Title: JirGuduGar mingji qaraGul-un oros-luG-a kijaGar neyilegsen nutuG-un jiruG
“Map of the territory of the 6th Minji watch-post bordering with Russia”
Date: BadaraGultu tOrO-yin qorin naimaduGar on tabun sarayin qorin tabun
“25th day of the 5th month of the 28th year of Guangxu (光緒) (1902)”
Seal: None
Size: 22 x 55 cm
Material: Chinese paper
Note: This map is drawn with south at the top. The Minj watch-post was one of 47 watch-posts established on the border between Mongolia and Russia, the service of which was provided by the four aimags of Halh. These posts were called “ger haruul” or “family watch-posts”, as conscripts moved there with their families, dwellings (gers) and property, and engaged in herding livestock in the same manner as ordinary Mongolian pastoral families, in addition to carrying out their watch-post duties. (This was also the case in the relay services.) Thus conflicts arose over pasture lands between the families of border guards and herdsmen of the banners (МГХ 1975: 133-145). Fourteen of the 47 watch-posts were under the control of Tu’sheet Han Aimag. The Minj watch-post was the sixth of the 14 watch-posts, the first of which was the Buur watch-post near Khyagt. The watch-posts were numbered from west to east or in a clockwise manner (nar zo’v), like the numbering of oboos on a banner boundary – while Chinese writers listed them in the opposite way, from east to west (何秋濤撰『朔方備乗』巻10: 17). “Nar zo’v” means the direction in which the sun moves, and also implies that the direction is right and correct. The Mongols are so conscious of the direction of rotation that almost all ritual movements follow a clockwise rotation. At present the area of this watch-post is located in the territory of the Russian Federation. (On watch-posts see Нацагдорж 1963: 169; Гэрэлбадрах 2002: 186-195; МУШ 1997 II: 112-113n.; Zhao1989: 169.)