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Excerpt from Russian Missions Into the Interior of Asia Russia appears, by its geographical position, to be, of all the states of the Continent, that which is the best calculated to serve as an entrepot for Europe and Asia. On the one hand, rivers and canals unite the Baltic with the Caspian Sea; and make Nischnei-Novogorod and Astrachan great markets, where commerce would become of great importance, if its safety were insured on the roads which it is obliged to follow; on the other hand, the ports of the Black Sea are open to the mercantile fleets which trade to the Levant. Yet, notwithstanding the advantages of this position, it has hitherto been impossible to surmount all the obstacles to the progress of commerce, arising from the unsocial character of the Asiatic tribes, bordering upon Russia. The difference in manners, religion, and civilization, between the Europeans and the Orientals, or the consequences of a distrustful and suspicious policy, have caused the people of Asia to remain in a state of separation, which, while it gives them security, leaves commerce without a sufficient guarantee, to enable it to follow a regular course. Caravans have long been accustomed to go from Bucharia to Orenburg and Astrachan, and this last town has a commercial intercourse with the Turcomans; but the routes which these caravans take, pass across Steppes infested by the invasions of the Kirghis; and the expeditions from Manghichlak to Astrachan are neither constant nor regular. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

"This book is the first analytical treatment in any language of the “most durable ‘sino–foreign’ institution in modern Chinese history.” It traces the beginnings of a Russian-Orthodox presence in Peking several decades back before the commonly held date of its origin. It also shows how the news of the plight of prisoners from the Russian fortress of Albazin (taken by the Ch’ing in 1685) was transmitted back to Russia, and how the indecisiveness of the official Russian response colored the entire subsequent history of the mission. The chapters on the Orthodox missionary life in Peking and on the institutions of the mission provide us with new insight into life in the Ch’ing capital. The tentative beginnings of Russian scholarly and scientific interest in Chinese matters, an outgrowth of the missionary presence in Peking, are also discussed. The book tackles an especially difficult case, for by ordinary standards the Russian ecclesiastical mission was a failure, not a success. The monks and students were an unruly lot, the mission itself never functioned as a full diplomatic institution, and the Chinese frequently treated the missionaries with neglect or disdain. Yet, as the author demonstrates, even this apparent failure had a purpose. The mission served to maintain a minimal contact between the two empires throughout a long period of conflicting ambitions and actions in the Inner Asian theater."