The most significant event for investigations of the Bronze Age of the Heilongjiang province was the excavation of the Baijinbao settlement on the north bank of Songhua river. The tribes of Baijinbao barely had any agriculture, a fact confirmed by an extremely small number of agricultural tools found. Hunting and fishing played a significant role. Numerous fishing and hunting tools, such as harpoons, spears, arrow-heads, knives and scrapers were found. As a general rule, bronze items, such as knives, needles, axes, buttons, rings and earrings, were usually quite small. There are more than 400 vessels found, therefore ceramics was the basis for dividing the culture into four periods. The first period is an early phase, which is dated from the late Neolithic - to the early period of Shang. The most widely spread vessels are with a wide mouth and straight walls, they are common not only for Baijinbao, but also for all the other cultures of this period. In the first period, ceramics were poorly ornamented. Part of a collection was covered by drawn lines on the bottom. The only tripod (of the li type) was decorated with cord impressions in the form of horizontal stripes or a zigzag pattern on the rim. The second period belongs to the middle-late Bronze Age. In the second period, the most common pottery forms are wide pots, tripods with a high neck, wide dishes and bowls with handles. Vessels with signs on the bottom common in the first period, disappear. Nail prints are found both on the neck and along the body of vessels. Tripods on hollow legs wide spread in the Bronze Age first appear. There are two types of such tripods typical for Baijinbao culture: the first - with a narrow neck and bent body, which is the exact copy of B type vessels of Lower Xiajiadian culture in western Liaoning, and the second, with a broad rim decorated with clay pearls and a cylindrical body, which is the most typical form of Shang time on the territories of modern Hebei. Thus, there was an influence of two traditions concurrently in Baijinbao culture. The third period is a period of “classical” forms. It dates to the late Bronze Age - the period of Western Zhou. A complex geometric pattern typical for Baijinbao culture or the images of animals such as frogs, sheep and deer appear. The finds of typical pots ( guan ) in the Upper Xiajiadian culture in the southeast of Inner Mongolia indicate close contacts between these two regions in the early period of Western Zhou. The fourth period in scientific literature is called "Hanshu II", dated back to the Zhanguo period and is characterized by the decline of classical forms.

After decades of efforts by archaeologists, the general outline of the cultural exchange between South Siberia, Northern China and Xinjiang during the Bronze and early Iron Age has been clarified. There are several examples. A branch of the Europeoid population entered Xinjiang, leaving their archaeological relicts which held both some similarities to the Afanasievo culture, as well as some distinct differences. Sites of the Andronovo culture (Andronovo historical-cultural community) have been found both in the northern and the southern parts of Xinjiang, thus indicating several main routes of its penetration. Bronze items of Seima-Turbino and Karasuk appearance are wide spread in Northern China and the Central Plain (at Yinxu). The Xiajiadian upper layer culture spread in North-Eastern China (Dongbei) forms the common historical-cultural space with Slab-grave culture of Northern Mongolia and the Transbaikal region. Bronze weapons and ornaments, made in Scythian-Siberian animal style belonging to the Early Iron Age are also widespread in Xinjiang and Northern China. However, at the same time, a series of unsettled archeological issues are also gradually emerging. This article not only gives a brief summary of what has been achieved, but also puts forward our views regarding some problems. Around 2000 BC a European population of ethnic migrants came from the West to Xinjiang and left archaeological remains there, which are represented by early burials in the Сhemurchek cemetery. Andronovo culture monuments were widespread in western and central Xinjiang, and possibly further eastward, which may be reflected in relicts of cultures of the period prior to the Yin dynasty in northern China. From around 1300 BC, some ornamentations on pottery and bronze from Yinxu changed dramatically, and have great similarities with the cultures of the late Bronze Age in South Siberia and Kazakhstan. On the other hand, these factors were not found in Northern China, which shows there could be a population migration from South Siberia or northern Kazakhstan to the Central Plain in a short period of time. The fact that chariots suddenly appeared in Yinxu may be related to this. The curled animals and the shape of double and single birds on the Hongshan jades “in the form of a bent cloud” are very similar to the motifs of the Shang-Zhou culture and the art of the Scythians, their common origin shows that Northern China played an important role in the formation of the «Scythian-Siberian animal style».

Nowadays scientists can confidently divide petroglyphs by their style but only into big chronological periods. For example, in Siberia they are attributed to the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Scythian, Xiongnu or Ancient Turkic times. In China, Xu Cheng and Wei Zhong split Helan Mountains rock art into even longer time spans: “Phase 1 dating back to Pre-Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period; Phase 2 dating from Qin and Han Dynasties to the Southern and Northern Dynasties; Phase 3 dating from Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Western Xia and Yuan Dynasties”. More exact dating of each individual petroglyph within these phases however meets great difficulties. For example, Xu Cheng and Wei Zhong compare images of tigers with their bodies decorated with spirals from Daxifenggou (Daxifogou) with the likely decorated picture of a deer from Helankou, both sites in Helan Mountains. The latter they compare with the images of deer from the so-called “stag-stones” (“deer-stones”) in Mongolia and Siberia. Stag-stones are attributed by Chinese archaeologists to the XIII-VIII centuries B.C. due to the comparison of weapons depicted on these steles, with real bronze daggers and battle axes, found in China. Thus the Chinese researchers conclude that the images of tigers “belong to Shang and Zhou Dynasties or pre-Shang and Zhou Dynasties”. Xu Cheng and Wei Zhong give tiger images an estimated time span of no less than six centuries (XIII - VIII B.C.), not to mention that the age of stag-stones is a disputable problem itself, hotly debated in Soviet and Russian literature for at least four or five decades. The author states that to obtain the date of an individual petroglyph with the traditional method of analogies one must compare it with another picture, but not with the real thing - a weapon, an animal, a cart or something else. Any other approach is methodically incorrect and may lead (it does not mean that it has already led) to serious chronological errors. Of course, one of the compared pictures should have a narrower, if not an exact date. As for the Helan Mountains tigers with their opened jaws, big claws, bulgy eyes and bodies decorated with stripes and spirals, they have close analogies on a bronze mirror, found in burial No 1612 of Guo state cemetery in Shangcunling. The majority of graves from this cemetery date back to the end of IX - beginning of VIII centuries B.C., and are by no means later, than the year of 655 B.C., when Guo was annexed by the Jin state. A similar scene, such as the one on the Shangcunling mirror, is engraved on the stag-stone No 15 from Ushkijn-Uver in Mongolia. Thus, the mirror gives an exact date for the Helan Mountains tigers and links them more tightly with Mongolian stag-stones.

The article deals with bronze weapons of nomads (presumably from Mongolia) that were found at the Yuhuangmiao burial ground near Beijing. In the 1980-1990s, 400 tombs were excavated there, containing 18 thousand bronze objects including 86 daggers, 137 knives, 305 bronze and 481 bone arrowheads, 4 dagger-axes ( ge ), 38 celts and 31 "chisels". The Yuhuangmiao culture was formed with the participation of the “Xiajiadian upper layer” neighboring culture, as well as tribes from Mongolia and Transbaikalia. There was also a constant influence by the Yan state population. Among the weapons and military equipment there are some items alien to northern Chinese cultures which have obvious analogies at the VII-VI centuries BC sites in Mongolia, Tuva and Transbaikalia. The "northern" arrowheads, daggers with opposite facing bird heads on pommels and guards, specific knives, as well as belt clips and buckles-clasps that have analogies in Tuva and Transbaikalia were encountered in Yuhuangmiao only in the first three stages of the burial ground, mostly in the graves of the highest nobility (M18, M250) and in high rank military burials. During all this time (from the second part of VII to the first third of the VI century BC) representatives of the military elite maintained ties with northern tribes and traditionally used "northern" arrowheads and other items. As a result, a complex of dated weapons and military equipment brought by nomads from the territory of Mongolia and even more remote areas was accumulated at Yuihuangmiao burial ground over the span of 50-70 years. The mountain-steppe and steppe territory of Mongolia favorable for cattle breeding is rich in Bronze Age and Early Iron Age burial grounds and sacrificial sites. In the second half of the II millennium BC it was one of the nomadic culture centers with hereksurs, stag stones (deer stones) and slab-grave burials, that had acquired a Scythian-style appearance by the IX-VIII centuries BC. Undoubtedly, local tribes that were the link between the cattle-breeding cultures of North China and the Minusinsk Basin possessed a variety of weapons and ornaments. However, due to the funeral rite peculiarities in Mongolia of the XII-VI centuries BC there are almost no burials with rich inventory. Hence, archaeologists are forced to reconstruct Mongolian Late Bronze Age weaponry with the help of stag stones images, stray finds and materials from neighboring territories. The question of weapons of Mongolian nomads of the VII-VI centuries BC has not even been raised, since it was mainly represented by a few bronze arrowheads found in slab-grave burials with uncertain dating.

The article gives brief characteristics of planigraphy, constructive peculiarities and, to some extent, semantics of one of the most famous monuments of the Late Medieval epoch in China, namely, Shisanling, a funeral-memorial complex consisting of thirteen tombs of Ming emperors. The necropolis is situated in Changping, the suburb region of Beijing, 42 km from the city centre. Built according to all rules of so-called feng-shui (geomancy), its plan resembles the scheme of construction of the Ming Empire’s capital (Beijing). The tombs were isolated from the outer world with high walls around them, and by these means, the realm of corpses was fenced off from the realm of the living. These universal patterns were used in funeral practices of many Eurasian peoples, as well as round grave mounds enclosed into square (or rectangular) stone fences. It is quite possible that the structure of elite tombs was formed in Ancient China in close contact with neighboring peoples (most probably, they were nomads from the North, but could have also been peasants from the East). In favor of such a hypothesis one can look through several stone sculptures of fantastic beasts in the row of different creatures flanking the «spirit path». For example, «chimera» ( bixie ) the image of which was based on the pattern of the feline predator had originated from Iranian or Middle Eastern mythology. In a later period this image was absorbed by another species of «divine» animals, such as lions ( shizi ) and unicorns ( qilin and xiezhi ). Interaction between Chinese civilization and neighboring peoples was working like a «cultural pendulum», different cultures exchanged with each other. One of these thirteen tombs, Dingling of Emperor Shen-zong, was excavated in 1956-1958, but the results of the excavation were considered to be very unsuccessful. Though many gold ornaments, silk clothes and other precious things were found, a large part of them was lost because of poor restoration. As for scholars, Shisanling remains a very valuable historical source, representing the results of development of funeral architecture during the course of over 1000 years. Due to certain conservatism and high traditionalism of Chinese society, funeral and commemoration rituals retained many ancient features. Taking into account very rich historical records about this period, specialists have a rare opportunity to reconstruct customs and beliefs of the lost «barbarian» communities, to understand and estimate ancient and medieval «multi-culturalism».

The present papers discuss the authenticity and content of one of the most metaphorical Taoist text «Wu gen shu» («Rootless Tree») - a collection of 24 chants ascribed to immortal Taoist Zhang Sanfeng (14^th century). The text was included in several Taoist compendiums and became widely popular not only among Taoist adepts but also among connoisseurs, aristocrats and poets of the late Qing period. This research is based on several versions of «Wu gen shu» including two versions of outstanding Taoist masters Lu Yiming (1813), Li Hanxu (1840’s) as well as at the recently discovered (2014) stone carved version. All these versions are represented by the same main body text with slight variations in characters and by different order of paragraphs. All this gives the idea that the main text was set up no earlier than at the end of the 18^th - beginning of the 19^th centuries and existed in flexible form, so different chants could change their order according to local traditions. There are some controversies among Chinese traditional scholars about the understanding of the symbolic title of the «Rootless Tree». Li Hanxu argues that this is a symbol of qi (universal energy) that support the human body as an invisible root, while other commenters understood it as a vulnerability of the body without special practice. In spite of the fact that «Wu gen shu» was included in several collections of the Longmen («Dragon Gates») School of Taoism, it undoubtedly belongs to the syncretic Taoist-Buddhist tradition of the late Ming-beginning of the Qing dynasties. The texts could be divided into three main parts (chants 1-10, 11-18, 19-24) corresponding to the three levels of transformation (Earthly, Human and Heavenly immortality). This scripture being a manual for alchemic and sexual practice for sake of immortality seek to avoid ascetics in favor of enjoying wine, flowers, and carnal desires. Some other passages are closely connected to the Tiantai School of Buddhism looking to emptiness (shunyata) as the «ultimate form» (rupa) and vice versa. The text was addressed not only to initiated Taoist adepts but mostly to the amateurs of traditional symbolism and sacred poetry, so the symbol of the test should be interpreted as symbolic codes (golden toad and jade crow, crescent furnace). The laughter (chants 13, 20, 22) also plays an important role as a symbol of the gaining of the state of true immortality as well as an idea of the unattached wanderings and freedom of spiritual transformation.

The Chinese manuscript of the 10th century “Dispute of Tea and Wine” (“Cha jiu lun”) of scribe scholar Wang Fu, was discovered in the early 20th century in the Mogao cave complex near Dunhuang city of the Gansu province. It has long attracted the attention of many specialists, since the study of this manuscript fits into the context of complex studies of historical monuments along the routes of the Silk Road. The Mogao complex also known as the Dunhuang caves dunhuang shiku (or The Caves of the Thousand Buddhas qian fo dong ) has gained international fame not only because of its 4-14th centuries wall paintings and statues preserved in 492 caves, but also for its unique, in magnitude and value, collection of ancient manuscripts and xylographs in different languages, which has been named “Dunhuang’s Library” ( dunhuang zangjingdong ). The discovered monuments carrying secular and religious character provide important information which open up the opportunity to identify specifics of trade, political and cultural ties during the 4-14th centuries in Central Asia, as well as their influence on the ideology of the Middle Ages. The documents contain large amounts of information about history, geography, religion, economics, ethnography, linguistics, literature, art, science and technology of China and Central Asia’s “western states” from the time of the Northern Dynasties (386-581) to the Northern Song Dynasty (10-12 centuries). These documents also contain work of Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian philosophical thought. In the first decades of the 20th century after “Dunhuang’s Library” was discovered, thousands of manuscripts and Buddhist relics were taken away by researchers, which are now dispersed throughout museums and libraries of 14 countries and regions. The «Dispute of Tea and Wine» manuscript written in Chinese was among the manuscripts taken by famous French sinologist Paul Pelliot (1878-1945). “Dispute of Tea and Wine” is a small and quite witty text comprising of about one thousand hieroglyphs, built in the form of a dispute between the two sides about the role, functions and merits of each drink. The text contains a brief summary of this dispute, by a graceful third participant - water, which brings the disputants together. This work is written in a popular genre of Buddhist parables bianwen . Such educational stories served not only as a means of teaching and entertainment, but also reflected the everyday mass culture of the Tang era (618-907) and the period of the Five Dynasties (907-960). The text full of literary allusions and references to historical precedents is written using rhyme and elements of the elegant pairing style of rhythmic prose, which testifies to the erudition and artistic taste of the author. Currently, the manuscript of the work is known in six lists; four of which are stored in the Paul Pelliot Foundation in Bibliothèque National de France in Paris, and the other two in British Museum in London. The authors of this article translated the original list of works from Bibliothèque National de France (“Pelliot fonds chinois 2718”) with the help of the reconstructed text of the original, and is accompanied by the necessary historical and philological commentary.

This paper addresses the status of artists at the imperial court during the early Northern Song dynasty, from the second half of the X century to the middle of the XI century. The problem of the status of court artists illuminates the polarization of the artistic world of the Song. Connoisseurial texts of the late XI and XII centuries adopted the view of an artistic world polarized along lines of social status and profession. Although artists serving at court in the Department of Painting held nominal status as court officials, Song connoisseurs considered them as belonging to the ranks of professional painters, distinct from scholars and other officials who produced paintings. This classification continues to dominate contemporary scholarship. The origin of the social polarization, however, has not been fully explored. This paper explores the historical basis for the commonly accepted division of the artistic world of the Song into officials and professional artists. The author suggests that this division did not occur, as scholarship has often argued with the rise of the literati-painters in the second half of the XI century. Rather, the division took place over a much longer period of time. The court’s decision to limit the privileges available to the institutions that employed technical specialists (including artists) in the first half of the XI century played a key role in the decline of the status of court artists. The contextualization of court artists within the bureaucratic system of the Song government provides crucial insights into their status at court. The jishuguan , or court technical specialists did not belong to the main body of ranked officials, but could receive honorific titles, dignities, prestige titles and other forms of promotion. As Song sources demonstrate, some of the court artists serving during the reign of the first Song emperor Taizong (967-997) received many official privileges, including minor administrative posts in local government. However, as the bureaucratic system of the Song government grew and became more mature, the court tried to separate technical personnel from dedicated administrative officials. Imperial decrees and other historical sources demonstrate that both during and after the Zhenzong (998-1021) period, the court pursued a policy of limiting privileges enjoyed by the jishuguan . The growing distance between narrowly specialized court experts on the one hand and government officials on the other became one of the pre-conditions for the polarization of the artistic world along the axis of social status in the second part of the XI century.

In China, biography writing for many centuries has occupied a special position; a position shaped both by the forms and purposes of Chinese historical writing and by the fabric of Chinese society. The approach to biography found in the official dynastic histories, as well as in local histories compiled for individual districts of the empire had several distinctive characteristics. The ultimate purpose of a biography was to instruct officials in orthodoxy. The present article is part of academic research in which the author tries to investigate tendencies in historiographical tradition in China by means of the description of an eminent person in Qing history - Lin Zexu 林則徐 (1785-1850), who has been honored and remembered for his resolute opposition to the opium trade and stiff resistance to foreign incursions. The sources used depict genuine attempts to create Lin Zexu’s image as a dedicated official loyal to the Emperor. Later his image was developed to that of a national patriot (during the Kuomintang period of China). More recently PRC historians have portrayed him, on the one hand, as a patriot who struggled against the foreign invasion, and, on the other hand, as a clever official who attempted to make use of Western scientific achievements. Interest in Lin Zexu has been continuous until the present. Soon after his death, many writers produced works describing his life and activities. Certain historiographic conventions are evident in their descriptions. One of the major features of Chinese biographical writing is its tendency to stereotype its subjects. As a rule, such stereotyping is established in a more or less developed form in the writings of the subject’s contemporaries. In later literature, however, characterizations may be altered according to current political conditions and the views of individual authors. Lin Zexu’s early biographies were written in a strictly conventional style. One similarity is that they all are quite short. This comparative conciseness, however, may be a feature of Chinese biographical writing. The character of the subject is once and for all defined, and the common result is a retouched portrait of the completely idealized prominent statesman, presented as a flawless model. Written in such a manner, Qing biographies served as finales in the process of sanctification of the deceased ancestors, while also fulfilling a didactic function by encouraging future state officials to cultivate Confucian morale.

The article is devoted to the leadership of the Liaoning Province during the era of reform of openness. Chinese regions have considerable autonomy in the economic and administrative spheres. The author collected and analyzed the biographies of members of the VI Standing Committee of the Communist Party of the Liaoning Province. Provinkom (Provincial Party Committee was the supreme governing structure of the province. In 1985, the reform of the provincial committees was carried out, which began to rely not on the collegial, but on the sole principle of government. The leader of the Liaoning Province in this period was Quan Shuren, who gathered 12 like-minded people around him - deputies and members of the Standing Committee of the CCP. In fact, there was a whole group of reformers, who had a similar destiny and the same affirmations for reforms. Based on the traditions of management of Chinese regions, the effectiveness of the work was determined by successes in their previous work, as a rule, in the lower urban districts. An analysis of their biographies showed that in the second half of the 1980s, the composition of the Liaoning Provinkom included new people in politics, who, above all, were not “stained” by the cultural revolution. On the contrary, they were its victims. Therefore, the general beginning of the reformers was the desire to overcome the negative consequences of the cultural revolution. A significant part of the Standing Committee members were natives of the province or ones who had worked there for a long time and knew their region well. Most of them went from working to becoming factory directors, so they understood the processes of production. We can say that the VI convocation of the Standing Committee is a “board of directors of factories”. A similar situation developed for other spheres of the economy: reforming taking into account the experience of many years of practice. Reforms in the provinces coincided with the course of the central government, which provided them with additional success. The activities of the reformers were not limited to the territory of Liaoning, and many of them were appointed to senior positions in other provinces. The province had its own personnel reserve, which indicates a well thought-out management policy. The provincial leaders became “card donors” not only at provincial, but also at central level.

Scepter yazhangs are jade ceremonial blades that have been unearthed across China. During the Xia and Shang dynasties, they manifested as some of the most prestigious objects for the elite. After over two decades of collaborations among scholars, we have a comprehensive understanding of its dispersal: 1) In approximately 4,500 BP, yazhang first appeared in Dawenkou and Longshan sites in Shandong province; 2) In 4,000 BP, Shandong yazhangs had spread eastward into Shaanxi province through the Yellow River’ valley, eventually reaching southwestern region of Gansu province. In Shaanxi, yazhangs in the Shimao site developed into large blades with dragon-shaped flanges on the sides, which the longest jade blade reached 50 centimeter. The yazhangs of the Qijia culture in the early Bronze Age could possibly have been influenced by Shimao. This marked the first dispersal of yazhangs from the east to the west in the Yellow River basin; 3) In 3,700-3,600 BP, Erlitou in He-nan province was possibly the capital of the late Xia dynasty. Erlitou yazhangs found in the Erlitou elites’ burials became enormous in size, reflecting the influence by Shimao. As important royal regalia, yazhang reflected the presence of political system in this period. This signified the second dispersal of yazhangs in prehistory, where this jade culture dispersed from Shaanxi eastward to He-nan. Yazhangs unearthed in Shimao, Huadizui, and Erlitou are closely related; 4) A comprehensive characteristic analysis of the unearthed yazhangs in the regions of Yangtze River, the Pearl River, and the Hồng River in Vietnam indicate that Erlitou yazhangs developed southward about 3,500 to 3,000 BP. The culture dispersed through the Nanyang basin, reaching the Yangtze River, and separated into two directions: one path followed the Sichuan basin and reached the Hồng River Delta in Vietnam, the other path travelled southeast, reaching Hunan and Fujian, and arrived as far as Lamma Island at the Pearl River Delta in Hong Kong. The yazhang unearthed on Lamma Island, dated to the early Shang dynasty, is the only known jade blade unearthed on an island. This yazhang thus serves an important role in the discussion of coastal culture dispersal in early Shang period. This development marked the massive third yazhang dispersal, where the culture had reached South China and northern Southeast Asia at the beginning of Bronze Age.

The article considers the risks associated with the possibility of drug traffickers using routes of the New Silk Road (NSR). It is widely known that the Great Silk Road stretching from East Asia (China) to Europe has existed since II century BC. It played an important role in the development of economic and cultural ties between nations of the Near East, Middle Asia, the Caucasus and surrounding regions, promoting the spread of technologies and innovations of those times including art, religion and technology. The NSR project was initiated by China’s leadership. The “One Belt, One Road” initiative, announced by the leadership of the People's Republic of China at the end of 2013 allows to significantly expand their cooperation with neighboring countries through the construction of an extensive infrastructure network. Within this framework, Beijing is heavily investing into the construction of highways and railroads on the territories of states along the NSR, which subsequently entails the expansion of China's economic cooperation with these countries. In other words, highly favorable conditions are being created for the development of both central and western regions of the PRC and neighboring states. Over the past two decades, China and Central Asian countries have established strong economic ties, which contributes to their diversified development. The large volumes of oil and gas imports from the region is of decisive importance for the implementation of China’s “Economic belt of the NSR” project. At the same time, this mutually beneficial cooperation has certain risks, especially in the sphere of regional security. These risks are growing due to the continuing instability in neighboring Afghanistan and the expansion of the re-expansion of NATO's military presence in this region. The lack of security can adversely affect the significant economic and strategic interests of Beijing in Central Asia. Hence why China has expanded its participation in regional security, especially with countries bordering the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It should be noted that Central Asia serves as a link for active drug trafficking. Drug dealers transport heroin and opium from Afghanistan along the “Northern Route” (TajikistanTurkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan) to the final destinations in Europe and Russia. Drugs are also being brought into China and Iran. Central Asian law enforcement agencies have significant resources to deal with the issue of drugs, however the production and turnover of narcotic substances continue to remain high.

Confucius Classroom at Novosibirsk State University was officially founded in 2008, and Xinjiang University was appointed to be its Chinese partner. In the recent several years, from 2014 to 2017, under the wise leadership of CI Head-quarters Sino-Russia both sides have achieved remarkable results. There were constructed systematic mechanisms for high-level quality control for teaching process and permanent enlargement of educational scale. The main attention was paid to teaching of Chinese language for NSU students, as well as students of other Siberian universities and representatives of different strata of population. In order to support good quality of teaching the professional training for Chinese language teachers is organized twice per year (one - at the base of NSU, and another one - on the base of Xinjiang University). For preparing the cultural part of language teaching Confucius Classroom also conducts some special actions devoted to traditional festivals, classes on calligraphy, music, applied arts, lectures of Russian and foreign specialists in sinology. In the last years many scientific research projects were fulfilled within «Belt and Road» initiative. We can say, that such intensive activity of Confucius Classroom of Humanitarian Institute of NSU made it a wide-open window of Chinese language and culture for Siberian people.

The main aim of teaching Chinese as foreign language is to foster capability of social communication with Chinese native speakers. Through analyzing grammatical errors in the period of elementary Chinese studies, this paper expounds the micro skills for better teaching. The involved grammar points in this paper were taken from «New Practical Chinese Reader Textbook» (vol. 1 and 2) and «Conversational Chinese 301» (in two parts). The grammatical errors are mainly revealed in two aspects: function word and words’ order. We found that Russian students’ grammatical errors can be divided into four categories: omission， improper addition， over representation and words’ disorder. This paper presents some micro skills in teaching Chinese such as contrast method，simplification method, semantic and structure analysis, situational method etc. Language contrast has two categories, the first is contrast between Chinese and another languages, the second is contrast within Chinese language. It is quiet difficult to learn Chinese grammar at the beginning period. Thus, the teachers should use simple constructions to explain Chinese grammar for students more easy understanding. In practical teaching we often use phrase and sentence structure to study Chinese grammar. We put the grammar in some contextual language environment by adopting situational method, then students can transfer grammar into practical communicative capacity, combining with semantic pragmatic analysis. The teachers of Chinese should flexibly adopt various methods, instead of rigidly adhering to the textbook, to promote efficiency in the beginning period of Chinese grammar teaching.

Teaching of Chinese language started in Novosibirsk State University (NSU) in 1970, and today students take the course of Chinese as a first or second foreign language depending on the specialty they chosen at the Institute for Humanities. The Confucius Class project of NSU makes possible to invite Chinese and Russian experts in Chinese teaching methodology to introduce the results of their research to NSU teachers as well as to the colleague of other universities of Siberia. There were about 60 teachers of the nine cities took part in short teaching training course in January, 2018. The main lecturer, Taras Ivchenko, is a director of Confucius Institute at Russian State University for Humanities (Moscow) and one of the authors of «Xin Bian Hanyu Xin Mubiao» textbook for Russian-speaking students (Beijing, Educational Science Publishing House). The other lecturer, Vladimir Datsisheng is a historian from Siberian Federal University (Krasnoyarsk), who’s field of scientific research include such topics as Chinese studies and Chinese teaching history in Russia, Russian-Chinese relationships and so on.