years. It is quite rare to find a place on the wide steppe of Central Asia without any rock-drawings. These petroglyphs show many different carved pictures, figures, marks, seals, stamps, letters and scripts. The fact that the script system used by the Mongols included symbols for transcribing foreign words from languages such as Tibetan, Sanskrit, Chinese, Manchurian, Russian and Turkish is a sign of the respect the Mongols showed towards culture and education. The Classic Mongolian script, which was created to reflect the peculiarities of the sounds of the Mongolian language, has a long tradition and is one of the wonders of the spiritual culture and precious heritage of Mongolia.


The Classic Mongolian script is written from the top downwards and in clockwise turn. It has a classic vertical direction which expresses the most optimal movement of handwriting. The Chinggis Khaan stele, which was carved around 1224, is an ancient memento and a very rare subject of research and studies when it comes to Mongolian Calligraphy.

The idiosyncrasies of the craft; different writing style and forms, such as print style, hand written form, and folded style; and the effects of using bamboo pen and different painting brushes, including seals and stamps; these are all being studied and developed further, and are being taught to ever increasing numbers of students. In these modern times, it is not only important to promote the research and study of calligraphy but also to develop Mongolian Calligraphy in harmony with Oriental philosophy, inspirational music, beautiful poetry and flue art. It is also important to emphasize this distinctive Mongolian tradition through the use its unique designs, patterns and forms with different consumer goods.

The gallery named "Inkway", which exhibits only Mongolian Calligraphic work, is the first gallery specializing in calligraphy and was opened recently. Researcher, teacher of arts and calligrapher Jalair D. Batbayar, who wrote a book The History of Mongolian Calligraphy on the basis of 15 years' research in the calligraphic field, is showing his works to the public after 15 exhibitions abroad and in Mongolia under the name of "Inkway" gallery.
The gallery is serving the public in educational and cultural fields and promulgating knowledge about Mongolian script for scholars and students. The works in the gallery depict aspects of Mongolian culture such as philosophy, literature, symbolism, everyday life and also commercial items. It is wonderful to see this gallery to know more about the unique aspects of Mongolian culture from the time when Mongolian ancestors played a main role in world history.
(September 2005, Jambyn Dashdondog, APPREB correspondent)

From: http://www.accu.or.jp/appreb/02/02-02/02-02country/previous/prev_mn.html

Монгол уран бичлэгийн түүх

Дэлхийн соёлт улс үндэстэн бүрийн үсэг, бичиг нь тухайн ард түмний зан заншил, эртний уламжлалт соёл сэтгэхүйн онцлогийг хадгалдагаараа бусад үндэстэнээс ялгагддаг. Нэн эртний нүүдэлчин монголчуудын утга соёл, үсэг бичгийн урлагийг сонирхон судалваас түүний баялаг түүх нь олон зууны турш олон янзын бичиг авч хэрэглэж, шинэчлэн боловсруулж судар ном хөшөө дурсгалдаа бичиж үлдээсэн түүх нэн арвин билээ.