This article is devoted to one of the founders of Russian oriental studies, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Honorary Member of the Asian Society in Paris and recipient of four Demidov Prizes – Nikita Bichurin. For almost two centuries his biography has been inspiring researchers, writers, artists and scriptwriters. In the early 19th century, by the will of fate this brilliant graduate of the Kazan Theological Academy, having taken monastic vows and assuming the name Jacinth, finds himself in the Siberian wilderness on the border with the mysterious China and decides to pay it a visit. After some years, his wish comes true and he spends 14 challenging years in Beijing as the head of the Russian Spiritual Mission. He returned to Russia bringing with him am enormous body of books, documents and drawings. The author acquaints the reader with some of these unique sources, giving credit to Bichurin the scholar for his skill of conveying the versatility and abundance of China’s material culture in his ethnographic drawings.
Key words: archimandrite, N.Y. Bichurin, Father Jacinth, sinologist, orientalist, China, the Russian Spiritual Mission in Beijing, A.S. Pushkin, the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
