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UID:443@harvard-yenching.org
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260429T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260429T130000
DTSTAMP:20260407T221249Z
URL:https://www.harvard-yenching.org/events/the-tugur-river-expedition-168
 4-and-the-origins-of-the-russian-bannermen/
SUMMARY:The Tugur River Expedition (1684) and the Origins of the Russian Ba
 nnermen
DESCRIPTION:The Russian Bannermen were a distinctive group within the Qing 
 dynasty’s Eight Banners system. They are commonly believed to have origi
 nated mainly from Albazin (Ma. yaksa\, Ru. Албазин)\, the largest R
 ussian fortress in the Amur River basin in the seventeenth century. Russia
 ns referred to them as Albazinians (Ru. Албазинцы). According to 
 the popular opinion\, Qing forces captured Albazin in 1685\, and Russian p
 risoners brought the icon of Albazin to Beijing. The Kangxi Emperor incorp
 orated them into the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Manchus\, where they be
 came the core of the Russian Company (Ma. oros niru\, Ch. 俄羅斯佐領)
 . In Beijing\, the Albazinians built an Orthodox church known as the Bei G
 uan (Ch. 北館\, Ru. Бэй-Гуань). The Qing court respected their f
 aith and permitted the Peter Great to send regular ecclesiastical missions
  to Beijing. Then it was Albazinians who introduced Orthodoxy into China. 
 There is now a broad scholarly consensus to refer to the Russian Bannermen
  as Albazinians.\n\nHowever\, the term Albazinians doesn’t fully explain
  the origins of the Russian Bannermen. According to surviving Manchu and a
 ncient Russian language archives\, the majority of prisoners taken in the 
 1685 campaign were sent to Mukden (Shenyang) and dispersed among the New M
 anchu companies. The largest group of Russian Bannermen in fact consisted 
 of captives taken during the Qing expedition to the Tugur River (Ma. tuhur
 u bira\, Ru. Р. Тугур) in 1684. Drawing on both archives and maps\, 
 I reconstructed the overall course of the expedition. In the summer of 168
 4\, a Qing’s expeditionary force equipped with artillery sailed down the
  Amur River and entered its major branch\, the Henggun (Ma. henggun bira\,
  Ru. Р. Амугун). They then proceeded into a further branch\, the Ni
 melen (Ma. imile bira\, Ru. Р. Нимелен)\, crossed the Magu ridge (
 Ma. niyengniyeri enduringge alin\, Ru. хребет Магу)\, and surrou
 nded the Cossack settlement named Tugursk (Ru. Тугурск) along the T
 ugur River. About fifty Cossacks surrendered—forming the largest group o
 f Russian prisoners captured by the Qing. These men belonged to the Yakuts
 k military district rather than the Albazin. They were sent to Beijing and
  became the backbone of the Russian company.\n\nBecause neither Chinese no
 r Russian chronicles meticulously recorded this episode\, it remained unkn
 own for over two centuries. The well-known term Albazinians therefore cann
 ot encompass the full origins of the Russian Bannermen. This case highligh
 ts the importance of Manchu and ancient Russian archives in the study of E
 ast Asian history and also substantiates Qing sovereignty over the lower A
 mur in the 17th century. Artificial intelligence has played a significant 
 role in assisting the author in reading ancient Russian archival materials
 \, and it is foreseeable that AI will become an increasingly important too
 l in the study of premodern sources in the coming years.
CATEGORIES:Visiting Scholar Talks
LOCATION:Common Room (#136)\, 2 Divinity Avenue\, Cambridge\, MA\, United S
 tates
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 ge\, MA\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Common Room (#136):geo:
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