Problems of the Russian Oriental Studies formation in Harbin reflected by Chinese Eastern Railway periodicals

The purpose of the study is to examine the problems of the development of oriental studies in Harbin at the initial stage of the city's history. The choice of the topic is due to the lack of knowledge of the issue and the need to introduce new historical sources into scientific circulation, primarily materials from the Harbin press. Harbin developed as a Russian city in China, so it faced problems of oriental studies education typical for Russia, but began to solve them faster and more persistently due to their greater relevance. An additional factor in the accelerated development of oriental studies here was the arrival of graduates of the Vladivostok Oriental Institute to the Chinese Eastern Railway. Already in the first decade of its history, the Russian city of Harbin became one of the centers of Russian oriental studies. Despite the inertia of the culture, the years of wars and revolution, the limited financial and human resources, already in the first years of the 20th century various courses of the Chinese language appeared in Harbin, the first scientific researches with an oriental focus were written and published. In 1906-1909 secondary educational institutions with compulsory study of the Chinese language appeared in this city, two scientific and public organizations of the oriental direction were created and a full-fledged oriental scientific journal began to be published regularly. The active social and scientific oriental life of Harbin was reflected in the publications of local newspapers. The foundation of Harbin oriental studies became a young cohort of graduates of the Vladivostok Oriental Institute, and Harbin itself turned into a new regional center of Russian oriental studies.