Dominik Schröder
Encyclopedia
Dominik Schröder was an Ethnologist and Mongolist
. He was born in Eiweiler, in the Nohfelden
municipality of the Saarland
. He worked as a missionary in China
from 1938 to 1949. He obtained an MA from Fujen University
in Beijing
in 1945.
He was active in the Anthropos-Institut in Fribourg
, and undertook research on the Kham
people, and the oral poetry of the Monguor people (蒙古尔). He translated the chapter on Folklore
from the Xīkāng Tújīng (西康圖經:1934), a work by the Chinese scholar Rèn Nǎiqiáng (任乃強) who pioneered studies on the Gesar epic. From 1946 to 1949 he resided among the Huzhu Monguor people. He returned to Europe in 1949 to pursue his studies in anthropology at both Fribourg
and Frankfurt
, and obtained a doctorate in 1951. His inaugural dissertation, “Zur Religion der Tujen des Sininggebietes (Kukunor),” published in 1953 was an important addition to a little known field of ethnology.
He was appointed professor of ethnology
at Nanzan University
in Nagoya in 1960, a position he held until 1969. While in Japan, he made several trips to Taiwan
to conduct fieldwork among the shamanizing ‘poringao’ women of the aboriginal Puyuma people. His research notes were edited and published posthumously by Anton Quack.
His particular area of research interest was the phenomenon of shamanism
among the peoples of East Asia. He collected invaluable materials on the Gesar epic as conserved among the Monguor.
Greater Mongolia
Greater Mongolia as a region, is the contiguous territories primarily inhabited by ethnic Mongols. It approximately includes the modern state of Mongolia, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China , and the Buryat Republic as well as a few smaller territories in...
. He was born in Eiweiler, in the Nohfelden
Nohfelden
Nohfelden is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km north of Sankt Wendel, and 20 km southwest of Idar-Oberstein....
municipality of the Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
. He worked as a missionary in China
Divine Word Missionaries
The Society of the Divine Word , popularly called the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a missionary religious congregation in the Latin Church, one of the 23 sui iuris churches which make up the Catholic Church. As of 2006 it consisted of 6,102 members composed...
from 1938 to 1949. He obtained an MA from Fujen University
Fu Jen Catholic University
Fu Jen Catholic University is a co-educational Catholic university located in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, Republic of China...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in 1945.
He was active in the Anthropos-Institut in Fribourg
Fribourg
Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
, and undertook research on the Kham
Kham
Kham , is a historical region covering a land area largely divided between present-day Tibetan Autonomous Region and Sichuan province, with smaller portions located within Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan provinces of China. During the Republic of China's rule over mainland China , most of the region was...
people, and the oral poetry of the Monguor people (蒙古尔). He translated the chapter on Folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
from the Xīkāng Tújīng (西康圖經:1934), a work by the Chinese scholar Rèn Nǎiqiáng (任乃強) who pioneered studies on the Gesar epic. From 1946 to 1949 he resided among the Huzhu Monguor people. He returned to Europe in 1949 to pursue his studies in anthropology at both Fribourg
Fribourg
Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
and Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, and obtained a doctorate in 1951. His inaugural dissertation, “Zur Religion der Tujen des Sininggebietes (Kukunor),” published in 1953 was an important addition to a little known field of ethnology.
He was appointed professor of ethnology
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
at Nanzan University
Nanzan University
is a private, coeducational university located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The main campus is in the Shōwa Ward of Nagoya City, with another in Seto City and a recently established satellite campus near Nagoya's Takaoka Station on the subway Sakura-dōri Line....
in Nagoya in 1960, a position he held until 1969. While in Japan, he made several trips to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
to conduct fieldwork among the shamanizing ‘poringao’ women of the aboriginal Puyuma people. His research notes were edited and published posthumously by Anton Quack.
His particular area of research interest was the phenomenon of shamanism
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
among the peoples of East Asia. He collected invaluable materials on the Gesar epic as conserved among the Monguor.
Publications
- 'Zur Religion der Tu]enTu peopleThe Monguor or Tu people , White Mongol/Chagan Mongol are one of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in the People's Republic of China. The "Tu" ethnic category was created in the 1950s....
des SininggebietesXiningXining is the capital of Qinghai province, People's Republic of China, and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. It has 2,208,708 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,198,304 live in the built up area made of 4 urban districts.-History:...
(KuKunorQinghai LakeQinghai Lake , is a saline lake situated in the province of Qinghai, and is the largest lake in China. The names Qinghai and Kokonor both mean "Blue/Teal Sea/Lake" in Chinese and Mongolian. It is located about west of the provincial capital of Xining at 3,205 m above sea level in a depression...
)', in Anthropos: Internationale Zeitschrift für Völker- und Sprachenkunde, Sonderdruck, Band 47, 1952; Paulusdruckerei, Freiburg in der Schweiz. - 'Zur Struktur des Schamanismus,' in Anthropos, Vol. 50, 1955, pp.849-881.
- Aus der Volksdichtung der Monguor. I. Teil: Das weibe Glucksschaf (Mythen, Märchen, Lieder), Asiatische Forschungen, Band 6, Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz 1959.
- Aus der Volksdichtung der Monguor. 2. Teil: In den Tagen der Urzeit. (Ein Mythus vom Licht und vom Leben), Aufgenommen und uebersetzt von Dominik Schroder. hrsg.Walther Heissig, Asiatische Forschungen, Band 31. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1970-
- With Anton Quack, 'Kopfjagdriten der Puyuma von Katipol (Taiwan) : eine Textdokumentation,' in Collectanea Instituti Anthropos; Bd. 11, St. Augustin : Anthropos-Institut : Haus Volker und Kulturen, 1979
- Anton Quack, Priesterinnen, Heilerinnen, Schamainnen? Die Poringao der Puyuma von Katipol (Taiwan= dargestellt und analysiert nach Aufzeichnungen aus dem Nachless von D. Schröder, Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1985 (Collectanea Instituti Anthropos 32)
Secondary Literature
- Walther Heissig: Geser Redzia-wu. Dominik Schröders nachgelassene Monguor(Tujen)-Version des Geser-Epos aus Amdo. (Asiatische Forschungen, Band 70) Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-447-02090-3
- Dominik. Schröder by A. Burgmann, 'P. Dominik Schröder SVD (1910–1974)', Anthropos 70 (1975), pp. 1–4