Date and Features of the Appearance of the Orthodox Monastery in Shanghai: Controversial Issues of the Orthodox History of the City in the Second Quarter of the 20th Century

Based on the analysis of available publications and archival sources, the article focuses on one of the currently controversial issues from the history of the Orthodox Church in Shanghai — the date and circumstances of the appearance of an Orthodox monastery in the city. It is noted that, despite the apparent presence of scientific and popular scientific publications on the problems of research, there is no unambiguous answer to the questions posed. The bulk of the authors are inclined to believe that the monastery appeared in the city by transferring from Harbin the Vladimir Mother of God convent. However, when it happened and how, it is not completely clear today. The article provides data from different authors, focuses on the fact that information is often repeated. At the same time, neither the history of the appearance of the monastery in Shanghai nor the peculiarities of its existence in the future found serious analysis. The author considers as a possible reason the absence of a significant number of sources, as well as the brevity of the information available in them. Attention is focused on the importance of searching for currently unknown documents, which implies serious work with archival repositories.