From the Borders of Russia to the Capital of China: Russian Astronomical Researches in China in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

This article deals with the history of the Russian Orthodox Mission in China, founded in Beijing in 1715, which existed until 1955. It played an important role in the development of Russian–Chinese relations. It also became a centre of China’s academic studies and the first training school for Russian sinologists. During the first half of the nineteenth century, China pursued an isolationist policy. Consequently, Russian scientists could only receive reliable information about China from members of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Beijing. This article focuses on the history of scientific cooperation between the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Orthodox Mission in Beijing during the nineteenth century, especially with regard to astronomical investigations.

Russian Scientific Investigations in China in the Nineteenth Century

“…Scientific investigations of China were inextricably linked with the history of the Russian Orthodox Mission (ROM) in Beijing, which existed from 1715 until 1955 and combined multiple functions. Only one of them was scientific (Feklova and Vekshina 2017). Lacking official diplomatic offices (the Russian Embassy did not open in Beijing until 1861), the Russian Empire could potentially exercise policy through the ROM in Beijing (Li 2019, 200).…”