Item Tag: 147 Pages

In view of the present conflicts between China and Russia, a reexamination of the past Sino-Russian relations, particularly those in the seventeenth century upon which no extensive study has been made, is of great importance. This treatise intends to fill this need by presenting a concise and systematic account of Sino-Russian relations in the seventeenth century. The treatment of the subject emphasizes the power relationship between the two empires in terms of their geographical conditions, historical backgrounds, social settings, political leadership and other internal and external factors. The chapter on “Geographical and Historical Descriptions of Northern Asia” stresses some influential elements in the earlier political developments there. The chapters on “Expansions of Russia and China in Northern Asia” and “The Role of the Mongols in Sino-Russian Relations” explains the triangular relationship of conflict and cooperation among the Russians the Mongol and the Chinese. These three chapters lay down the general background for later developments in the treatise. Then follow three chapters dealing with Russia’s attempts to establish diplomatic relations with China while at the same time to colonize the Amur region. After that comes the climax of Sino-Russian confrontation in the Seventeenth century, the Sino-Russian War on the Amur and the treaty of Nerchinsk which are emphatically treated in two separate chapters. The study terminates with a discussion of the resulting Sino-Russian commercial and cultural relations. These were the goals which had prompted the Russians in their eastward activities toward China.