Russian Cossacks in the service of the Chinese emperor

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

They were considered some of the best warriors in the Qing Empire, and their descendants still live in modern China.

Struggle for the Far East

In the middle of the 17th century, the Russian and Chinese civilizations, which had previously had a vague idea of each other, first came together on the battlefield. It was at this time that the Cossack detachments reached the banks of the Amur River, where the Daur tribes who paid tribute to Beijing lived.

The Qing Empire perceived the arrival of "distant barbarians" in the lands of their tributaries as an invasion of the zone of its interests. Significant forces of the Chinese and Manchus were directed against the Russians (the Manchu dynasty reigned in China in 1636). The main confrontation unfolded for the prison (fortress) Albazin, which gradually became the main stronghold of Russia in the conquest of the Far East.

When, in June 1685, a five-thousand-strong Qing army approached Albazin, its garrison numbered only 450 people. Despite the tenfold superiority in manpower and artillery, the Chinese and Manchus were much inferior to the Cossacks in combat training. The Russians held out for a long time and successfully until it became clear to them that they could not wait for outside help.

Siege of Albazin. Chinese drawing of the late 17th century. - Library of Congress

Under the terms of the honorable surrender, the garrison of Albazin freely went to his own. The Chinese, however, invited those who feared a long and difficult journey home to go to their service for a good reward. Forty-five Cossacks expressed a desire to serve the emperor.

The best of the best

Luring the Russians to their side was the idea of the Kangxi Emperor himself. From the very first clashes with them, he realized that he was a dangerous and strong enemy who would not be easy to knock out from the Far East. Deciding that such warriors would not be superfluous for him, he happily included them in his army as much as possible.

This policy led to the fact that a total of more than a hundred Russians joined the ranks of the army of the Qing empire. Part passed at their own will, part was captured on campaigns as prisoners and decided to stay in a foreign land. All of them became known in history as "Albazinians", after the name of the largest group of volunteers from the prison on the Amur.

The Cossacks were given a high honor. They were ranked among the hereditary military class, which was almost at the top of the social structure of Qing China. Above him were only the privileged nobility.

Emperor Kangxi. - Public domain

The Albazinians were enrolled in the elite part of the Qing troops, directly subordinate to the emperor - the so-called yellow banner with a border (There were eight banners in total. One banner numbered up to 15 thousand soldiers). In its composition they had their own "Russian company" - Gudei.

In addition to Russians, only Manchu aristocratic youth were admitted to the yellow guards banner with a border. The Chinese were ordered to go there.

A comfortable life

Albazinians were showered with benefits from head to toe: they were provided with housing, arable land, monetary payments, rice rations were appointed. Those who came without a family (and there were a majority of them) were given as wives local Chinese women and Manchu women - the wives of executed criminals.

The Chinese did not encroach on the religion of their Russian soldiers. On the contrary, they transferred the old Buddhist temple to the Cossacks for use, which the latter converted into a church. Before that, they had to go to pray at the Catholic South Cathedral.

Descendants of the Albazin Cossacks at the Orthodox liturgy at the end of the 19th century. - Public domain

Orthodoxy was strengthened in China precisely thanks to the Albazin people, and specifically to Father Maxim Leontyev, who also arrived in Beijing from the capitulated prison on the Amur. The first Orthodox priest in this country, he performed all the divine services, baptized, married, buried fellow believers, participated in all the affairs of the Russian colony in the Chinese capital."Christ's Orthodox faiths opened the light to them (the Chinese)," wrote Metropolitan Ignatius of Siberia and Tobolsk about him.

Nevertheless, the Cossacks were not hired to lead an idle life. It is known about their participation in several campaigns of the Qing troops, in particular, against the Western Mongols. In addition, the Albazinians were used for propaganda work: they persuaded their former compatriots to go over to the side of the emperor.

Decline

Over time, China and Russia settled their border conflicts, and the military and political importance of the "Russian company" of the yellow with a border banner began to decline. Its tasks were reduced mainly to carrying out garrison service in the capital.

Mingling with the local Chinese and Manchu population, the Albazinians lost all their Russian features after several generations. Nevertheless, they still professed the Orthodox faith and often boasted of their privileged position. As Russian travelers visiting Beijing wrote at the end of the 19th century, an Albazin "is morally at best a parasite living on handouts, and at worst a drunkard and a cheat."

Descendants of the Albazinians in 1900. - Public domain

A serious test for the Chinese Cossacks was the uprising of the Ichtuan (Boxers) in 1900, directed against foreign domination and Christianity. Several hundred Albazinians became its victims, even in the face of death, they refused to renounce their faith.

After the collapse of the Qing Empire in 1912, the descendants of the Cossacks had to look for new things to do in life. Many of them became police officers, worked in the Russian-Asian Bank or in a printing house at the Russian Spiritual Mission.

The Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong, which fought against everything foreign in China, dealt another blow to the Albazin community. As a result of persecution, many were forced to renounce their roots.

Nevertheless, even today in modern China there are still those who consider themselves the descendants of the Albazin Cossacks - the emperor's elite soldiers. They are not familiar with the Russian language, and it is impossible to distinguish them from the Chinese. However, they still retain the memory of where they came from.