Research Of Peterlovsky’s Archaeological Exploration In The West Part Of China From 1883 To 1903

Nikolai Federevic Petrovsky（НиколайФёдоровичПетровский,1837-1908）,the first Russia Consul-General to Kashgar,was the first European government officer to investigate the Kashgar’s Old Town and collect the ancient manuscripts in the south part of Xinjiang Province of China.His collections,including those in Sanskrit and unnamed ones,were highly valuable for their large quantity,abundant variety,rich languages,important content,and broad coverage.Petrovsky constructed a comprehensive network to collect those ancient manuscripts and books.At the meantime,he finished mapping the south of Xinjiang Province,which assisted Russian archaeological teams’work in larger scale later.Those agents who were assigned by Petrovsky to collect those antiques,for example,British explorer Marc Aurel Stein（1862-1943）,French explorer J.-L.Dutreuil de Rhins（1846-1894）,and Swedish explorer Sven Hedin（1865-1952）,gathered a lot of rare materials.With the help of Cossack’s monthly trip between Hoche and Kashgar,Petrovsky easily transported the ancient documents and antiques he collected back to Russia,making Russia one of the most important place to restore the ancient documents of west China.Authorized by the Tsar Government and Russia semi-academic organizations,Petrovsky,the collector,built a solid network in terms of the collecting and researching of the documents of west China with academician Rosen,the receiver,and academician Oldenburg（СергейФёдоровичОльденбург,1863-1934）,the researcher,by which they maintained an obvious advantage over England in archaeology at that time.The Petrovsky’s collections,now stored in the Institute of Orientology of the Russian Academy of Sciences,cover a large number of languages,including Sanskrit,Indian,Tibetan,and Tocharisch.According to incomplete statistics,among those collections are over 3,000 antiques and the oldest has the history of more than 1,500years.There are over 7,000 ancient manuscripts and fragments,including those in Sanskrit,Kharosthi,Brahmi,and some unknown languages.Petrovsky’s collections proves that in the second half of 10^th century,The Dhammapada,Saddharma Pundarika Sutra,Prajnaparamita Hrdaya Sutra were quite popular in the south part of Xinjiang Province in China and also proves the prosperity of Buddhism and the rapid development of Islam in the south part of Xinjiang Province.The research materials for this dissertation are translated from documents provided by Russian National Archives,Russian National Ancient Documents Archives,Russian Geology Association Archives,Institute of Orientology of the Russian Academy of Sciences,St.Petersburg Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences,SPbf ARAN,AVPRI,OR RN,RGALI,RGIA,RGADA,including Petrovsky’s 211 letters to Russian diplomatic officers,military officers,historians,archaeologists,orientalists,and geographers,archaeological reports from explorers,minutes of meetings of Russian Academy of Sciences,Petrovsky’s reports published onЗВОРАОThrough a careful review of historical materials of Xinjiang Province at home and abroad,this dissertation combines many important documents to explore comprehensively,systematically,and deeply Petrovsky’s archaeological exploration in Xinjiang when he was the Consulate-General.This dissertation also reappears the details about European archaeologists’visiting Kashgar and associating with Petrovsky,generalizing the details and characteristics of Petrovsky’s archaeological activities in Xinjiang Province and his collection’s influence,historical value,and practical significance.The materials in foreign languages adopted in this dissertation not only enrich China’s research in frontier history and geography but also prove valuable when it comes to study Russian diplomatic history,especially Sino-Russia relationships,and China’s south Xinjiang history.