Students as part of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Beijing in the first half of the XIX century: diversity in unity

The Russian Orthodox Mission in Beijing existed from 1713 to 1955. Its structure changed every 10 years until the beginning of the XIX century. The article is devoted to the consideration of students as one of the groups in the Russian Orthodox Mission. The government included leaners, and later students, to the mission regularly from 1727 to 1864. The article analyzes the financial and career aspects of this group, as well as the variety of student’s functions. The author examined the interaction between the students and the various scientific organizations in Russia. Besides it, the author raised the question about the officials attentions to the students as not only an important element in the system of studying China, but also as a tool that strengthens Russia’s influence in the Far East. The students was an important part of the Russian Orthodox mission for the process of studying China and establishing positive interstate relations. The article uses data from the Russian State Historical Archive, the St. Petersburg branch of the Archive of the Academy of Sciences and the Russian National Library.