Professor N. A. Samoylov on the formation of Peter the Great’s image in China as a symbol of change

The article analyzes a number of scientific articles by Nikolay A. Samoylov, an outstanding professor at the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Saint Petersburg State University, on the formation of Peter the Great’s image in China as a symbol of successful reforms. Professor Samoylov studied the history of the appearance of Russian Emperor’s image in China and identified some reasons for using his image and the reforms he carried out to ideologically justify the need for change in the Qing Empire in the late XIX century. The main objective of the article is to study Samoylov’s research into the contribution of Peter the Great to the socio-cultural interaction of Russia with China and assessments of the Emperor’s personality and his transformations in the writings of Chinese authors of the XIX century using the historical and comparative method. Professor Samoylov concludes that in the eighteenth-century China a rather appealing image of the Russian Emperor began to take shape – the image of the leader who strengthened the state and created a powerful army. Moreover, the transformations carried out by Peter the Great in Russia became a role model for Chinese reformers during the reform movement in 1895–1898.