On March 23-25, 2009, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted the 39th conference "Society and the State in China", which was attended by 73 specialists from various scientific and practical organizations in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Kazan and Voronezh, Latvia, as well as a scientist from China who is on an internship at Moscow State University, students of Chinese studies, in particular from the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Moscow State University. More than 40 reports were heard and discussed. The conference materials are published in the collection "XXXIX Scientific Conference" Society and the State in China "(Scientific Notes of the Department of China, Moscow: Ed. East. litry, 2009)".

In the thematic plan, the participants ' attention was drawn to the problems of ideology and culture, as well as the ancient and medieval history of China. Issues related to the current situation in the country, domestic and foreign policy of the People's Republic of China were also sufficiently reflected. To a lesser extent, the problems of modern and contemporary history, as well as the country's economy, were addressed.

V. G. Gelbras (ISAA MSU) in his speech spoke about the new development strategy of the country adopted at the next plenum of the CPC Central Committee, which can be described as a "catch-up development strategy" aimed at making the PRC one of the most advanced countries in the world in economic terms. The task is to establish economic cooperation between the city and the countryside in order to raise many backward agricultural regions to a modern level. However, such problems as the "aging" of the rural population, issues of registration and freedom of movement, "shadow" finances and operations with them remain unresolved. The measures taken by the authorities - issuing state loans to farmers, controlling employment, and others-have a positive effect.

V. P. Kurbatov (IB RAS) noted that China is currently in third place in the world (after the United States and Japan) by the scale of economic development. According to him, the PRC has the opportunity to soon come out on top in this regard, since the country has a positive balance in foreign trade, significant gold and foreign exchange funds and steady economic growth. At the same time, the life expectancy of the population is increasing, the number of people living below the poverty line is decreasing, and there are significant changes in the development of science and technology. This does not mean that there are no problems in the country: the demand for energy carriers is growing, and the natural environment is polluted in industrial areas.

F. Ovchinnikov (ISAA), in turn, drew attention to the fact that the country's economic development is uneven: despite the fact that the population's incomes are growing everywhere, earnings in different parts of the country are very different, especially the difference between the south and the north is great.

Y. M. Berger (IDV RAS) noted some problems in the financial and economic sphere of the PRC. In particular, banks are savings banks rather than investment banks. Domestic consumption is less than the export component. There are approximately 9 million jobs available in the country, and twice as many are needed for further progressive development. The global crisis dramatically reduces the demand for Chinese goods abroad. The Chinese live on their previous savings. Nevertheless, there is a possibility that China may emerge from the global crisis earlier than other developed countries.

In his report "China - Taiwan: Political Confrontation, or Stable Coexistence", Yu. V. Chudodeev examined the current situation in relations between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Taiwanese authorities. Beijing adheres to the concept of "One country, two systems". However, according to surveys, up to 80% of the population of Taiwan prefer to maintain the current situation, namely: Taiwan and China are two different Chinese states.

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The desire of the Taiwanese authorities to declare Taiwan and its surrounding islands a sovereign state continues unabated, and the PRC, in turn, threatens to take the most severe measures in this case. In this situation, the United States prefers to maintain the "status quo" in relations between China and Taiwan. The current leader of Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang Party, Ma Ying-jeou, has advocated further development of economic relations with mainland China, but political reunification is still rejected. So the solution of the "Taiwan issue" is likely to take a long time.

The topic of E. Y. Staburova's speech (Riga, P. Stradyn University) is China's relations with the European Union. She noted that the search for forms of cooperation between them was carried out for quite a long time. The summit that defined the format of cooperation was held in 1998. But the European side in the negotiation process approached the issue under consideration with its own system of values, which did not suit the Chinese partners in everything.

V. S. Kuznetsov (IDV) spoke about a certain negative continuity in the internal political situation in China, which was initiated by the Yihetuan uprising (1899-1901). It continued in the protracted civil wars of the first half of the twentieth century, and to some extent has not been overcome at the present time, as evidenced by the situation in Tibet and Xinjiang. The Chinese government is inclined to blame extremist circles in these regions for this, but, according to the speaker, the roots of this should be sought deeper.

The situation in Xinjiang was also touched upon in the report of O. V. Zotov (IB RAS). He noted that in the recently published "White Paper" of the Defense departments of the People's Republic of China, it is considered as the main danger in the domestic political situation in the country. The hope of solving this problem with the help of the international Shanghai Cooperation Organization was not fulfilled, and as a result, interest in the SCO in China has now somewhat decreased.

U. Berzina (Riga, P. Stradyn University) analyzed the vocabulary of official written documents - speeches of Chinese leaders, official statements, etc. This, in her opinion, makes it possible to better understand the ideas and positions of modern Chinese leadership circles about certain problems. Let's say what epithets accompany the mention of a particular country, what terminology is used in this or that case. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that some terms in China are traditionally understood differently than in other countries, in particular, in European countries.

A. L. Verchenko (IDV) drew attention to the negative consequences for economic and cultural construction in China of the withdrawal of Soviet specialists from China in 1960 during the aggravation of relations between the two countries. Using concrete examples, the report showed that the assistance of Soviet specialists from the PRC was very tangible and fruitful. Thus, more than 700 Soviet scientists from the USSR Academy of Sciences alone worked in the PRC.

Several reports were devoted to some issues of the new and recent history of China. N. L. Mamaeva (IDV) reviewed the positions of the USSR and the United States during China's anti-Japanese war. The USSR immediately declared its support for China, and the United States and Britain expressed their condemnation and protest against the actions of the Japanese. The USSR began to supply China with weapons and loans. But since the official Kuomintang leaders did not stop their attacks on the USSR even in this situation, lending was stopped. Both the USSR and the United States tried to mitigate the contradictions between the Kuomintang and the CCP, which remained extremely acute even in the context of joint efforts in the fight against an external enemy. But by the turn of 1944-1945, the opposite approaches of the USSR and the United States to the Chinese question as a whole began to be revealed.

Z. D. Katkova (Institute of International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences) spoke about the role played by the Chinese statesman and diplomat Gu Weijun in various international negotiations. In particular, he criticized some American projects of pre-and post-war settlement of international problems.

The report of A. N. Khokhlov (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) reported on the presence in Russian archives of documents about the campaign of Russian troops in Kuldzha at the end of the XIX century. At this time, Chinese Turkestan was in revolt, and Russia announced that in order to protect the interests of its subjects, it was forced to take control of part of Semirechye until the end of the unrest. The documents contain information about the desire of a significant part of the local Central Asian population to become part of the Russian state, rather than the Chinese one.

A number of reports were devoted to earlier pages of Chinese history.

M. E. Kuznetsova-Fetisova (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) spoke about the archaeological excavations in Yinxue, which proved the real existence of the ancient Chinese state of Shang-Yin. The ancient settlement was discovered in 1899, scientific excavations were conducted from 1928 to 1937, were interrupted for the duration of the war, then

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they were resumed and are still ongoing. A museum has been operating here since the late 1980s. Archaeological discoveries help to take a fresh look at the history of China as a whole.

A. K. Nagumanova (ISAA) highlighted the classification of divinatory inscriptions found in excavations in Yinxue. This classification is based on different types of inscriptions. Scientists distinguish five types of inscriptions on the shells of turtles and a special type-inscriptions on the bones of various animals. Carapace inscriptions are more diverse in subject matter than bone inscriptions, although there is a general similarity between both. Most of the carapaces and bones with inscriptions have no cracks, which suggests that they were not heated on fire in the process of divination, as was previously believed.

In the report of S. Kucheri (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences), it was noted that in ancient China great importance was attached to the ability to shoot a bow well. It was considered one of the obligatory " six arts "that a" perfect " person should learn. Both the emperor (Wang) and the nobility close to him participated in archery. At the same time, various ceremonial norms were observed that accompanied the shooting procedure. The origins of this phenomenon, according to the speaker, should be sought in the rite of sacrifice to various spirits and deities that existed in China in more ancient times. During the discussion of the report, there was a discussion about the role and nature of rituals in ancient China and in general in the history of the country.

D. Komarov (ISAA) drew the audience's attention to the fact that the inscriptions found on bronze vessels of the Western Zhou era (1027-771 BC) have a certain connection with the type, i.e. the purpose of this vessel. These vessels could be used for both ritual and domestic purposes. They can be divided into five main types. Most of the inscriptions on them are of a ritual nature, and they are somewhat similar to spells.

P. Khalturina (ISAA) traced the main stages of the political history of the ancient Chinese kingdom of Wei in the middle of the fifth and late third centuries BC. The first stage dates back to 424-371 BC and is characterized by repeated military campaigns against other Chinese kingdoms and active diplomatic activities. At this time, Wei was among the leading kingdoms in a politically fragmented China. The second stage covers 370-277 BC. e. and also involves many campaigns against neighbors, but the latter in the fight against Wei acted in concert, which helped to stabilize the situation in this state. The third period, 276-225 BC, is characterized by the increasing dependence of Wei on the Qin kingdom and ends with the fall of the Wei Kingdom.

E. O. Burtseva (ISAA) analyzed the ancient Chinese treatise of Ban Biao "Wang ming lun" ("On the command (of Heaven) to sovereigns") I century BC in terms of those standards that were prescribed from above to the Chinese emperor. The model of behavior for him was to serve as the actions of the mythical ruler Yao, who, according to legend, was distinguished both by belligerence and meekness. But some positive qualities, including physical ones, the ruler had to have initially, because otherwise the choice of Heaven would not have fallen on him. The Sky showed its favor to this or that candidate (or applicant) for the throne by various "signs" - extraordinary natural phenomena. During the discussion of the report, the issue of understanding the category of wu wei (non-actions) as applied to the management methods prescribed by tradition to "exemplary" sovereigns was raised.

V. V. Bashkeyev (ISAA) traced the evolution of relations between the holders of supreme power (emperors) and the highest officials in the II-I centuries BC. The speaker identified two periods: from 221 BC (i.e., the beginning of the dynasty) to 179 BC and, respectively, from 178 BC to The fall of the Han Dynasty in 8 A.D. The first period is characterized by the gradual development of a model of power in the highest echelon. The role of "first advisers" (chengxiang) is being strengthened, and their number is increasing. In the second period, there was an increase in the influence of the highest military circles on the government, in particular the main military commander - Sim, and some pushing back of the "first advisers".

F. S. Zhirov (ISAA) touched upon the same problem - the evolution of real power in the country, but at a later stage - in the era of the Three Kingdoms (220-280). The strengthening of the power of the rulers of the Kingdom of Wei occurred, according to the speaker, gradually. And then there is an activation of foreign policy and, accordingly, a strengthening of the position of the military circles.

In the report of S. V. Dmitriev (IB RAS), detailed information was given about the ancient city of Karakorum, the capital of the Mongol Empire, whose name comes from the nearby mountains and has a Turkic origin. Variants of the names of adjacent mountains and localities can serve as evidence of the presence of different tribes and nationalities in this area at different times. The Uyghur Khaganate was also formed here, which played a significant role in the history of Central Asia and the Far East.

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A. S. Kadyrbayev (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) analyzed the activities of the founder of the Mongol Yuan dynasty in China - Kublai Khan (1215-1294). After consolidating his power in China, the speaker noted, he acted with the help of numerous advisers from among the highest Chinese dignitaries. During his reign, much attention was paid to agriculture, the tax system was streamlined, military reform was carried out, and a kind of Hanlinyuan Academy was established, which trained qualified managerial personnel for the highest levels of the administrative apparatus. The capital of his multinational empire, Beijing (Khanbalik), was rebuilt and decorated. It is true that under his rule, the inhabitants of northern China were placed in a more favorable legal position than the rest; attempts to subdue Japan and the island of Java were unsuccessful, but, nevertheless, his activities in China can be evaluated positively.

A. A. Bokshchanin (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) noted the great interest that has recently been observed in China in the life and work of Chinese emperors, as evidenced by the appearance in the country of numerous and diverse publications on this topic. According to the speaker, the activity of the emperors to one degree or another reflected the essence of the country's domestic and foreign policy for more than two thousand years. At the same time, the character traits of the Chinese rulers and their individuality are of scientific and educational interest.

A. A. Smirnov (ISAA) expressed the opinion that the political history of traditional China has not yet been sufficiently studied and presented in the national scientific literature. As for traditional Chinese historiography, there is a certain ideological priority-an emphasis on the problems of acquiring, transferring and continuing to exercise power in the country.

Much attention was paid to the problems of Chinese ideology and culture.

A. A. Krushinsky (IDV) revealed the hexagram origins of the characteristic Chinese classical logical and methodological thought. According to the speaker, contradiction as a type of reasoning and alternative approaches is the dominant way of constructing a text in many works of ancient Chinese thinkers. However, this can be expressed in different ways. In ancient Chinese hexagrams, the text is associated with graphics, and there is a pair in the construction of hexagrams. Based on this, the speaker makes a conclusion about the compositional thoughtfulness of ancient Chinese classical texts.

T. P. Chibisov (Voronezh) considered the features of the construction of ancient Chinese texts and, in particular, tetragrams that reveal a certain periodicity in these texts. Like hexagrams, they indicate the presence of certain "periods" and "phases" in the construction of the presentation, which relate to time and its course. In other words, these texts can be considered multi-level.

The report of M. S. Tseluyko (ISAA) presented a structural analysis of the text of the ancient Chinese thinker Han Fei-tzu, whose treatise was defined by the speaker as a text of a "reasoning" nature. Here you can select different structural layers, and the text division is verified. The report sparked a discussion about the structure of ancient Chinese texts of an ideological nature in general.

To. Kozetinskaya (St. Petersburg State University) spoke about various approaches to the scientific analysis of the text of the ancient Chinese treatise "Gongsun Lun tzu", in particular about the variants of translation (and, accordingly, understanding) of the expression" zhi wu lun "found in the text (literally - "on the meaning, or meaning of things").

In the report of E. A. Kiya (St. Petersburg State University), an interpretation of the Buddhist concept of spadhyahi in the Chinese version was given. It was noted that there are several interpretations of it and, accordingly, translations. According to the speaker, the interpretation of the concept of spadhyahi as "nihilism" is incorrect. In this case, we mean the existence of all things in a "miraculous way", which comes from understanding the nature of the Buddha himself.

A. Y. Ionov (ISAA), based on the analysis of the Taoist terms qi and qi gong in the text of the treatise "Yuan qi", justified their translation as "to straighten the Path, improving your body".

E. A. Zakharova (St. Petersburg State University) re-translated the concept of "non-action" (wu wei) contained in the treatise "Xin yu" ("Night Speeches"), revealing its deep philosophical meaning.

S. Y. Rykov (Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences) spoke about the doctrine of knowledge preached by the followers of the Moist school of philosophy. According to this teaching, every thing has its own "idea". The task of the knower is to find a connection between a thing and an idea, which can only be achieved through the knower's ability to reason and put all things in the "right" categories.

Dmitry Khudyakov (ISAA) spoke about the spread of such religious teachings as Islam, Buddhism and Christianity in China. Buddhism was established here in the form of certain dogmas, Islam is spread mainly among national minorities, Christianity penetrated from the end of the XVIII century, although it was known to the Chinese from the VII-VIII centuries. Christian foreigners

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Over time, they began to receive leadership positions, and the emperor reacted positively to the translation of Christian canonical treatises into Chinese. In the mid-nineteenth century, Protestant missionaries completed the translation of the Bible and a number of other canonical Christian texts into Chinese. Currently, there are about 10 million Catholics and 4 million Protestants in China. The Orthodox Church did not actively seek to attract adherents among the Chinese. The report sparked a discussion among the conference participants about the technique of translating Chinese texts and, in particular, religious texts.

S. N. Bakonina (St. Tikhon's University) spoke about the spread and existence of Orthodoxy in Manchuria. This process was accompanied by internal contradictions among adherents (mainly the Russian population) and obstacles from the authorities. But back in 1922, an agreement was reached with the local authorities on this issue. Nevertheless, both the internal struggle among the clergy and the attacks of the authorities took place later.

A. A. Terekhov (St. Petersburg State University) noted the diversity inherent in the image of the dragon in the Chinese tradition. A dragon is a deity whose prototype was the totemic perception of a tree (as a generalized concept). From here, two outgrowths were depicted on the dragon's head, symbolizing trees. According to the most ancient cosmogonic ideas, the totem of the dragon, like the tree, was associated with the East. Later, the image of the dragon became associated with the rain deity and became a symbol of imperial power.

The report of M. A. Groza (St. Petersburg State University) highlighted such a little-known phenomenon in the history of Chinese ideology as the existence in China of temples in honor of demons located in the southern provinces of the country and on the island of Taiwan. Temples were built near the graves of suicides or near "bad" and dangerous places. Assessing this fact, it is difficult to say whether it was a reflection of some popular beliefs, or the activity of some marginal groups.

V. C. Golovachev (Institute of Internal Affairs of the Russian Academy of Sciences) spoke about the custom of matrisuicide, i.e. suicide of the mother in certain circumstances, which existed in the Northern Wei state created in 386. This phenomenon was introduced to China from the outside and did not spread in subsequent times, its roots should be sought in the beliefs that existed among China's northern neighbors.

As A. Vorobyova (Moscow) showed in her speech, traditional principles can also be traced in the history of the women's movement in China from the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. It becomes most noticeable after the "May 4 Movement" of 1919-mass demonstrations for the implementation of democratic reforms in the country. The contradictions between tradition and new phenomena were quite clearly reflected in the fiction of the 20s of the last century.

I. P. Karezina (St. Thomas Association) highlighted the scientific work of a Russian-born missionary in China, Gallerstein (1703-1774). He arrived in China in 1739 and served in Beijing in the Astronomical Chamber, eventually becoming its head and remaining in this position for almost 30 years. He introduced the Chinese to European knowledge of astronomy and other sciences, taught them how to make modern astronomical instruments and use them.

In order to compare Chinese and Japanese cultural traditions, A. B. Lisovik (St. Petersburg State University) presented a report on traditional Japanese rituals in their cultural and religious aspects. In particular, it was noted that in Japan, in everyday life, people who do not consider themselves religious visit temples, celebrate religious holidays according to the accepted tradition - decorate their homes according to the norms prescribed by religion, prepare appropriate dishes, etc.

D. E. Martynov (Kazan State University) gave an assessment of the works of Western European and American sinologists on the activities of the famous Chinese reformer of the late XIX century. Kang Yuwei. It was noted that in 1987 a collection of his works containing 307 works was published in the People's Republic of China. Kang Yuwei's activities and literary legacy are widely covered in the works of Western sinologists, but most of them are more descriptive in nature (with the exception of the works of L. Yuwei). Fister). The works of the Russian academician S. L. Tikhvinsky on the life and work of Kang Yuwei and the reform movement in China look very advantageous against this background and are a significant contribution to the study of this issue.

A. M. Kobzev (IB RAS) in his report emphasized the difference that exists between the concept of "sinology "(Sinology) in foreign countries in relation to China and in China itself. Outside of China, it is "studying China"; in China, it is "studying the country" (Guo xue, han xue). The scientific approach to the study of one's own history has been outlined since the third century BC and is reflected, in particular, in the encyclopedic work "Lu shi Chun qiu". A certain historicism can also be found in ancient Chinese ideological and philosophical classical treatises, not to mention various chronicle works that appeared at the same time.

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Comparatively less attention was paid to Chinese literature and art than at previous conferences. E. A. Sinetskaya (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) noticed socio-psychological changes in the moods of a part of Chinese modern youth on the example of Zhou Weihui's book "Baby from Shanghai".

M. A. Neglinskaya (Institute of Fine Arts of the Russian Academy of Sciences) introduced the audience to the current trend in Chinese art - a clear turn towards the West. The beginning of this process can be traced back to the turn of the 70s-80s of the last century. Since the second half of the 80s, abstractionism (Sinicized) has been gaining more and more interest, "political" pop art, erotic elements have appeared along with new art studios, the revival of exhibition activities, various kinds of biennales, etc.

T. N. Vinogradova (Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg) spoke about a Chinese illustrated book. Illustrations and engravings are found in books from the 9th century. Initially, the illustrations were grouped together at the beginning of the book, and then, around the thirteenth century, illustrated sutras appeared, with a picture at the top of the page and the text of the book below it. Later, illustrations begin to be integrated into the text of book scrolls organically, accompanying the text.

Summing up the results of the conference, we can say that, as before, it aroused a certain interest among scholars of Sinology and Orientalism in a broader sense, allowed us to exchange views on various problems of history, ideology and culture in its historical past and in recent times, continuing the already established and existing tradition.

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