The Social Grammar of Mongolian Horn Motifs: A Theoretical Framework for Indigenous Knowledge Teaching and Cultural Heritage Inheritance

Abstract

Mongolian horn decorative motifs, locally termed ebür ugalz, transcend simple ornamental aesthetics; they operate as a structured visual symbolic system that records nomadic ecological wisdom, clan hierarchical norms and cross-generational cultural memory. Despite growing academic interest in Mongolian folk decorative art, existing research mostly categorises these visual symbols as static aesthetic carriers based on superficial visual traits, ignoring their core value in shaping group cultural identity and passing down indigenous civilisation to youth groups. To fill this research gap, this paper constructs a social semiotic analytical framework, linking the formal structural logic of horn motifs with their instructional and identity-building functions within Mongolian herding societies. Relying on ethnographic field surveys carried out across 12 pastoral settlements spanning Inner Mongolia and the Mongolian Plateau from 2022 to 2025, this research adopts dual research paths: visual content coding analysis covering 167 handmade craft relics, plus semi-structured depth interviews with 18 hereditary craft inheritors and ritual cultural practitioners. Data sorting identifies three core independent visual semantic units, four visual deformation rules for semantic adjustment, and three overall layout logic frameworks that together constitute a complete generative symbolic system. Significantly, each structural tier carries unique social connotations: the choice of basic graphic units signals clan belonging; graphic deformation rules record seasonal grassland ecological rhythms; and integral layout modes correspond to sacrificial hierarchical orders and domestic spatial ethics. Survey outcomes further prove that learning horn motif creation serves as an informal educational carrier, through which adolescents simultaneously absorb nomadic moral codes, kinship operation rules and cosmic worldviews alongside handcraft skills. This paper finally proposes that embedding such visual symbolic logic into formal indigenous cultural courses can create a culturally rooted solution to preserve nomadic knowledge systems amid rapid socio-economic restructuring. By redefining horn motifs as a complete social symbolic language rather than mere decorative patterns, this study delivers a replicable analytical paradigm for exploring how native visual symbols sustain cultural continuity and shape group identity.