Fyodor Isakovich Baykov (russian: Фёдор Исакович Байков, c. 1612 – c. 1663) was the first
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n envoy to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(1658). For background see
History of Sino-Russian relations
Prior to the 17th century China and Russia were on opposite ends of Siberia, which was populated by independent nomads. By about 1640 Siberian River Routes, Russian settlers had traversed most of Siberia and founded settlements in the Amur River ...
. Like many later Russian ambassadors to China (
Nicolae Milescu
Nikolai Spathari (russian: Николай Гаврилович Спафарий, Nikolai Gavrilovich Spathari; 1636–1708), also known as Nicolae Milescu and Nicolae Milescu Spătaru (, first name also ''Neculai'', signing in Latin as Nicolaus ...
,
Sava Vladislavich
Count Sava Lukich Vladislavich-Raguzinsky (russian: Са́вва Луки́ч Рагузи́нский-Владиславич; sr, Сава Владиславић Рагузински, ''Sava Vladislavić Raguzinski''; 16 January 1669 – 17 June ...
) he left a detailed account of his journey.
In 1654
Tsar Alexis
Aleksey Mikhaylovich ( rus, Алексе́й Миха́йлович, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ; – ) was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars ...
sent Baykov to the court of the
Shunzhi Emperor
The Shunzhi Emperor (15 March 1638 – 5 February 1661) was the second Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty of China, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1644 to 1661. A Deliberative Council of Prince ...
to negotiate a treaty establishing regular trade between
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. (The first Russian to reach Peking was probably
Ivan Petlin
Ivan Petlin (russian: Иван Петлин; 17th-century diminutive form, russian: Ивашко Петлин, Ivashko (Evashko) Petlin), a Siberian Cossack, was the first Russian to have reached China on an official mission (1618-1619). His exped ...
in 1618, but he was not properly an ambassador.)
At this time the Manchu
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
had just been established and Russian adventurers had just entered the
Amur River
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
valley from the north, but the Manchus apparently did not understand that these barbarians from beyond Mongolia were the same as those who were
raiding their northern frontier. The Russians of course knew the connection, but gave Baykov no instructions for dealing with the Amur problem. He was, however, instructed to make obeisance to no one but the emperor himself.
Before leaving Tobolsk, he sent
Setkul Ablin ahead as messenger. Ablin reached Peking in late 1655, sold his trade goods and returned in the spring of 1656, passing, but not meeting, Baykov's party.
After a long stay at
Tobolsk
Tobolsk (russian: Тобо́льск) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Founded in 1590, Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia, and i ...
, Baykov's mission set out in June
[ or autumn of 1654. He traveled up the ]Irtysh River
The Irtysh ( otk, 𐰼𐱅𐰾:𐰇𐰏𐰕𐰏, Ertis ügüzüg, mn, Эрчис мөрөн, ''Erchis mörön'', "erchleh", "twirl"; russian: Иртыш; kk, Ертіс, Ertis, ; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: ''É'ěrqísī hé'', Xiao'erj ...
across Dzungaria
Dzungaria (; from the Mongolian language, Mongolian words , meaning 'left hand') is a geographical subregion in Northwest China that corresponds to the northern half of Xinjiang. It is thus also known as Beijiang, which means "Northern Xinjiang" ...
and the Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world.
Geography
The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...
. In 1655 they reached Kalgan
Zhangjiakou (; ; ) also known as Kalgan and by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province in Northern China, bordering Beijing to the southeast, Inner Mongolia to the north and west, and Shanxi to the southwe ...
on the Great Wall. Here he was stopped by the Chinese who did not know who he was (they thought Ablin had been the real ambassador). After receiving permission, he reached the Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...
on 3 March 1656.
He refused to kowtow
A kowtow is the act of deep respect shown by prostration, that is, kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. In Sinospheric culture, the kowtow is the highest sign of reverence. It was widely used to show reverence ...
at the city gate, but was admitted anyway and was housed by the Li-Fan Yuan The Lifan Yuan (; ; Mongolian: Гадаад Монголын төрийг засах явдлын яам, ''γadaγadu mongγul un törü-yi jasaqu yabudal-un yamun'') was an agency in the government of the Qing dynasty of China which administered ...
. He insisted that his presents and credentials be presented to the emperor himself and in general did not behave with proper submissiveness to the great Chinese emperor. After several months of isolation, he was expelled from China's capital (in 1657
References
*Mancall, Mark. ''Russia and China: Their Diplomatic Relations to 1728''. Harvard University Press, 1971.
Diplomats of the Russian Empire
Tsardom of Russia people
1610s births
1660s deaths
17th-century Russian people
Ambassadors of the Tsardom of Russia to China
{{Russia-diplomat-stub