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For a long time, I wanted to create a thread on Iakinf (Bichurin), but too much info and I'm lazy LOL. He's one of the most important China scholars in Russian history, heavily cited by most later historians including Turkologist and Eurasianist Lev Gumilev. https://twitter.com/CarlZha/status/1191577219463663616
Without his translations of Chinese manuscripts (including ancient) into Russian, we wouldn't have the knowledge we have about China in a Russian-speaking world. Also, he did distinguish East Turkestan as he called it, from Dzuungaria.
But the term popularized by him was indeed misused A LOT later on. By everybody. Gotta say "Chinese Turkestan" was in more use still in the late XIX century (by Russian travelers, merchants, geographers, military expeditions etc.)
The original aim of travel to Peking for Iakinf, an orthodox monk, was missionary service. It was reported after a while that some monks in Chinese mission were drinking a lot, the relationship between monks wasn't perfect.
Eventually missionaries stopped using their own clothes and adopted Chinese clothing, Bichurin concentrated more on Chinese language (a lot of which he learned on the streets) and Chinese history from the point of view of Chinese historians.
Iakinf later was described as someone who "looked, spoke and behaved like the Chinese" by the Russians upon his return to Russian Empire.
阿欽特
阿欽特
He familiarised with Portuguese catholic library in Peking, essentially European sinologist literature, but after 5 years came to conclusion the level of accuracy in historiography in these works was low. So he concentrated on translating directly from Chinese historians.
His first translations were of Zhu Xi's work and "Four Books" of Confucianism. Eventually he ended up translating 17 volumes of Zhu Xi's work. Also Bichurin gathered info on Catholic activities in Qing and made multiple friends among administration, scholars, merchants in Peking.
Upon returning to Russia in 1921, it was obvious missionary service was abandoned by Iakinf as a head of the mission, and he concentrated on sinology. He brought back the whole library with him, bit himself was sued and exiled to Solovki monastery.
Instead of Solovki though, he was exiled to Valaam (in Karelia) where he stayed for three years, although it was supposed to be for life. But Iakinf was eventually set free due to connections to Andrei Rumyantsev and Andreas Sjögren, big shots in politics and scientific community
Bichurin stayed an Orthodox monk but practically lead secular life after his release, becoming a scholar at Asian department of Ministry of Foreign affairs. He continued his work and published lots of works on China, also describing Tibet, Mongolia and East Turkestan (his term).
Most his works I read, Bichurin argues that from Xiongnu to Khitans and ancient Uyghurs (do not confuse with modern Islamic Uyghurs), it is one superethnic entity, the root population of South Siberia and Central Asia that has dominated the region for over a millenia.
His main work is about China and Mongolia, bit also includes "Description of Dzungaaria and Eastern Turkestan" compiled in Russian in 1829.
"Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan" (see link to the book cover scan above) is a later edition (1997) based on Bichurin's later book (1848) "Compilation of knowledge about peoples living in Central Asia in ancient times".
Nikita Bichurin aka Iakinf remains one of the most influential Russian language China historians, who have used many separate terms for Central Asia interchangeably. I want to pint out that imho his term East Turkestan was misused later both by the USSR and Turkic separatists.
