Russian historiography of XIX - the beginnings of XX centuries on the formation of the Russian-Chinese boundary: the main trends

In the article we carry out the analysis of published materials concerning the history of formation the Russian-Chinese boundary up to the beginning of the XX century. We distinguish the main trends that characterize the features of research of that period: the need of historical domination of Russia in Asia and the dislocation of the state border. The article also describes specificity of borderline as a complex of questions concerning boundary space.