Correspondence between N. Ya. Bichurin and Korean Envoys in Beijing

The article is devoted to the analysis of N. Ya. Bichurin’s early correspondence with Korean envoys in Beijing based on materials from the collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Letters of the first quarter of the 19th century from representatives of the missions of the two countries are not found in modern published collections of documents. The purpose of this article is to analyze the content of the letters, to describe the relationship between the members of the missions, to determine the historical value of the early correspondence for the study of Sino-Russian-Korean relations on the eve of the new era, and to introduce the letters into scientific circulation. The content of the letters shows a deep mutual interest and the desire of both sides to gain valuable knowledge in various spheres. The novelty of the study becomes the fact that these manuscript materials, closely related to the great Russian sinologist N. Ya. Bichurin, have not been studied and published before. The relevance of the study is caused by the growing scientific interest in new manuscript materials on the history of Russian sinology and Russian-Korean relations.