In 1762, Catherine II (1729-1796), Catherine le Grand, as Voltaire called her, an extraordinary woman who was destined to undergo many reforms and establish Russia’s place in the world, ascended to the Russian throne. Her reign coincided with the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), one of the most enlightened monarchs in Chinese history; during his time, the empire achieved many military victories and brilliant achievements in the arts. By the time of Catherine’s accession to the throne, relations between the two countries were very strained. Meanwhile, the age of Enlightenment, the century of the ardour for the philosophy and art of China, began in Europe. On the one hand, Catherine was influenced by the ideas of the West; on the other hand, she constantly had to regulate conflicts on the Russian-Chinese border, the reason for which was most often the question of extraditing Mongols and Dzungars to the Chinese who were fleeing within Russia. The purpose of this article is to determine what image of China the Russian empress formed and how she spoke about this country in her correspondence with European correspondents since it is known that Catherine II wrote a lot. To do this, first, it is necessary to characterise the personality of the empress, to understand her interests and habits. To understand what issues she had to resolve, one also needs to know the state of Russian-Chinese relations in the second half of the 18th century. Finally, the article gives a general description of Catherine II’s correspondence with various high-ranking persons, among whom Jean d’Alembert, Diderot, Voltaire, Friedrich Melchior Grimm (Franco-German publicist, artist and literary critic), Swiss scientist and philosopher Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann, Madame Geoffrin and Madame Bielke can be named. The letters she received very often contained diplomatic news, dynastic problems, court gossip; her answers were, for the most part, semi-official journal notes. It is noteworthy that despite the extensive correspondence conducted by Catherine the Great, she practically did not touch upon the issues of China, except for letters to Voltaire, who, as you know, admired China and tried to learn more about it from the words of the empress.
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Jan 1, 2022
Open Access
Stella Gatto 