The view of modern Chinese researchers on Russian and Russian philosophy

Rubets Mariya Vladimirovna PhD in Philosophy Scientific Associate, Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences 109240, Russia, Moskva, g. Moscow, ul. Goncharnaya, 12 3_slona@bk.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

In recent decades, we have seen the expansion of China's scientific contacts and cooperation with all countries of the world, as well as the growth of China's participation in various fields of scientific activity, including the humanities. The beginning of this process was laid back in the late 1970s and 1980s by Deng Xiaoping, who called for the strengthening of scientific research, the introduction of large foreign research equipment, cooperation with foreign academic institutions, which he called the key to the modernization of science. ^[16]

Russian Russian philosophy, in particular, is growing in interest in China: a number of centers for the study of Russian philosophy have been opened throughout the country, original texts and research are being translated, numerous conferences are being held, dissertations are being defended. More and more Russian scientists specializing in Marxism and social and political philosophy (e.g. V. N. Shevchenko), as well as in the field of religious philosophy (e.g. S. S. Khoruzhy), philosophy of Russian culture (S. A. Nikolsky) and other areas of philosophical research in Chinese universities are invited to lecture at Chinese universities. Russia (ak. V. S. Stepin, ak. V. A. Lectorsky, ak. A. A. Huseynov, ak. A.V. Smirnov) ^{[25, 17:53]}. In the period of modern restrictions, conferences, reports, lectures and seminars have been transferred to an online environment, which also allows a huge number of Chinese students and postgraduates dealing with this topic to attend and participate in them. Here, for example, is a list of online events of late October - early November 2021: on October 19, an online lecture at Harbin Engineering University "Non–classical philosophy of Consciousness in F. M. Dostoevsky's novella "Notes from the Underground"" (I. I. Evlampiev) ^[21]. October 23 online lecture at Beijing Pedagogical University "Philosophical view of the Russian idea in the works of F. M. Dostoevsky" (M. A. Maslin) ^[23]. On October 29, there is also an online lecture "Friedrich Nietzsche as an indicator of the change of philosophical paradigms in Russia" (Yu. V. Sineokaya) ^[24]. November 6 online lecture at Harbin Engineering University "Basic concepts of Russian Philosophy" (A. P. Kozyrev) ^[22].

Russian Russian researchers are deeply interested in the philosophical problems raised by Russian researchers in their works on Russian (and not only) philosophy, which, in turn, means that it is important for Chinese researchers to monitor the development and trends of Russian thought. During the Soviet Union, this interest was limited to Soviet studies of Marxism – this is how the Chinese learned from their "older brother". In the 1960s, after the Soviet-Chinese split, this interest was replaced by criticism, and after 1991, the vector of research completely shifted towards the West ^{[25, 3:30]}. Russian Russian philosophy is an object of criticism for the Chinese, or are they looking for growth points in it for their philosophical research? What is the reason for such a lively and growing interest in Russian thought in the XXI century? Russian Russian philosophers still have an element of learning, which was observed during the Soviet era, and if so, what do the Chinese want to learn by studying Russian philosophy?

This work is devoted to the search for the nature of this interest, as well as the position of Chinese researchers in relation to the achievements of Russian and Russian philosophy. To do this, we have reviewed a number of articles, reports and interviews of prominent representatives of this scientific field in China, written over the past 20 years, on the basis of which we have identified the main reasons for the appeal of Chinese scientists to the heritage of Russian philosophy, and also identified two opposing positions regarding it – criticism and acceptance – and their justification.

The scientific novelty lies precisely in carrying out such an analysis and isolating the above positions on the material of Chinese works of the XXI century, including texts published in October 2021.

Reasons and goals of studying Russian Philosophy in China

In the characteristics of Russian and Chinese philosophy (in particular, Confucianism), one can see some similar features that could become starting points for mutual research. One of them concerns the understanding of the order of public life, ethical principles, and the value foundations of people's life together. In the Russian philosophy of the Silver Age, it was expressed in the concepts of community, conciliarity, in Chinese Confucianism – in the concept of li (ritual, etiquette, rules of conduct), designed to streamline human life in all its manifestations. The similarity of Russian philosophy and Confucianism is also mentioned by Li Xuejun ^{[11, p. 56]}. It can be assumed that Chinese scientists in the wake of the resurgent interest in Confucianism may be interested in this aspect, but we have been able to find comparative studies of Confucian ethics and Russian public thought, or Confucian and Orthodox ethics, so far only among Russian studies. ^[3],[15].

 Another common feature of the traditional Russian and Chinese philosophies, related to the first, is that both philosophies are practical, aimed at improving the world, and not just at its cognition and theoretical understanding. This moment could also be the factor that attracts Chinese researchers (the argument from accessibility). In addition, there are general modern trends, such as returning to the "roots": since the 1980s, the Chinese scientific and party community has been actively trying to integrate Confucianism into the architecture of "Marxism with Chinese specifics" as part of a return to traditional values ^[6].  At the same time, one of the directions of the Russian philosophy of the XXI century is the comprehension of tradition as the spiritual basis of Russian self–consciousness. Such parallelism in trends could undoubtedly become a factor attracting the attention of Chinese researchers to the development of Russian and Russian thought. In search of the reasons for the interest of Chinese scientists in this area of Russian humanitarian knowledge, we turned to the authors of the research themselves.

For example, the scientific director of the People's University of China, Professor An Qingyan, who deals mainly with Marxist philosophy, in the introduction to the book "Where is Russia going: Russian philosophy after the collapse of the Soviet Union" 2003 ^[9] explained the relevance of his research by the fact that Russia and China were at about the same stage of historical development at that time, and the philosophers of the two countries had a lot in common, so it would be very useful for Chinese scientists to see how Russians think about the direction and path of Russia's development and global problems. ^{[9, p. 3]}.

In 2021, already in the new realities and trends of understanding traditional values and their role in modern development processes, An Qinyan, in an article on Berdyaev's concept of God, proposes to draw useful conclusions from the attempt to reorganize and modernize traditional Christian culture (Orthodoxy), which he sees in N. Berdyaev (his humanistic explanation of the concept of God), to use this model to understand how such a combination of tradition and modernization can be carried out on Chinese material ^[8].

Russians Russian Religious Philosophy through the eyes of Chinese Scientists" article by Li Xuejun, professor of Guangxi University, researcher and popularizer of Marxist philosophy, indicates the following reason for the interest of the Chinese academic community in this field: "to see the Russian soul means that you can predict or understand some of their political actions" ^{[11, p. 55]}. Although in the conclusion of the same work, the author himself expresses the opinion that there is currently no political perspective for studying Russian religious philosophy (i.e., for forecasting with its help some trends in government), since Russia is a country where theology and politics are united. ^{[11, p. 58]}.

Russian Russian philosophy is one of the hotly debated topics of Russian philosophy in the Chinese philosophical community, which the Chinese themselves explain, in particular, by the fact that "it is not only the ideological source of the program of today's Russian President Vladimir Putin to govern the country, but also the key to the interpretation of many important events in Russian society and history". ^[14].

Russian Russian philosophy researcher Liu Zoyuan explains China's interest in the Russian idea "by the urgent need for China to comprehend its place in the modern world and its role in the geopolitical and geo-economic organization. In addition, an example of the genesis of national identity of another culture, especially such as Russian, is able to act as a semantic space, operating with the concepts of which, the process of assessing the advantages or disadvantages of one's own national discourse becomes by definition geopolitical, historical and general cultural" ^{[1, p. 779]}.

The scientific supervisor of Liu Zoyuan's PhD thesis at Moscow State University, Professor M. A. Maslin, expressed the following consideration: "In China, the problem of searching for a national idea is now urgent. Confucianism ceases to satisfy them, and it is not a national idea, it is a ritual and tradition. They are in the search state. [...] Why do they need Russian philosophy? They answer that they want to understand the West through Russia. [...] In addition, they want to take something in their architectonics of the national idea from the Russian conservatives" ^{[2, p. 29]}.

Zhang Baichun, a professor at the philosophical school of Beijing Pedagogical University, also voices a similar consideration, however, there is one fundamental difference in his words: "I think that with the help of Russian philosophy, Chinese philosophers will be able to identify (and not create) our Chinese idea, including its main principles" ^{[7, p. 134]}. (My italics are M. R.) According to him, the great Chinese people certainly have their own idea, but the process of identifying it should be natural, and it can happen when the Chinese pay more attention to spiritual life. Only philosophers can help them in this. ^{[7, p. 134]}.

The idea of "understanding the West through Russia", expressed above by M. A. Maslin, on the one hand, looks a little strange, however, Professor Zhang Baichun also voices the same attitude, speaking at the master class "Philosophical Workshop" at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences on December 24, 2019. He explains that the Chinese perceive Russia as the West, and Russian philosophy as Western philosophy (in particular because it originated on the basis of German classical philosophy). At the same time, Russian philosophy has "mysterious connections" with Chinese philosophy, it is closer to the Chinese. Russian Russian philosophy is why they turn to Russian philosophy in order to understand not only Russian, but also Western philosophy, which they cannot understand. ^{[25, 27:55-28:09]}. This is the same "from accessibility" argument that we talked about at the beginning of the chapter.

 The second thing that, according to Professor Zhang Baichun, Chinese philosophers are looking for in Russian religious philosophy is spirituality, which is a problem for the Chinese at least because of the lack of religiosity among the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire. Russian philosophy, imbued with Orthodoxy, is able to teach the Chinese spirituality, since there is more of it in Orthodoxy than in other Christian denominations. Zhang Baichun and his colleagues are trying to solve this problem by researching Russian philosophy. ^{[25, 30:30-37:36]}.

Professor Zhang Baichun also expressed an interesting idea about the reason for the need for Chinese to study Russian philosophy in an interview with Professor A. N. Chumakov of Moscow State University. It lies in the criticism of Western philosophy by Russian philosophers – its basic concepts, principles, systems, which, according to him, contributes to its deeper study, and also makes a huge contribution to its development. Regarding the study of this criticism by the Chinese, Professor Zhang Baichun writes the following: "Chinese philosophers also study Western philosophy, but they cannot really criticize it. They can scold, but not criticize, because criticism is a serious philosophical work. In relation to Western philosophy, our specialists are more passive. I myself am very dissatisfied with the way classical German philosophy is being studied here. It is no longer worth talking about the study of Marxist philosophy, because here, apart from repetition, there is no criticism. I have already mentioned how Western philosophy is studied here. I think that we need to know the experience of criticism of Western philosophy in Russian philosophy" ^{[7, p. 133]}. That is, the Chinese need to study Russian philosophy also in order to learn philosophical criticism.

Thus, studying Russian philosophy, Chinese scientists are not just accumulating academic knowledge, they are trying to solve specific problems facing Chinese philosophers and Chinese society at this historical stage. This includes, for example, understanding modernization and its connection with traditional values, solving the "problem of spirituality" of the Chinese, identifying the national idea, as well as a deeper understanding of Western philosophy and teaching philosophical critical analysis.

So, we have seen what motivates Chinese philosophers to study Russian philosophy. Researchers of various philosophical traditions look at it from different angles, trying to find something in it that would be valuable specifically for their field of activity. If we take the studies of modern Russian philosophy and Russian religious thought in China, then by the nature of these studies we can distinguish both an assessment and criticism of it (in particular, from the position of Marxism), and a positive acceptance in order to study its internal mechanisms.

The position of criticism

Critical understanding of Russian philosophy in Chinese research literature is conducted from different positions, among which one can distinguish such as: criticism through the prism of Marxism, criticism from "pragmatism", criticism of "nationalist tendencies". The first position was more common in the 1990s - early 2000s, when, as already mentioned, Russia and China were at approximately the same stage of historical development, Marxist philosophy in Russia only shortly before ceased to be dominant, and a turn to religious philosophy began. Chinese researchers – mainly Marxists – have considered both new trends in Russian philosophy and Russian philosophy as such through the prism of their relationship to Marxism or their relationship with it. The second position is close to the first in that it arose under the influence of the same Marxism and evaluates the trends of Russian philosophy in terms of the benefits of the results achieved by it. The third position was manifested in a comparative study of the trends of Russian philosophy (in particular, the Russian idea and neo-Eurasianism) with the development trends of Chinese Marxism.

Let us consider these positions, starting with criticism through the prism of Marxism. Li Xuejun mentions some studies of this kind, in particular the 2005 book by Professor of Sun Yat-sen University Li Shande "Introduction to the Soviet Marxist Philosophy of the twentieth century" ^[12], where in the first chapter "Marxist philosophy in Russia" the author expresses some of his views on Russian religious philosophers, contrasting the thoughts of Russian scientists with Marxism-Leninism. According to Li Xuejun, Marxism-Leninism is used here by the author as a "magnifying glass" to study the "apostasy" of Russian religious philosophers who recognized Marx's philosophy only within the framework of sociology, and in the field of philosophy remained adherents of Kant and Fichte. ^{[11, p. 56]}.

Russian Russian Religious Philosophy and Marxism (2004) is the second such study on Russian philosophy, which Li Xuejun mentions, is the work of the famous translator and researcher of Russian philosophy in China, director of the Research Department of Modern Foreign Philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Ma Yinmao (2004). In it, the author criticizes Berdyaev, Bulgakov, etc. for the fact that that they accept only Marx's criticism of capitalism and his construction of communist ideals, and notes that both the acceptance and criticism of Marxism by representatives of Russian religious philosophy is largely rooted in their misunderstanding of Marxism. Li Xuejun also notes here that such a practice of "weighing the thoughts of foreign philosophers on Marxist scales" in China is a common point of all studies of foreign philosophies. ^{[11, p. 56]}.

At the same time, Li Xuejun stipulates that the position of labeling for refusing to follow Marxism is a thing of the past, and now it is considered that the study of Russian religious philosophy will help to understand and reconstruct its true spirit. According to him, Li Shangde's later works show his deep understanding of this attitude. ^{[11, p. 56]}.

Russian Russian philosophy critic An Qingyan, a well–known expert on Marxism and researcher of Russian and Russian philosophy in China and abroad, who has been chairman of the Society for the Study of Russian Philosophy in China since 2007, came across the position of criticism from "pragmatism" in an article by An Qingyan, a professor at the People's University of China. This article is devoted to the current state of Russian philosophy, in fact it is a review of the collection of theses and reports of the IV Russian Philosophical Congress held in Moscow, May 24-28, 2005. ^[7] It is interesting to us as a view from China on the problems of concern to modern philosophers in Russia. It contains a number of critical remarks, which are mainly reduced to the fact that modern Russian (or better to say Russian) philosophy does not answer the questions facing Russia at the present time. An Qingyan criticizes the philosophy of that time for "disconnecting from reality and ignoring social needs": "The conference was called "Philosophy and the Future of Civilization", but none of the conference reports talked about the future of civilization. As a matter of fact, there is no discussion about the future of civilization in the theses of the conference participants. [...] There is no analysis of a society in a difficult situation ..." ^[10]. According to An Qingyan, Russia needs ideological support in the process of social transformation and transition to a market economy. Russian philosophical circles had to adapt to the needs of society and provide ideological support for the social transformation of Russia (in China, the Marxist philosophy of practical materialism became such support). However, Russian philosophical circles have not done this, their basic ideas completely contradict the needs of building a market economy ^[10]. An Qingyan also criticizes Russian philosophers for defending theses about contempt for material comfort, focusing on spiritual life, replacing competition with the principle of love and creating a harmonious and friendly team, which permeates Russian thought. These aspirations, according to the author, although noble, however, are completely incompatible with the need for Russia to turn to a market economy to increase productivity and improve the material standard of living of people, as well as with the reality of fierce international competition. [...] From the point of view of spiritual essence, today's Russian philosophy is not a driving force for the promotion of Russian social changes, but a restraining force. ^[10].

This article again clearly expresses a purely utilitarian approach to the question of studying philosophy from Chinese researchers, which we saw at the beginning of our work. According to the author, philosophy or its research deserves attention only if it has practical value. We also met this attitude from Professor Zhang Baichun, who has been translating and researching Russian religious philosophy for many years, and at one time studied the spiritual practices of hesychasm with the help of S. S. Khoruzhego in order to comprehend and gain spirituality. In his speech at the master class at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Zhang Baichun voiced such a goal of his research and the task of philosophy in general: to solve the problem of the lack of spirituality among the Chinese. What is noteworthy, speaking about the teaching of spirituality, he says the following: "Theoretically, I won't talk, because this is a practical question. What does spiritual life mean for the Chinese? This is the question "how to spend Sunday properly?" [...] Everyone sitting here knows [...] – to go to church. But the Chinese don't even know! There is no such temple for them. [...] What is more correct for the Chinese who do not believe in anything? [...] The question is not in which life to spend: in the spiritual life, a clear question. The main question is "how to conduct?"" ^{[25, 35:05-36:55]}.

The third of the positions we have identified was found in the work of Professor and scientific director of the Department of Philosophy of East China Pedagogical University Zheng Yishi in 2014 "Russian philosophy and Chinese Marxist philosophy in the XXI century: similarities and differences". ^[20]. Russian Russian philosophy of the XXI century (more specifically, the concepts of the "new Russian idea" and "neo–Eurasianism") and Chinese Marxism, the author identifies several parameters for comparison. We will give arguments only on some of them. The author also notes that, unlike Marxism, Russian philosophy, with its striving for humanism, idealism and religiosity, is divorced from society and its needs. Zheng Yishi also notes that although Russian philosophy is a bridge between the West and the East, and performs the "function" of merging two cultures and forming new cultural types on this basis, it is still more hostile to the West than Marxism. Although he considers criticism and opposition to capitalism one of his theoretical goals and historical missions, he is in itself a clear Western product and the latest achievement of European philosophy. In addition, the author distinguishes in both philosophies such features as "openness" (?)) or outward orientation, more precisely to the West, which has become a necessity in the era of globalization, and "return" () - orientation to one's culture. By "return" in Russian philosophy, Zheng Yishi understands, first of all, nationalism, which has been studied in Russia by all humanities and social sciences for the "last ten years" (here the author cites a number of works on relevant topics). Russian Russian scientists' research focuses not only on the presentation and interpretation of Western nationalist theories, but also on the revival and construction of the discursive tradition of Russian nationalism in an attempt to use traditional Russian ideas that have been formed over the past centuries." Both the "openness" (for example, the harm caused by total Westernization to Russian society) and the "return" (for example, ethnic superiority, intolerance, great power, predatory consciousness and the desire for victory) contained in nationalism throughout the history of Russia have often become a tool that motivated the Russian people and the whole society to hate other countries and other peoples. Russian Russian nationalism, as an important aspect of the "new Russian idea" and "neo-Eurasianism", influences the research orientation of Russian philosophy. Making a comparison on this basis, Zheng Yishi gives Chinese Marxism the palm in the matter of moderation and rationality in the course of its "return".

A position of positive acceptance

And yet, at present, there is an increasing positive research interest among Chinese scientists in Russian and Russian philosophy. One of the factors contributing to this, M. A. Maslin called the absence of the burden of past hostility and negative ideological attitudes towards Russia and the Soviet Union ^{[4, p. 179]}. Many researchers of the older generation studied at Soviet universities and studied Marxism-Leninism, so the collapse of the Soviet Union and the chaos that followed it could not but frighten them. Chinese scientists have closely followed the development of philosophical searches in Russia, noting their versatile nature: the emergence of various directions (socio-political philosophy, philosophy of history, philosophy of culture, philosophy of science and technology, philosophy of ecology, philosophy of education, etc.) it showed the openness of the modern academic community to new topics, one way or another connected with the paradigm shift due to the collapse of the Soviet Union ^[19],[17]. The fate of Marxism in Russian philosophical literature also remained an important object of research for Chinese scientists. Russian Russian ^[19] and (Russian ^[13]) philosophers' positive attitude to Marxism was noted with satisfaction in some works, which could serve as an additional confirmation of the scientific value of Marxism, as well as substantiation of the significance of Russian/Russian philosophy studies in a situation when the attention of a large part of Chinese researchers turned to the philosophy of the West.

For example, Zhou Laishun, referring to the works of T. I. Oizerman and V. M. Mezhuyev, notes that "in general, the Russian academic community has fully confirmed the value of Marxist teaching and advocated its reinterpretation and completion of theoretical reconstruction on this basis" ^[19]. Russian Russian religious philosophers were previously Marxists, Ma Yinmao, considering the problems of Russian religious philosophy, points out as an important point that Russian religious philosophers were previously Marxists, emphasizes their sympathy for Marxism, their agreement with its criticism of capitalism and even hopes for the implementation of certain steps by communism, which Christianity overlooks ^[13]. And even in the matter of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, Ma Yinmao, in our opinion, sees the harmony of the ideas of Russian philosophy and Marxism (namely, his teachings about man as the creator of history): he particularly notes the fact that most religious philosophers oppose passive expectation, for the active participation of people, believing that it is in the creative behavior of a person that the second coming of Christ can be realized in order to establish the Kingdom of God on earth ^[13]. Also, a positive characteristic of Russian philosophers for Ma Yinmao is that even after leaving Marxism and turning to religious philosophy, they did not stop thinking about the good of society, which they hope to lead to the Kingdom of God through the transformation of the human world in accordance with the Christian worldview ^[13].

In addition to the relationship of Russian thought with Marxism, Chinese researchers are interested and respected by generally significant ideas that are of value to the world community and culture as a whole. For example, Professor An Qinyan, in an article on the humanitarian interpretation of the concept of God by Berdyaev, writes that the Western understanding of humanism as hedonism and the victory of man over nature has become one of the causes of the crisis of human existence, when the survival of mankind is threatened by an environmental crisis, lack of resources and the danger of nuclear war. The concept of N. Berdyaev, uniting man and God, capable of limiting the tendencies of hedonism and individual superiority of man, in this situation deserves at least deep reflection ^[8]. The promotion of the spirit to the fore, the attempt to correct the mistakes and one-sidedness of nihilism undertaken in the philosophy of N. Berdyaev and S. Frank, is also noted by Ma Yinmao, calling it "a major contribution of Russian thinkers to world culture." ^{[13, P. 26]}.

The question of spirituality of Russian religious philosophy is actively raised in his works by Professor Zhang Baichun. For him, this is not just an object of research and discussion. For many years he has been trying to get into this phenomenon by studying the spiritual traditions of the Orthodox Church, the spiritual practices of hesychasm, which he came to through the writings of S. S. Khoruzhego. He mentioned this at a master class in philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences ^{[25, 37:46]}, as well as in an obituary written by him after the death of S. S. Khoruzhego ^[18]. Here the author shares interesting and rather non-standard thoughts for a Chinese scientist, which should be considered in a little more detail.

In the text of the obituary, Professor Zhang Baichun outlined the story of his path to comprehending Russian religious philosophy, which is very interesting both as a fact and in the light of his earlier statements that the vast majority of Chinese lack spirituality, that they do not know what it is and what it means to live a spiritual life.^{[25, 35:05-36:55]}. According to him, for some time he himself had some indefinite and inexplicable need, which he later called a spiritual need for himself. In a desire to satisfy her, he began his search for a philosophy different from the one he knew then. While studying in Russia, he got acquainted with the work of N. Berdyaev, which made it clear to him what area and level his needs belonged to. Fascinated by Berdyaev and his philosophy, Zhang Baichun translated a large number of his works, wrote many studies of his thought, and later researched other religious philosophers. Russian Russian philosophers' thoughts were translated and retold only after getting acquainted with the works of S. S. Khoruzhego, the scientist realized that translating and retelling the thoughts of Russian philosophers is the wrong way to study Russian religious philosophy. It was necessary to plunge into Orthodoxy, and not from a theological point of view, but from a practical one – rituals, etiquette, religious emotions, religious behavior. Visiting Orthodox churches, the scientist noticed that "ordinary Orthodox Christians go to church every Sunday for worship – this is their liturgical life. I vaguely felt that [...] this is also their spiritual life. [...] I began to think about the question as an unbeliever and not an adept of any existing religion, how should I spend Sunday? […] This is a very serious question, but I am puzzled and don't even know where to find the answer." (Professor Zhang Baichun has repeatedly expressed the same idea both in interviews and in his works). From lay believers who live a "spiritual life" only on Sundays, the scientist, with the help of the books of S. S. Khoruzhego, moved on to the study of monks who live a spiritual life every day, as well as to the study of the spiritual traditions of the Orthodox Church, and the reconstruction of the traditions of meditation. "I really wanted to understand what meditation is. What do monks do? What is the purpose and meaning of their practice? Solving these problems would allow me to understand what spiritual life is in a general sense. At least, using the example of Orthodox monks to see what the real spiritual life is like."^[18]

These frank lines clearly show us how difficult it is for the Chinese to study Russian religious philosophy – a philosophy that, according to Zhang Baichun himself, is "full of spirituality", unlike Chinese and Western philosophy ^{[25, 30:43]}. Russian Russian philosophy To fully understand, the Chinese at the same time necessarily study Orthodoxy ^{[25, 37:01]}, and Russian literature. Nevertheless, as we can see, the study of this cultural layer does not always provide answers to such complex questions as "what is spirituality" and "how to live a spiritual life".

The positive acceptance by a scientist of this aspect of Russian philosophy, as can be seen, not only happens in a practical plane – in attempts to study the phenomenon by immersion in it in order to answer his personal questions, to satisfy his personal needs, but also has, as we wrote above, also a practical task – to offer a philosophical solution to the question of spiritual life for the Chinese, in whose culture there is no religiosity, and, consequently, spirituality as such. Thus, we meet the argument from pragmatism not only within the framework of criticism, but also within its "apology".

?Conclusion

Russian Russian philosophy in China, summing up our research on the issue of modern study of Russian and Russian philosophy in China, we can say that this is a fairly actively developing field of knowledge in which the Chinese themselves see great prospects – both in terms of expanding scientific contacts, learning from Russian philosophers and scientists, understanding Western philosophy through criticism and research of Russian philosophers, and in terms of understanding political steps and interpreting certain events in society and history, as well as borrowing certain concepts, ideas, ways of understanding current topics, solving issues, etc. from Russian philosophy, for example, the concept of a national idea, spirituality, etc. That is, to the question whether there is still continuity and the moment of learning from Russian philosophers, it is possible to give a positive answer with a certain degree of confidence.

As we have seen, many authors of studies in China indicate purely utilitarian goals as a justification for Chinese studies of Russian philosophy – to try to solve the problems that the Chinese faced during the period of modernization and globalization with its help.

At the same time, we saw that there is no unambiguously positive or unambiguously negative attitude of Chinese researchers to this area. We have given examples from different works of different times of writing, where there is both criticism and positive acceptance of the main ideas, issues, ways to solve the issues raised, etc. At the same time, even from the position of Marxism, the Chinese as a whole are not inclined to criticize Russian philosophy only for its religiosity. For example, in the section on criticism, we identified the following points that became the reason for such: 1) incomplete recognition of Marxist philosophy, but only of its individual components (Li Shande, Ma Yinmao); 2) in comparison with Marxism, more pronounced nationalism – as an aspect of the "new Russian idea" and "neo–Eurasianism" - in the process of "returning to the roots" (Zheng Yishi); 3) absence, unlike from Marxism, the practical applicability of the results of philosophical discourse (Zheng Yishi, An Qingyan).

Nevertheless, more and more researchers give a high assessment to some aspects of Russian philosophy, among which, as expected, sympathy for Marxism of philosophers of the Silver Age and calls for its rethinking and completion of theoretical reconstruction on this basis among philosophers of the post-Soviet period are indicated. However, such an aspect as encouraging people to actively participate in the realization of the Kingdom of God on earth (Ma Yinmao) also deserved approval, in which, it seems to us, the researcher saw a consonance with Marx's teaching about man. The attempts of Russian religious philosophy to reorganize and modernize traditional culture (Orthodoxy) in changing realities were also highly appreciated, which can help Chinese thinkers develop their strategy for modernizing traditional culture for modern China (An Qingyan). In addition, Chinese philosophers see prospects for understanding the concept of God-manhood in Russian philosophy, which can be opposed to hedonism and individualism, which led to the crisis of human existence (An Qinyan). Also, scientists especially note such a feature of Russian philosophy as spirituality, initially alien and incomprehensible to the Chinese, but, according to Professor Zhang Baichun, it is a necessary aspect of every person's life, and therefore worthy of study in order to build appropriate concepts in Chinese philosophy.

Russian Russian philosophy In addition to concrete examples showing the reasons and goals of Chinese researchers' interest in Russian philosophy, we can also trace a general approach to the study of Russian thought: it consists in the practicality, utilitarianism of certain achievements that the philosophy under study demonstrates. As we have noticed, everything that the Chinese like in Russian philosophy, they plan to use in some way for the benefit of Chinese thought or Chinese society in the future. Such an approach to the issues under study can be formed under the influence of a combination of factors such as the historical predominance of practical philosophy, and the applied nature of knowledge in China as a whole, as well as the influence of the Marxist idea of the predominance of practice over theory.

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