Images of China in the heritage of E.E. Ukhtomsky

The article analyzes what was created in the works of a prominent public figure in Russia at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, close associate of Tsar Nicholas II, Prince E.E. Ukhtomsky’s image of China. The Qing Empire in Ukhtomsky’s views seems dual: on the one hand, it is experiencing stagnation, is in a state of economic backwardness, poverty, and is experiencing colonial oppression, and on the other hand, the author admires the exotic culture of China, its centuries-old achievements, internal power and spiritual wealth. Ukhtomsky’s field of vision includes everyday life, cuisine, art, religion, and traditions of the Chinese people. The image of the Celestial Empire, presented by the prince based on the results of his trips to the East, corresponded to the concept of Orientalism, which was topical at the end of the 19th century and which asserted both the kinship of Russian and Asian peoples and the superiority of Russia over the countries of the East, in connection with which it was assigned a special mission in relation to them, consisting in mediation between Europe and Asia. Designed by E.E. Ukhtomsky’s image of China reflects the events that took place in the social thought of Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries search for national identity.