About the book: 2017 / Nikita Bichurin, monastic father of Iakinthos, was an outstanding Russian sinologist, the first whose works in the field of sinology received international recognition. He spent fourteen years in Beijing as the head of the Russian Spiritual Mission, where he immersed himself in the study of centuries-old Chinese civilization and the way of life of the empire. Thanks to his scientific and literary activities, Russians for the first time became thoroughly acquainted with the unique culture of China, learned the traditions and customs of this state closed to Europeans. “This book is a systematic presentation of the description of the Chinese state as a social institution and, being written in simple, clear and accessible language, accurate in facts and in depicting the general picture of life of the Chinese population." (Bronislav Vinogrodsky)