RUSSIAN ECCLESIASTICAL MISSION IN THE YEARS OF FLOURISHING OF ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA (1920s-1940S)

Abstract

The article focuses on the role of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in China in the period of substantial growth of Orthodox flock of Russian emigrants after the Russian revolution of 1917. Main attention is given to the role of the Orthodox Church as spiritual center of the Russian emigrant community. This research has led to the conclusion that the Orthodox Church has achieved big success in providing spiritual guidance to Russian emigrants and preserving their habitual forms of religious activity. At the same time Mission’s inattention to ecclesiastical work among the Chinese has led to considerable difficulties in development of Chinese Orthodoxy after the departure of Russian community from China in the late 1940s - early 1950s. Future development of the Orthodox Christianity in China demands strengthening mutual understanding between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Chinese state in context of positive development of relations between two states; it is also important to adapt the contents of the Orthodox teaching to demands of the Chinese audience and to create platforms for public discussion on religious and cultural problems in both countries.