ABSTRACT
No contemporary society or culture has escaped the impact of the complex process of modernization, the inroads of science, technology, and modern ideologies. While the impact of these factors came later in Mongolia than in most parts of Asia, certainly after the turn of the present century their penetration and influence increased. Many changes have been imposed on the Mongols as a result of contact with Chinese, Russians, and Japanese. In addition, many changes have been implemented internally, as progressive young Mongols educated abroad deemed it imperative for their people to develop new approaches to national life in order to preserve their culture and identity as a nation. Most of the societal and cultural patterns discussed in this book are changing, but many have been continued. 1 Modernization has been accompanied by the inevitable processes of Sinicization in southern Mongolia and Russification in northern Mongolia. These processes are inseparable from the broad trends in politics, imperialism, and forced acculturation.
