Lorenz Lang mission to China in 1721... (based on materials from «Per diem note....»)

The article provides an overview of the Russian diplomat and statesman Lorenz Lang (Lange) mission to China. The historical source is the “Per diem note of the stay of Mr. Lorenz Lang, an agent of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, at the Chinese court in 1721”, published in several issues of the “Northern Archive”, as well as comments to it. It is defined that “Per diem note...” is an important source, which provides material on China history at the beginning of the 18th century, and also describes the features of one of the initial periods of the Russian-Chinese relations formation. As a result of the visit, the materials of Lorentz Lang, despite the depth of the issues they cover, turned out to be practically unclaimed by the wide strata of the 19th century Russian society, neither for scientific, nor for educational purposes. At the same time, the Russian population’s perception of the Middle Kingdom as an irrelevant, weak partner could be explained by its remoteness from the active center of Russia at the time.