Correspondence of Archimandrite Palladius (Kafarov) with E. K. Byutsov

Abstract

The article contains the correspondence of participant XII (1840-1849), head XIII (1849-1859) and XV (1865-1878) of Russian Ecclesiastical Missions in Beijing (REM), the greatest Russian orientalist, Archimandrite Palladius (Kafarov) (1817-1878) to the head of the Russian Diplomatic Mission in China, Evgeny Karlovich Byutsov (1837-1904). The original letters were found by the author in the State Archive of the Russian Federation (Moscow) in the Byutsov collection. The analyzed letters were written in Beijing from June 30 to December 3, 1877, during the period when Archimandrite Palladius (Kafarov) was the head of the XV Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, and Yevgeny Byutsov led the Russian diplomatic mission in China. The study of documents that were not yet introduced into scientific circulation aims to fill in the gaps in the study of the activities of the XV Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Beijing and its contacts with the Russian Diplomatic Mission in China. The letters provide rich material on the relationship between the two leaders of the most important Russian authorities, officially operating in the Chinese capital after the Second Opium War. The letters contain numerous details about the everyday aspects of the life of XV REM, including many references to earlier unknown difficulties encountered by the chief of the XV REM with its employees. Archimandrite Palladius pays much attention to the description of the restructuring of the Northern Metochion of the REM, which began during this period.