Saturated bright events biography of N.Ya. Bichurin, like no other domestic sinologist, became the subject of close attention not only by historians, but also by fiction writers (A. Talanov, N. Romova, 1955; V.N. Krivtsov, 1972, 1976; S.N. Markov, 1973). In 1977, a scientific conference “N.Ya. Bichurin and his contribution to Russian oriental studies (To the 200th anniversary of his birth)".
In 1828-1851. N.Ya. Bichurin published over 100 major scientific works, translations and research on history, literature, philosophy, religion, economics, law, administrative system, trade, agriculture, medicine, morals, customs and many other aspects of spiritual and material culture China, as well as the history and ethnography of the Turkic and Mongol-speaking peoples of the Middle and Central Asia, mainly according to China. sources. Since in his works he showed a hitherto unprecedented breadth of worldview and relied on an extensive source base in the Chinese and Manchu languages, mastered during his 12-year stay in Beijing, they not only gave a genuine scientific status Russian Sinology, but also immediately made him a world leader. N.Ya. Bichurin was awarded the Demidov Prize three times (1834, 1839, 1851) for the best fatherland works. scientific works. His publications aroused wide public interest and were highly appreciated prominent figures Russian culture - V.G. Belinsky, N.A. Bestuzheva, I.A. Krylova, V.F. Odoevsky, I.I. Panaeva, M.P. Pogodina, N.A. Polevoy, A.S. Pushkin, who, when writing “The History of Pugachev,” used his book “Historical. review of the Oirats, or Kalmyks, from the 15th century. to the present time" (1834). In 1848 he donated 168 items of his library to the Kazan spirit. academy. The extensive handwritten heritage of N.Ya. Bichurin, described by S.A. Kozin (1929), P.E. Skachkov (1933, 1956, 1977), A.A. Petrov (1937), B.A. Malkevich (1953), Z.I. Gorbacheva (1954), D.I. Tikhonov (1954) and L.I. Chuguevsky (1959, 1967), also stored in the Vostok sector. manuscripts of the St. Petersburg branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS. Among the unpublished works are such monumental works as the translation of “Zi zhi tong jian” (“The Universal Mirror Helping Management,” 15 volumes, 8384 sheets) by Sima Guang, “The Four Books” (2 volumes, 1179 sheets), “History of the House of Ming” "(590 l.) and about a dozen very voluminous (reaching more than two thousand l.) Chinese-Russian, Manch-Chinese-Russian, Chinese-Latin. dictionaries.
Those who saw the light during the lifetime of the author of the work N.Ya. Bichurin are divided into 3 large groups: 1) translations and adaptations of whales. sources: “Description of Tibet in its present state” (1828), “Description of Beijing” (1828), “History of the first four khans from the house of Chinggisov” (1829), “Description of Zhungaria and East Turkestan” (1829), “San Tzu -ching, or Three Words with lithographed Chinese text"(1829), "Image of the First Beginning" (1832), " Historical review Oirats, or Kalmyks, from the 15th century. to the present time" (1834), "Buddhist mythology" (1941), "Collection of information about the peoples who lived in Wed. Asia in ancient times" (3 hours, 1851), etc.; 2) review journal articles: “Daily Exercises of the Chinese Emperor” (1828), “On the Ancient and Present Worship of the Mongols” (1828), “Agricultural Calendar of the Chinese” (1830), “Statistical Information about China” (1837), “A Look at enlightenment of China" (1838), "Measures of national food supply in China" (1839), "Basic rules Chinese history, originally approved by Confucius and accepted by Chinese scientists" (1839), "On shamanism" (1839), "Comparison of Chinese measures with Russian and English" (1839), "Chinese military forces" (1840), "Public and private life Chinese" (1840), "Exposition of the Buddhist Religion" (1941), "Beijing palace rule"(1941), "Bread Stores in China" (1945); 3) original research: “Notes on Mongolia” (1828), “ Chinese grammar"(2 hours, 1838), "China, its inhabitants, morals, customs, education" (1840), "Statistical description Chinese Empire"(2 hours, 1842), "China in a civil and moral state" (1848).
The creator of the “new philosophy” of Confucianism (Neo-Confucianism) was considered to be Zhou Dun-yi (11th century), who “composed the cosmogony” “Tai ji tu sho” (“Explanation of the Plan of the Great Limit”, according to Bichurin - “Drawing of the First Beginning”) . He outlined (in fact translated) the contents of the decree. op. with comment. Zhu Xi and other prominent conf. scientists. The concept of “Tai xu” (“Great Emptiness”, see Xu) in conjunction with Tai ji (“Great Limit”, according to Bichurin - “First Beginning”) was interpreted as “an eternal force that has neither beginning nor limits”, acting in the “air of Qi” (see Qi) inseparable from it. “Air of Qi,” according to Bichurin, is “a simple being, not having a visible image,” but “before the times of the world” containing “in an invisible embryo” all images of things visible world. Movement ( dun[1 ], see Dong-ching), considered as the “will of the primordial force,” developed the “embryo” into “substances. image". To designate the “two first principles” - dual cosmic. The yin-yang forces Bichurin used the concepts of “hydrogen” and “caloric”, respectively. Interpreting neoconf. doctrine in terms of Western religious philosophy, deduced the origin of the “physical being” of man from “hydrogen”, the “spiritual” - from “caloric”, the first from the influence of external influences. impressions tend towards evil, the second - towards good. Bichurin showed metaphysics. validity of the conf. ethics, the principles of the cut - “virtues” - are considered to contain “heavenly order, truth and the First Principle”. The pillars of the “new philosophy” were also called by Shao Kang-jie (Shao Yun, 11th century) as an “astronomer” and the creator of the system of “world existence” - a description of the structure of “the formation of the world, its continuation and destruction”, as well as Zhu Xi as the author of an exemplary history China and “systematic. explanations" of six classics. books (“Liu Jing”, see “Shi San Jing”), which gave “Chinese. literature and philosophy unity in concepts."
Bichurin N.Ya. (Iakinf) (1777–1853)Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin came from the poor strata of the rural clergy, whose representatives were engaged in the Christian education of the Chuvash. His grandfather Danil Semenov (presumably was from the Chuvash) in the 50s years XVIII century served as sexton of the Presentation Church in the village. Chemursha-Tipsarino, Cheboksary district, in 1764 ordained a priest and transferred to the Assumption Church in the village. Akulevo, Tsivilsky (since 1781 - Cheboksary) district. Following the tradition of the church, his sons, Yakov and Ivan Danilov, also became ministers of the cult. Our father famous fellow countryman- Yakov Danilov - born in 1749 (or 1750), studied at the Kazan Theological Seminary. In 1770, he became a deacon of the Akulevskaya Church, where his father was a priest.
Nikita, the first-born in the family of Yakov and his wife Akulina Stepanova, was born in 1777 in the village. Akulevo, and in 1779 the family moved to the village. Bichurin of Sviyazhsky (from 1781 - Cheboksary) district, from the name of which he later received the surname Bichurin. This is what N. Bichurin’s contemporary, historian N. S. Shchukin, wrote: “His father, sexton Jacob, without even having a last name, spent his entire life in this rank and peasant labors. His son Nikita entered, at the age of eight, the school of musical singing in the city of Sviyazhsk. In 1985 he moved to the Kazan Seminary, where he was given the nickname Bichurin, after the village in which he was born.” The historical atmosphere in which the future theologian grew up is amazing. Nikita spent his childhood among the Volga Chuvash, who distinguished themselves by their selfless struggle in the rebel forces of Emelyan Pugachev. In the years leading up to Peasant War, Chuvash population was subjected to forced Christianization.
For the active introduction of Orthodoxy among the non-Russian peasantry, the Reverend Archbishops Veniamin (Putsek-Grigorovich), Anthony (Gerasimov-Zabelin) and especially Ambrose (Podobedov), during the years they ruled the Kazan diocese, tried to prepare competent preachers by replenishing the theological seminary with students from the families of church ministers. To the "Holy" fathers who tortured under different pretexts to free their children from religious schools, they threatened with fines, sending them to “menial work,” turning those guilty into soldiers, and excommunication from church service. Nikita Bichurin’s parents, like other clergy, did not even have to think about dismissing their sons from the clergy to receive a secular education - the Synod did not allow this. And “of the Kazan governorship of the Sviyazhsk district of the village of Pichurin, priest Yakov Danilov, son Nikita,” there was only one way - to a religious educational institution.
The Kazan Theological Seminary, where Nikita Bichurin spent about 14 years, trained clergy for many regions - from the Volga to the “Asian” East.
In 1785, the “talented preacher of the word of God” Ambrosy Podobedov was transferred to Kazan to manage the diocese with the rank of archbishop. During the years of his leadership (1785-1799), the Kazan Theological Seminary was transformed into an academy. In addition to the usual religious disciplines in educational plans Secular people also entered, and they began to attract capable students from Moscow University, the Moscow Theological Academy, and Alexander Nevsky Seminary to work in the seminary. These innovations increased interest in learning, and the training of clergy and teachers improved. Nikita Bichurin endured grueling trials of hunger, cold, disease and other hardships that befell the poor students. In 1798, he was assigned to the Kazan Theological Seminary. younger brother Ilya. Nikita Bichurin had to take care of him too. Throughout his years of study, he himself was among best students, amazed teachers with his abilities. And he was introduced to the Kazan Archbishop Ambrose Podobedov, who then “benefited him all his life.”
“After completing the course of study, in 1799, he was made a grammar teacher at the same seminary, which was now renamed the academy. In 1800 he was tonsured a monk and made a teacher of higher eloquence. In 1802, he was promoted to archimandrite and sent to Irkutsk as rector of the seminary there,” N. Ya. Bichurin laconically states in his “Autobiographical Note.”
After being tonsured into monasticism, under the name “Iakinthos,” he was appointed “to the number of cathedral hieromonks of the St. Petersburg Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and of the same month, 22 days later, he was promoted to hierodeacon; On August 25, 1801, he was promoted to hieromonk, and on November 7, he was entrusted with the management of the Kazan and Ioannovsky Monastery" "..."
And only one circumstance forced Bichurin to leave his native Volga region and go to serve in Siberia - in Kazan there was no significant vacant position for promotion in the church and monastic service. Archimandrite Iakinf Bichurin arrived in Irkutsk on August 4, 1802, and, according to the inventory, took into his management “the Ascension Monastery, churches, utensils and church sacristy, money and all monastic things and supplies.” The theological seminary also came under his jurisdiction, and from August 9, 1802 he began to certainly participate in the meetings of the Irkutsk Spiritual Consistory. Under the control of the young archimandrite, new economic premises began to be built in the monastery, as well as to prepare the monnets and students for missionary and educational activities.
Already in the first months of his stay in Irkutsk, Bichurin became convinced: church and monastic affairs in the diocese were seriously neglected, there was no discipline in the local seminary, seminarians “some went to class late, while others went to class when they had leisure.” Iakinf began to strictly punish for self-will. This caused grumbling and discontent among the students, and they, in collusion with the dissatisfied monks from the Ascension Monastery, established secret supervision over personal life his mentor to accuse him of violating church and monastic regulations and remove him from the management of the monastery and seminary. Having found out that a young woman was living in the archimandrite’s chambers under the guise of novice Adrian Ivanov, a group of drunken seminarians began a search for her, which ended in violent outrage. So in the Synod, file No. 183 appeared on 447 pages about “the disorder that occurred in the Irkutsk seminary from the seminarians and the reprehensible act of Archimandrite Iacinthos who turned out to be on this occasion,” which received wide publicity. Proceedings in the highest civil and church authorities dragged on for a long time. Finally, a decision was made to remove the archimandrite from the management of the monastery and remove him from the rector’s position. The highest approved decree ordered the Bishop of the Irkutsk diocese to immediately “send Iakinthos with a passport to Tobolsk to the local Eminence Anthony, Archbishop, so that he would be given, upon consideration by him, the Archbishop, a teaching position at the seminary, under the supervision and supervision of a reliable spiritual person, reporting on his behavior, Jacinthos, to the Holy Synod at the end of each year.” According to the verdict of the chamber of the criminal court of Irkutsk, 9 seminarians for their “violent act” were “excluded” from the clergy, punished with rods and, at the behest of the tsar, assigned to the rank of ministers.
In March 1806, the disgraced Iakinf left Irkutsk and went to the city of Tobolsk - a place of exile for state criminals.
Here Iakinf began to study historical, ethnographic and geographical works about the peoples of Siberia and eastern countries, with particular diligence studied the literature about the Chinese Empire and its inhabitants, was interested in information about the embassy to China of Count Yu. A. Golovkin, who was stuck in Irkutsk. Knowing about the favorable attitude of the head of the “great embassy” towards himself, Bichurin secretly hoped that with his help will be able to take the position of head of the Beijing spiritual mission and will realize his deepest dream - to get to know the then inaccessible Chinese Empire and the countries adjacent to it better.
It should be noted that having become closely acquainted with Bichurin, Count Golovkin was delighted with his remarkable linguistic abilities, excellent memory and active nature. This predetermined future fate Father Iakinthos - he was appointed head of the mission. On July 18, 1807, the mission left Irkutsk and on September 17, from the Russian border city of Kyakhta, it went to the capital of the Middle Empire.
Information on the history and ethnography of peoples Overseas Asia, accumulated over the first century of the existence of the Russian spiritual mission in Beijing, were very meager. On his way to Beijing, Bichurin kept a detailed diary, trying to describe “the country he was passing through with villages and cities, the state of the year... and even add to this a statistical description of Mongolia.” Some of these notes were later used in his “Notes on Mongolia,” published in 1826 in St. Petersburg. We can say with confidence that Iakinfa Bichurin’s interest in the inhabitants of Mongolia and China, their way of life and original culture was of a scientific and educational nature. While passing through Mongolia, he studied Mongolian and enthusiastically collected historical and ethnographic information about the Mongol tribes.
The main goal of the Russian Orthodox mission in China was to spread Orthodoxy.
However, Archimandrite Iakinthos turned out to be a “low-zealous” mentor of missionaries and was persecuted until the end of his life. But it was he who was destined to become the first Russian scientist to begin a thorough study of the history of the peoples of Central and Central Asia based on written sources on oriental languages. During his four years of stay in China, N. Ya. Bichurin compiled a Chinese-Russian dictionary, which served as the basis for the compilation of multi-volume Chinese-Russian dictionaries. Along with studying book and spoken Chinese, Father Iakinf took up written sources in history, geography, ethnography, medicine.
In the seventh year of his life in Beijing, he translated the literary and historical body of teachings of Confucius, then began translations and extracts in three volumes from the huge Chinese geographical work “Daiqing and Tongzhi” and an extensive translation in 16 volumes of “Tongjiang Gangmu” - a consolidated history of the Chinese state with ancient times until the Qing dynasty (1644). The prominent Soviet orientalist L.N. Gumilyov wrote that Bichurin’s translations, amounting to 20 handwritten volumes, served for him as “a well from which he drew information for his works.”
Not only about Bichurin’s deep interest in the life of peoples East Asia, but also his own extensive knowledge is evidenced by his translations of scientific works on Chinese astronomy, philosophy, agriculture, trade, shipping.
However, the morals of the era did not tolerate such freethinking. And while Iakinf was tirelessly engaged in science in Beijing, the tsar’s ministers in St. Petersburg were looking for a replacement for him. On December 1, 1820, the Tenth Spiritual Mission arrived in Beijing with Archimandrite Peter Kamensky.
On May 15, 1821, members of the Ninth Spiritual Mission led by Iakinthos Bichurin, accompanied by 30 camels (15 of them were loaded with packs and boxes with books, manuscripts and other items of enormous scientific value), carts and small Cossack detachment, set off from Beijing on their way back to their homeland. He did not yet know that the Synod and the Ministry of Spiritual Affairs were preparing a court charge based on reports from the Siberian Governor-General I. B. Pestel, the Irkutsk Governor N. I. Treskin and Archimandrite P. I. Kamensky about the numerous “sins” of Father Iakinthos and individual members of the Ninth Mission.
The Synod sentenced him to exile for eternal settlement in Solovetsky Monastery, “so that, without excluding him from there anywhere, with the strictest supervision over his behavior, efforts are made to bring him to true repentance for his crimes.” Father Iakinthos was deprived of the archimandric and priestly ranks, but remained in the monastic rank.
Tsar Alexander I approved the decree of the Synod, but proposed keeping the disgraced monk Iakinthos Bichurin not in the Solovetsky Monastery, but under strict supervision in a monastery on the island of Valaam, which Lake Ladoga. The position of an exile in a monastery prison leads Bichurin to despair with the thought that “all hopes of making his work... useful to the fatherland have perished.”
Many enlightened minds in Russia tried to soften the fate of the scientist-monk. Among them was Baron P. Schilling von Canstadt, a prominent official in the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and corresponding member Russian Academy Sci. After four years, he reported to the Minister of Foreign Affairs that a useless sinologist lived in the Valaam Monastery, and yet the ministry needed such a person. And in 1824, the Emperor deigned to command the highest: “To assign the monk Iakinthos Bichurin to the Asian Department.”
A new milestone began in the life of Iakinthos. The famous sinologist became a welcome guest in literary salons capital, attended subbotniks of Prince V.F. Odoevsky, met and became friends with A.S. Pushkin, V.G. Belinsky, N.A. Nekrasov, I.A. Krylov. For many years he collaborated with the magazines “Moskovityanin” by M. P. Pogodin and “Moscow Telegraph” by P. A. Polevoy.
The peak of the scientist’s creative growth dates back to 1827-1837, when research in the field of Oriental studies was completed and the “Statistical Description of the Chinese Empire” was created. Twice he made scientific trips to Transbaikalia. In 1828, several of his monographs were published, as well as “Notes on Mongolia”, which were immediately translated into German and French And. For his outstanding scientific works, the Academy of Sciences awarded him the Demidov Prize four times.
A long expedition (1830-1831) to the Asian part of Russia not only enriched the scientist with new materials. During his stay in Transbaikalia, he decides to leave monasticism. Upon returning from the expedition, on August 29, 1831, on his birthday, Bichurin from Troitskosavsk, located near Kyakhta, submitted a petition to the Synod to remove him from the monastic rank. However, the will of the “most august” autocrat of all Rus', Nicholas I, is as follows: to leave Iakinf Bichurin “to continue to live in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, not allowing him to leave monasticism...” In 1835, Bichurin was again sent to Siberia, where he carried out the main assignments Asian Department. In Kyakhta he was instructed to organize a Chinese language school. He returned to the capital in January 1838. In the same year, his “Chinese Grammar” was published. In 1840 - another scientific study “China, its inhabitants, morals, customs, enlightenment.” This publication was published with funds from S. A. Mitsikova, daughter close friend and Bichurin’s cousin A.V. Karsunsky. The next encyclopedic work of the tireless sinologist was “Statistical Description of the Chinese Empire,” and in 1844 N. Ya. Bichurin published the book “Agriculture in China with seventy-two drawings of various agricultural tools,” about which the literary critic and poet P. A. Pletnev wrote “ Russians cannot but be grateful to scientific works Father Iakinthos for a lot of interesting information that he conveyed to them from the source itself.” In 1848, censorship allowed the publication of the book “China in the Civil and Moral State,” with which, as critics wrote, he finally explained the mystery of this great country.
Since January 1846, having begun systematization, “deciding to bring historical order and publish Chinese information about the ancients Central Asian peoples, N. Bichurin within 10 months finishes the manuscript “Collected information about the peoples who lived in Central Asia in ancient times” - “the fruit of more than 20 years of study.” On April 12, 1849, the Academy of Sciences awarded N. Ya. Bichurin the full Demidov Prize for her. While preparing the manuscript for publication, Iakinf Bichurin became seriously ill: “May, June and July were taken away from me by illness; the consequences of cholera, which struck me in the middle of June, were especially severe and dangerous.”
His closest friend, editor of the Moskovite magazine M.P. Pogodin, noted: “Father Iakinf is a true zealot of science: he not only reports information, tireless in his work, but also observes whether we use it as we should.”
Before last days Throughout his life, N. Ya. Bichurin did not break ties with his native Volga region. Almost all of his relatives belonged to the ecclesiastical department. At the end of December 1844, the priest of the Church of Archangel Michael from Yadrin, Kazan province, Andrian Vasilyevich Taliev, dared to write a simple-minded letter to Bichurin about his relationship with him: “...I will be the grandson of the late Vasily Prokofievich, priest Abashevo, from his daughter Maria Vasilyeva, who was married to a priest in the village of Yandashevo, Cheboksary district of Vasily Ivanov. Your relative, cousin Maria Vasilievna, my parent, is visiting me.” Their correspondence continued for several years and was interrupted, probably at the beginning of 1850 due to the scientist’s illness. A.V. Taliev and his relatives did not lose hope that “the most kind uncle living in St. Petersburg” would fulfill his promise: “I flatter myself with the hope of seeing you, because on a trip to your homeland or to Kazan you cannot pass by our city,” - he reported on January 22, 1849 from Yadrin. His fellow countryman, a researcher of the language and ethnography of the Chuvash people, Russian by nationality, V.P. Vishnevsky, whose father was distantly related to the scientist, also wrote to Bichurin. Personal meetings and correspondence with colleagues gave Bichurin a wealth of information about scientific life in Kazan, reminded of their native land.
The consequences of continuous mental training affected the health of N. Ya. Bichurin. Back in the mid-1840s, and in letters to M.P. Pogodin, he complained that “healers strongly advise giving up a sedentary life.” However, he did not change his established habits and, contrary to the advice of doctors and his advanced age, did not interrupt his scientific studies. So, on December 12, 1851, in a letter to M.P. Pogodin, he reports: “...I am not abandoning your magazine altogether, but from time to time I will deliver something, and as proof of this, I now ask you to accept two articles, more were not in any of the magazines; the first of them describes the initial entry of the Jesuits into Macao and Beijing, the second contains the correct genealogy of the House of Genghis Khan. If you approve, I will ask you to place them in your magazine, and send me five reprints and a copy as a souvenir.”
He remains interested in the history of the ancient peoples of Central and Central Asia, and intends to write a special article on the movement of Kalmyks from Dzungaria to Eastern Europe.
They were truly tragic recent months life of a great scientist. Already completely sick and helpless, being in a monastery hospital, he died surrounded by monks who, according to contemporaries, “did not love Father Iakinthos and also did not care about him at all.” In the memoirs of N. S. Moller, a terrifying picture of the dying days of Iakinthos is given.
Having visited the cell of Father Iakinthos a few weeks before his death, N. S. Moller saw in what inappropriate conditions the world-famous scientist was. The hard-hearted schema monks from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, deciding to hasten the death of N. Ya. Bichurin, stopped not only caring for the sick scientist, but also deprived him of food, citing the fact that “Father Iakinthos has already finished his earthly calculations, he has been unctioned, and heavenly food awaits him.” Coming to consciousness, the dying Iakinthos whispered: “They’re hurting me... they’re not feeding me... they forgot... I didn’t eat...”
In the memoirs about N. Ya. Bichurin, N. S. Shchukin described a case when a physically weakened, speechless patient was once visited by an official of the Asian Department, former member Beijing spiritual mission, and spoke to him in Chinese: “Suddenly the elder seemed to have recovered: his eyes sparkled, a smile appeared on his face, his tongue came to life - and, previously silent, he spoke continuously for half an hour in his favorite language.”
Death overtook the scientist-monk at five o’clock in the morning on May 11, 1853. In the obituary published in the newspaper “Northern Bee”, they will write about Iakinfa Bichurin: “He was buried in the cemetery church of the Nevsky Monastery; Beijing Archimandrite Gury performed the liturgy. Of his many acquaintances, only four people attended the funeral.” The office of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra did not consider it necessary to notify relatives and friends about Bichurin’s death.
Bichurin's ashes were interred in the old cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra; only a wooden cross without an inscription was installed on his grave. To perpetuate the memory of the great scientist, friends and admirers of his talent eventually erected a black marble obelisk on his grave, on which was engraved a simple inscription: “Iakinthos Bichurin. Genus. 1777 d. 1853 May 11th.” Between these inscriptions, along the monument, there is an epitaph written in Chinese: “A zealous worker and a loser, he shed light on the annals of history.” People's poet of Chuvashia P. Khuzangai called Bichurin the Pathfinder of the East.
Bichurin's scientific works have no equal in world sinology. Many of them saw the light of day and brought him not only recognition in Russia, but also European fame.
The memory of our fellow countryman, an outstanding scientist, is honored in his homeland. In Chuvashia, the State Prize named after N. Bichurin was established, awarded annually for the best Scientific research. In the village Bichurin a memorial plaque was installed in local school there is a museum. A street in Cheboksary is named after Bichurin.
Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin (1777–1853). Pathfinder of the East // Outstanding people of Chuvashia. – Cheboksary, 2002. – pp. 25–36.
Iakinf(Russian doref. Iakin; Chinese trad., ex., pinyin: Yqnt, pal.: Iatsinte; in the world Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin, whale ex. , pinyin: Bqiln, pal.: Biqulin; August 29 (September 9) 1777 - May 11 (23) 1853) - Archimandrite of the Russian Orthodox Church(in 1802-1823); orientalist and traveler, expert on the Chinese language, one of the founders of Russian sinology, the first Russian sinologist to gain European fame.
He came from the family of a rural priest, graduated from the Kazan Theological Academy, where he remained as a teacher. In 1808-1821 he was in Beijing, heading the Ninth Spiritual Mission. Due to his careless attitude towards missionary activity, he was subjected to the trial of the Holy Synod and in 1823-1826 was in exile on the island of Valaam. After his release, he was elected a corresponding member of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (from December 17, 1828), an honorary foreign member of the Paris Asian Society (from March 7, 1831). Three-time winner of the full Demidov Prize (1835, 1839 and 1849) and one half (1841). In 1819-1851 he published 14 books and about 100 articles about China and neighboring countries, considering it his responsibility to also popularize information about Far East; many works remained unpublished.
For the first time showed the importance of Chinese sources for the study world history and determined the development of Russian Sinology as a comprehensive discipline for many decades to come. He was also the first Russian sinologist who operated on a large scale with Chinese rather than Manchu sources; before him, no one in world sinology in such a large volume of Chinese historical sources didn't use it. His works are republished in the 21st century.
Origin. Childhood
The autobiographical note stated: “Father Iakinf Bichurin was born in the Kazan province in the Cheboksary district in the village of Bichurin in 1777 on August 29.” This information was used by almost all biographers of the 19th and 20th centuries and was not subjected to critical verification. Only in the 1960s did a study of the Chuvash archival funds begin, as a result it turned out that Nikita Bichurin was born in the village of Akulevo (now the village of Tipnery, in Chuvash - Tipner; not to be confused with the modern village of Akulevo, Chuvash name which Shemsher), where his father Yakov Danilov served as a deacon. By origin, Nikita was probably half or a quarter Chuvash, his mother was most likely Russian; it is assumed that his grandfather Danil Semyonov was from the Chuvash. Only in 1779 did the head of the family receive the priesthood and move to the village of Bichurin (“Pichurino” in the spelling of that time). No memories of my childhood and youth Bichurin did not leave, although his epistolary legacy indicates that he maintained contacts with relatives until old age.
Judging by archival data, Nikita spent his childhood in a harsh environment. In June 1777, the priest of the local parish, Prokopiy Stepanov, was killed by his own colleagues; the Bichurin parish was given to his son, Peter Prokopyev, who treated the Chuvash parishioners and members of the clergy very cruelly, which was described in a petition addressed to the Kazan spiritual consistory in 1791. On August 11, 1794, while drunk, he “beat to the point of blood” Bichurin’s mother, Akilina Stepanova, but only on April 4, 1796, the Consistory decided to ban him from ministry for 4 months and send him to the Cheboksary Trinity Monastery.
The parish of the Resurrection Church included 5 villages and was classified as low-income. Bichurin's father was engaged in peasant labor (“an exercise in agriculture, as if unusual for the rank”), but not very successfully, being in “a bad state due to drunkenness.” The head of the family got into debt; in 1796-1797, the Consistory demanded that he urgently repay the debt of 39 rubles. Pyotr Prokopyev and 75 rubles - the singer Savinovsky.
In 1785, Archbishop of Kazan Ambrose (Podobedov) issued a strict order to bring the children of the clergy to Kazan for enrollment in the Theological Seminary and to fine those who tried to exempt them from theological schools. Disobedience was punishable by “menial labor,” prohibition from serving, and the surrender of those guilty as soldiers. Holy Synod At the same time, he did not allow children of clergy to study in secular institutions instead of religious ones. Iakinf, in his autobiographical note, stated that in the same 1785, at the age of 8, he entered the Kazan Seminary, which was also not verified by researchers for a long time. However, already A. N. Bernshtam in biographical sketch In 1950 he wrote that Nikita began studying at the music singing school in Sviyazhsk, and from there he was transferred to the seminary. I. D. Murzaev established that the school of musical singing in the Sviyazhsky monastery was opened only in 1786; Nikita Bichurin as part of the family of Yakov Danilov was not mentioned in the spiritual paintings of the Resurrection Church from the same year. From this I.D. Murzaev and P.V. Denisov concluded that he began his education at the Sviyazhsk New Epiphany school.
(in monasticism - Iakinf) (August 29, 1777, Bichurin village, Kazan province - May 11, 1853, St. Petersburg) - outstanding Russian scientist, orientalist, traveler, writer.
N.Ya. Bichurin (Iakinf): encyclopedic reference
Born into a deacon's family. In 1786 (or 1787) he entered the Kazan Theological Seminary, and in 1799 he graduated from the Kazan Theological Academy. In 1800–1802 he was a grammar teacher at the same academy. In 1802 he became a monk and, with the rank of archimandrite, was appointed rector and first rector. In 1803 he was convicted of violating the monastery charter and was removed from the post of abbot. In the theological seminary he demanded discipline, which caused complaints and denunciations. By decree of the Holy Synod of January 29, 1806, he was deprived of the rank of archimandrite, removed from the post of rector with a ban on priestly service, and sent as a teacher of rhetoric to the Tobolsk Theological Seminary, where he worked for more than a year. In May 1807 he was appointed head of the Beijing spiritual mission and in July 1807 he left for Beijing.
After returning to his homeland in 1821, he was accused of disrupting the mission, negligence in missionary duties, was deprived of the rank of archimandrite for the second time in 1823 and was exiled for life to the Valaam Monastery as a simple monk. In 1826 he was returned to St. Petersburg to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra with the obligation to serve the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with translations. In 1828, for research on the history of Mongolia and China, he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1830, as part of an expedition, he was sent to Transbaikalia.
From March to May 1830 he was in - before leaving for Kyakhta for scientific studies, where he stayed for 18 months and began teaching Chinese. In February 1835, he was again seconded to Kyakhta for the position of teacher of the Chinese language at the school, which was officially opened. He wrote “Chinese Grammar” especially for the Kyakhta School and tutorial in Chinese. Returned to St. Petersburg in 1837.
Author of numerous scientific works and translations on the history of China, Mongolia, and others Asian peoples. In terms of erudition, the volume of issues he studied and the scale of Chinese sources used for research and translation, he was far ahead of his Western European contemporaries. He was sympathetic to the common people of China. Bichurin communicated with Pushkin, Odoevsky, Krylov, and maintained his acquaintance, begun in 1830, with the Bestuzhev brothers, Thorson and other Decembrists. Awarded three Demidov Prizes, member of the Asiatic Society in Paris.
He died in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The Scientific Library of Irkutsk University contains books with his autographs.
Essays
Baikal // Northern flowers for 1832. - St. Petersburg, 1832.
A collection of information about the peoples who lived in Central Asia in ancient times. - M.; L., 1950–1953. T. 1–3.
Notes about Mongolia. - St. Petersburg, 1828 T. 1–2.
Statistical description of the Chinese Empire. - St. Petersburg, 1842. - Parts 1–2.
Agriculture in China. - St. Petersburg, 1844.
China is in a civil and moral state. - St. Petersburg, 1848. Parts 1-4.
Historical review of the Oyorats and Kalmyks from the 15th century to the present. - St. Petersburg, 1834.
Basic translations
Description of Tibet in its current state. - St. Petersburg, 1828. - Parts 1–2.
Description of Zhangaria and Eastern Turkestan in its ancient and current state. - St. Petersburg, 1833 Parts 1–2.
Literature
- Tikhonov D. I. Russian sinologist first half of the 19th century V. Iakinf Bichurin // Scientist. zap. LSU. Ser. oriental sciences. - 1954. - No. 179. - Issue. 4.
- Bartold V. History of the study of the East in Europe and Russia. 2nd ed. - L., 1925.
- Simonovskaya L.V. Bichurin as a historian of China // Dokl. and messages ist. Faculty of Moscow State University. - 1948. - Issue. 7.
- Pogodin M. P. Biography of Iakinthos // Conversations in the Society of Russian Lovers. literature at Moscow. un-those. - 1871. - Issue. 3.
- Shchukin N. S. Iakinf Bichurin // Journal. Ministry of Public Education, 1857. Sept.
- Moller N. S. Iakinf Bichurin in the distant memories of his granddaughter // Russian antiquity. - 1888. - Book. 8-9.
Iakinf(Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin), archimandrite, famous sinologist, son of the sexton of the village of Bichurin, Kazan province, Cheboksary district, b. August 29, 1777, died May 11, 1853. He began his studies at the music singing school in Sviyazhsk; in 1785 he entered the seminary, and received his last name; here, with his abilities, he attracted the attention of the Kazan Eminence Ambrose (Podobedov), and in 1799, after completing the course, he took the position of grammar teacher in the same seminary, which had already been transformed into the Academy; in 1800 he took monastic vows and was made a teacher of higher eloquence. In 1802, with the rank of archimandrite, he was appointed to the Ascension Monastery in Irkutsk and at the same time received the position of rector of the seminary; but, always being too energetic, decisive character, here, with his severity and ardor, he created excitement among the seminarians and after that he was transferred to the Tobolsk Seminary as a teacher of rhetoric with a ban on performing sacred rites. In 1805, a new, ninth, spiritual mission was sent to China to replace the previous eighth for a ten-year period. Its leader, elected in St. Petersburg, Archimandrite Apollos, having reached Irkutsk, wished to stay in this city. Then the Holy Synod appointed Archimandrite Iakinthos as the head of the mission, who happily agreed to this appointment; he strove to countries unknown to him in order to study them. On July 18, 1807, the mission left Irkutsk. From the very first day after crossing the Russian border, Iakinf began a diary of his journey and collected information about the country and people, on the second day after arriving in Beijing (the mission reached Beijing on January 10, 1808) he began studying the Chinese language; he preferred this language to Mongolian and Manchu because the main literature for studying northeast Asia is Chinese. Archimandrite Iakinf studied Chinese theoretically and practically. Combining his extraordinary ability to learn languages and remarkable hard work, Father Iakinf mastered the Chinese language so much that he subsequently spoke it like the most educated Chinese. While in China, he began to compile a dictionary, which included 12,000 hieroglyphs, and made many translations into Russian from Chinese writings, historical and geographical; in addition, he became close friends with Catholic missionaries, who introduced him to the works of the Jesuits on the study of China. Translating many things from Chinese, he also translated into Chinese from Russian, the liturgy, a short sacred history and an exposition of the Orthodox faith. But soon Iakinthos and the entire mission found themselves in a critical situation. Money for the maintenance of the mission was usually sent for 5 years; but in 1812 the government was so busy fighting Napoleon that the money was not sent. To exist at the expense of the Chinese government, which allocated 855 rubles per year for the mission. 50 kopecks ser. with our money it was not possible; had to borrow money from Chinese moneylenders for high interest rates; finally it came to pawning church utensils; Under such circumstances, disturbances and various undesirable phenomena naturally arose in the lifestyle of the mission members. The mission was remembered when it was time to equip a new one to replace it; but this equipment also took a long time. The tenth mission arrived in Beijing on December 1, 1821, and only on May 15, 1822, Iakinf left Beijing with his mission, spending there instead of the required 10 years, 14 years and 4 months. Father Iakinf came to St. Petersburg with such a rich supply of information about the past and present of China, which members of previous missions did not have; he was ready to share this knowledge with everyone, as evidenced by the excellent essay on China by Timkovsky, who made extensive use of the erudition of Father Iakinthos; in addition, Iakinthos brought with him big meeting translations from Chinese, some completed, some just begun. But in St. Petersburg he was put on spiritual trial for disrupting the mission, was found guilty, deprived of the rank of archimandrite and exiled to imprisonment in the Valaam Monastery, where he remained in oblivion for about 4 years. There he found solace in work: he corrected previous works and finished those he had started. Baron P. L. Schilling von Kanstadt accidentally visited the Valaam Monastery and noticed a monk in one cell who was diligently writing something. The Baron became interested in him and, learning that it was Iakinthos, former boss Russian mission in China, began to bother about moving him to St. Petersburg. In 1826, Father Iakinf was appointed to serve in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a translator of the Chinese language and was placed to live in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. From this time began his tireless literary activity, which amazed not only Russians, but even foreigners. scientific world. Klaproth directly stated that Father Iakinthos alone did as much as only the whole could do. learned society. Indeed, he wrote about modern China in magazines, published books about this country, published translations of Chinese works, both about China itself and neighboring countries: about Mongolia, Dzungaria, Tibet. He is in in every sense words laid the foundation for our study of the Chinese Empire and its vassal lands, aroused public interest in the Far East, showed the importance of the richest Chinese literature for the study of Central Asia, and paved the way for the work of other sinologists. To this we must add that the works of Iacinthos are still almost not outdated and not a single researcher of the past of Central and North-East Asia can do without them. The mass of new information introduced into science by Father Iakinthos and his excellent knowledge of many issues completely compensate for the shortcomings from which his works are not free, which, moreover, were before to a certain extent common to everyone scientific works that time. Iacinthos was rightly accused of lack of criticism, of excessive credulity in the testimony of the Chinese, of little acquaintance with European literature; his commentary is often weak and sometimes completely incorrect. Apparently, he was aware of the justice of the reproaches addressed to him and, perhaps, therefore avoided controversy. Even more important are other shortcomings in the works of Father Iakinthos. He, as a result of his passion and misconception about the location of some peoples, compiled a Mongolian theory about the origin nomadic peoples Central Asia and saw the Mongols where there were none at all. The translations of Father Iakinthos, always done in excellent Russian, in many cases represent an abbreviation of the Chinese original, sometimes difficult passages are conveyed at random, without appropriate reservations, sometimes there are important omissions that obscure the connection of events. The most important work of Father Iakinthos, one of his last works, is not free from all these shortcomings: “Collected information about the peoples of Central Asia”; This work was compiled on behalf of the Academy of Sciences, according to its own program, and required 4 years of diligent study. The Academy of Sciences was generally very sympathetic to the works of Father Iacinthos, awarded outstanding prizes and elected him in 1828 as its corresponding member; in 1831 he was elected a member of the Parisian Asiatic Society. In 1829-1830. Iakinf, on behalf of the Asian Department, made a trip beyond Baikal together with Baron Schilling; in 1835 he was sent to Kyakhta to open and establish a Chinese language school there. Otel Iakinf lived to a respectable old age and worked tirelessly almost until his death; In addition to many articles, he owns the following works, published as separate books: “Answers to questions about China”; “Description of Tibet in its present state” - translated into French by Klaproth in abbreviation; "Notes on Mongolia", translated into French and German languages(1828); “Description of Zhungaria and Eastern Turkestan”, “San Tzu Jin or Three Words”; “Description of Beijing” - translated into French and German; “The History of the First Four Khans from the House of Chingisov” (1829); "History of Tibet and Huchenor" (1833); “Historical Review of the Oirats or Kalmyks” (1834); "Chinese Grammar" (1835); “China, its inhabitants, morals, customs, enlightenment” (1840); "Statistical Description of the Chinese Empire" (1842); "Agriculture in China" (1844); “China in its civil and moral state” (1848); “Collection of information about the peoples who lived in Central Asia in ancient times” (1851); His works remain in the manuscript: a dictionary of the Chinese language in the Russian alphabet, a small Chinese dictionary by subjects and translations: geographical description China in 18 volumes, history of China, abbreviation of the Mongol codes and several Chinese essays on Tibet. In 1830, upon returning to St. Petersburg, he submitted a petition to the Synod that he be allowed to resign from the monastic order, because he could not keep monastic vows. The Synod agreed to his request, but this decision was not approved by the Emperor.
Autobiographical note by Father Iakinthos in " Scientific notes"Academy of Sciences, III, 665-672; article by N. Shchukin in the Journal. Min. Nar. Enlightenment, part 95, 111-126; Adoratsky’s articles in “Orthodox. Interlocutor”, 1886, Nos. 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8; “Petersburg. Vedomosti", 1853, No. 130; Nikitenko, “Notes and Diary”, III, 37-38; article by H. Moller in Rus. Antiquity", 1888, August, 271-304, September, 525-500; "ABOUT. Iakinf Bichurin", Kaz., 1886; archive of the Holy Synod, files of 1802, No. 219, 1803, No. 183, 1809, No. 152 and 1831, No. 837.