Sergei Tret’iakov’s Chzhungo: Reportage from China in the 1920s

Abstract

Chzhungo means “China” in Chinese, and Tret’iakov’s book by this unusual title was the outcome of his living and teaching in Peking during 1924 and 1925. It was first published in 1927. A second revised and amplified edition came out in 1930, but after the author’s execution in 1937 his books disappeared from Soviet libraries. Very few copies of either edition of Chzhungo reached libraries outside Russia. As the editors of the partial re-editions of works by Tret’iakov after his posthumous “rehabilitation” decided not to bring Chzhungo back into circulation, it remains unavailable in print. This article offers an introduction to the book. Referring to the second edition, the author analyses the self-positioning of Tret’iakov as an involved observer of Chinese life and political awakening; the image of China that emerges from Chzhungo; and the status of Chzhungo within the larger context of Tret’iakov’s work.