Throughout the history of China-Russia relations, Russian Sinologists have played an important role in spreading Chinese culture. Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin (Никита Яковлевич Бичурин), one of the most outstanding and epoch-making Sinologists, is the founder of Russian Sinology and Orientalism, also known as one of the founding fathers of Russian Sinology.

Personal experience

Born on 29 August 1777 in Akulevo Village, Cheboksary District, Kazan Province (now Cheboksary District, Chuvash Republic), Bichurin moved with his family to the village of Bichurin in 1779, from which he acquired his surname Bichurin. His father, Iakov Danilov, was a clergyman in the Orthodox church there.

Under the influence of his family, Bichurin attended the Kazan Theological Seminary at the age of nine and was known for his studiousness. After graduating from the seminary in 1799, he taught French as a monk, took his archimandrite monastic name Iakinf, and served as a priest at Kazan Nevsky Monastery.

Bichurin became the abbot of Kazan Ioanno-Predtechensky Monastery in 1801, Archpriest of the Friars in 1802, and the abbot of the Missionary School of Irkutsk Ascension Monastery. In 1807, he became the head of the Ninth Russian Orthodox Mission in Beijing. He spent 13 years in China from his arrival in Beijing in January 1808 to his return in 1821. He has compiled many bilingual and multilingual dictionaries, Chinese grammar, a large number of classics and documents, and studied the social and historical conditions of China and its neighboring regions.

From the beginning of the 19th century, Bichurin's activities concerned with sinology continued for half a century and made outstanding achievements in many aspects. When he arrived in China, he fully devoted himself to learning the languages of Chinese, Manchu and Mongolian. With the help of his rich store of Latin, Greek and French, he mastered Chinese quickly. Dressing in traditional Chinese clothes, he liked to walk through the streets and alleys to learn about the real look of China in his daily life.

Bichurin wrote and translated more than 100 works in his lifetime and also published many articles. During his stay in Beijing, he wrote and translated 17 books. Bichurin devoted himself to the study of Sinology and Orientalism until his death in Alexander Nevskii Monastery, St. Petersburg in 1853. On his tombstone, eight Chinese characters are inscribed, "无时勤劳垂光史册(Wú shí qín láo chuí guāng shǐ cè)," which means "Being diligent at all times so to shine the annals."

Research focus

Bichurin's research on China is extensively broad, covering various aspects of the Chinese language, history, geography, ethnicity, politics, economy, military, and customs. Due to his outstanding achievements, Bichurin was elected an academician of Oriental Literature and Antiquities of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1828. His academic activities pioneered the comprehensive study of Chinese culture. In his research, he always took original Chinese historical materials as the foundation and established the outstanding status of "Russian Sinology." His research achievements and writings are still of great academic significance today.

Bichurin made a detailed and in-depth study of China according to the important Chinese classics. He opposed the saying "Chinese civilization originated in the West," which was popular in Europe at that time, and maintained the local origin of Chinese civilization. As a historian and ethnographer, Bichurin refused to accept the popular ideological understanding that Chinese culture was based on Egyptian and Babylonian culture. He criticized and refuted the ridiculous parallels between Chinese myths and biblical stories which were proposed by some European missionaries, as well as the view from German scientists that the Tianshan tribes were descended from Germans.

He pointed out popular errors in historical materials on Chinese history printed in Europe at that time. Based on Chinese historical records, Bichurin introduced the Chinese nation and its long history to the Russian people. He pointed out that Chinese culture was born and developed in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, and Chinese people had their own culture. He also described the clan society in the Yellow River Basin in detail, clarified the national social conditions and cultural characteristics of early China, and further refuted the saying "Chinese civilization originated in the West."

As an economist and geographer, Bichurin studied the economy of China, including agriculture, land law, handicrafts, trade, taxation, and finance. In the book China and Its People, Customs, Habits and Education, he introduced China's national administrative structure, education, traditional customs and daily life, and gave an in-depth explanation of the circulation of Chinese products and currency. In particular, his book An Overview of Imperial Chinese Politics is considered an important economic work, although it also contains content on Chinese politics and state organizations.

As a linguist and translator, Bichurin attached great importance to Chinese grammar and the quality of translation of classical books, as well as the accuracy of translation of place names. In his opinion, people usually think that mistakes in transliteration are insignificant, but in fact, they cause huge confusion in history and geography. Bichurin attached great importance to Chinese and Mongolian studies, believing that they helped him overcome the language barriers and learn the rich history and culture, which would create a good foundation for the in-depth study of China.

Research characteristics

Bichurin's research has distinct characteristics. There is no religious or ethnic prejudice. Instead, he tried to objectively show Chinese people's lives and their splendid ancient culture. In his works, he praised Chinese culture and refuted the argument that China was a "barbaric country" by some Catholic missionaries, western scholars, and writers, believing that it was a sophistry to justify plundering and colonial policies in China.

He made extensive use of Chinese historical materials in his Sinology studies. He far surpassed the contemporary Western European Sinologists in terms of the completeness and quantity of quoting and translating Chinese historical materials, such as the eight-volume Zi Zhi Tong Jian (Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government). Bichurin said that many things were presented clearly, completely and accurately in the works published in China.

With his in-depth study, he introduced Chinese books to the world, arousing people's interest in China and the East. Many Sinologists speak highly of the materials cited by Bichurin. In their view, Bichurin's works were not based on the biased data collected by other travelers, but based on the reality he saw with his own eyes, pointing out many errors in Western works, correcting the erroneous views of Western Sinologists, and defending the scientificity of Oriental studies.

Bichurin had a unique way of studying China. In his opinion, it is necessary to start from mastering the language, and then start to read and study the original historical materials. Only through such analysis and reasoning is it possible to reach a conclusion. He not only had novel, well-founded ideas, but also had the ability to use statistics and other data in the research. He studied the Chinese central government, the history of ethnic minorities in China's borderlands, and situations in Central Asia, as well as China's historical relations with other countries at that time. All these make his works more systematic and integrated.

In general, Bichurin's studies of Sinology are authoritative. His works have been translated into French, Japanese, Mongolian, Spanish and other languages, which greatly promoted the development of Oriental Studies and World Oriental Studies in Russia and around the world.

The author is Mei Chuncai of Jilin Normal University.

Liu Xian /Editor    Sun Lin, Yan Yixun /Translator

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Ren Qiang /Coordinator

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

The views don't necessarily reflect those of DeepChina.