Manchuria Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

in Jing Huang and Alexander Korolev ed., The Political Economy of Pacific Russia: Regional Developments in East Asia, (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) pp.53-76. * My academic affiliation is put wrongly: it should be University of... more

Работа была представлена в докладе на Нумизматических чтениях - 2020 Государственного исторического музея 26.11.2020 // This work was presented in a report at the Numismatic Readings of the State Historical Museum of 2020. Moscow,... more

Работа была представлена в докладе на Нумизматических чтениях - 2020 Государственного исторического музея 26.11.2020 // This work was presented in a report at the Numismatic Readings of the State Historical Museum of 2020. Moscow, November 26, 2020.

Applying Fr. D. Turner's frontier theory and M. Foucault's concept of heterotopic spaces the author studies “other” spaces created by Russian railway men and Cossacks in Northern Manchuria in the late 19th – first half of the 20th... more

Applying Fr. D. Turner's frontier theory and M. Foucault's concept of heterotopic spaces the author studies “other” spaces created by Russian railway men and Cossacks in Northern Manchuria in the late 19th – first half of the 20th centuries. Particular attention is paid to the organization of leisure in Harbin. The article considers two quite interesting spaces: the yacht club on the bank of the river Sungari and the hippodrome. The choice of these leisure spaces was based on a number of important characteristics. The purpose of this study is to analyze the spaces of the yacht club and the hippodrome as heterotopic spaces on the frontier territory. The author reaches several important conclusions about the basic principles of the basic principles of the creation and the functioning of these leisure spaces. Within these spaces, many cultural processes took quite different forms. The article provides numerous previously unknown facts about the development of yachting and trotting in Harbin.

The rise of Japanese nationalism in the 1920s and 1930s was one of the most significant events in the history of East Asia. The interwar expansion of the Japanese empire was largely orchestrated by generals (and lower-ranking officers)... more

The rise of Japanese nationalism in the 1920s and 1930s was one of the most significant events in the history of East Asia. The interwar expansion of the Japanese empire was largely orchestrated by generals (and lower-ranking officers) who, while subordinate to the Emperor, believed in the concept of Hokushin-ron, or 'Northern Expansion Doctrine', and who implemented decisions which would bring this about 1. This concept arguably caused, in part, the 'February 26 th Incident' of 1936, the Mukden Incident (and subsequent Japanese political society) demonstrate the longevity of Japanese nationalist sentiment. Article 9 of Japan's pacifist constitution (a legacy of the postwar American occupation) is being reinterpreted by Ultra-Conservatives in order to 'throw off history's embrace' and formally legalise a standing army 4. These efforts have been passionately resisted by many Japanese civilians and politicians; one man committed suicide in protest in an event known as the 2014 'Shinjuku Self-Immolation Incident' 5. While there are significant differences in the level-of-analysis between nationalist officers in the interwar period and Abe's reinterpretation of Article 9, the two are similar enough to be relevant. It is worth noting here that Shinzo Abe's grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, was a politician responsible for overseeing the industrialisation of Manchukuo in the mid-1930s (he was a brutal leader who earned the nickname the 'Devil of Shōwa' for his actions). Kishi was temporarily detained as a war criminal by the U.S. after the war, for having 'overseen the forced conscription of hundreds of thousands of Korean and Chinese laborers '6. There is therefore a direct familial link between the Japanese nationalists' actions in Manchuria and the modern ruling class. Japanese military culture from the Meiji Restoration (1868) onwards was one of loyalty to the imperial system and its rulers. This culture was perpetuated through a number of traditions and routines, such as a daily reading of the Gunjin Chokuyu, or 'Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors', in parade formation. The 'Imperial Rescript' was a document developed by Meiji oligarchs in the early 1880s and became the code of ethics for Japanese military personnel until the post-Second World War constitutional reforms. It was designed to express the absolute subservience of the military to the Emperor. As McClain suggests, even the ceremony during which the document was (personally) presented by the Emperor was designed to 'symbolize the throne's direct authority over the military. In its very first article, the document proclaimed "loyalty" to be the "essential duty" of the soldier and sailor' 7. The Emperor's requirement for servitude and sacrifice is best represented by the infamous phrase, 'duty is heavier than a mountain; death is lighter than a feather' 8. This form of hierarchical and authoritarian culture shared many characteristics with Confucianism. For example, the focus on loyalty to one's country and respect for the

manju gurun i na i giyan (Geography of Manchuria)

This is a presentation to the Sutton and Cheam Anmateur Radio Society. It is in 4 parts: Some Soviet acknowledgement (QSL cards) and DOSAAF; The Organisation of the Friends of Radio (ODR); Soviet Receivers of the 1930s; and Soviet Agent... more

This is a presentation to the Sutton and Cheam Anmateur Radio Society. It is in 4 parts: Some Soviet acknowledgement (QSL cards) and DOSAAF; The Organisation of the Friends of Radio (ODR); Soviet Receivers of the 1930s; and Soviet Agent Transmitters in Occupied Manchuria. The presentation refers to the Soviet magazine "Radio Front" and to East German propoganda volumes. The Agent Radio is described. Was there only one Agent Sonya?

Finds of Chinese-type coins, often accompanied by forgeries and small copies of the Qing dynasty coins, occur in our time in the Far East, in the Amur River basin. In this article, was analyzed small copies of random finds from the... more

Finds of Chinese-type coins, often accompanied by forgeries and small copies of the Qing dynasty coins, occur in our time in the Far East, in the Amur River basin. In this article, was analyzed small copies of random finds from the right-bank tributary of the Amur River, the Sungari River, which made during 2015-2017. The detected regularity allow to put forward several hypotheses about the origin and destination of these types of coins.

A source not mentioned yet are toponyms.

This paper provides background information about the shamanism of the Tungus-speaking peoples in northeast China, particularly the Oroqen. It describes in detail the life, initiatory illnesses, training and healing practices of the last... more

This paper provides background information about the shamanism of the Tungus-speaking peoples in northeast China, particularly the Oroqen. It describes in detail the life, initiatory illnesses, training and healing practices of the last living Oroqen shaman who practiced this craft prior to the communist Chinese abolishment of such "superstitions" in the region just south of the Amur River in June or July 1952. Over three anguishing nights, hundreds of Oroqen participated in dusk to dawn rituals and begged the spirits to go away. Public, overt shamanistic healing rituals ended at that point.

This text, published as an article in the Royal Swedish Academy of War Science Proceedings and Journal 2014, no 4, explores the Soviet military offensive into Japanese-held Manchuria in August 1945 by looking at two narratives: the... more

This text, published as an article in the Royal Swedish Academy of War Science Proceedings and Journal 2014, no 4, explores the Soviet military offensive into Japanese-held Manchuria in August 1945 by looking at two narratives: the Soviet and the Japanese. The former has dominating the latter, perhaps due to the Soviet success as Japan surrendered about a week into the operation. However, by adding rather than dismissing the Japanese perspective, Soviet performances on different levels can be scrutinized. For example, faults with logistical planning and the difficulties to achieve a deep battle are found. It also highlights the main difference between the two operations, namely that the Soviet operation aimed for a double pincer movement, while the Japanese operation aimed for a withdrawal into a mountain redoubt.

Discovering China in Yanbian

S.V. Dmitriev and S.L. Kuzmin. 2014. The Qing Empire as China: an Anatomy of Historical Myth. – Oriens (Moscow) (1): 5-17. It is often considered that China is a unique state in the world which has been several times won by foreigners,... more

S.V. Dmitriev and S.L. Kuzmin. 2014. The Qing Empire as China: an Anatomy of Historical Myth. – Oriens (Moscow) (1): 5-17.
It is often considered that China is a unique state in the world which has been several times won by foreigners, but never became a part of any other state, thus retaining continuity of its history and statehood based on consecutive row of ruling dynasties. This view is based on ancient sinocentric model which does not satisfy testing by comparative historical approach. Our analysis revealed that the Qing Empire cannot be equaled to China. Although the latter term has been broadly used, it had different meaning at different times. Actually, China was only a part of the Qing Empire. Manchu declarations that their state is China (i.e. Middle State, most important in the world), are similar to those by German, Ottoman, Russian and other monarchs on their states' continuity from the Roman Empire. These declarations have only historical value and cannot be used for modern international law. The Qing and other "conquest dynasties of China" were actually different empires created by non-Chinese peoples. The Han nation-state: Republic of China and People's Republic of China (PRC) had acquired almost whole territory of the Qing Empire as a result of occupation of weaker neighbors, instead of continuity of one state. Modern concept of PRC as a multinational state of "one Chinese nation", that included "minority nationalities" at least from the Middle Ages, is a historical myth.

Revised version of "Historical Adventures of a Posthistorical Medium”

19世纪中叶，天主教满洲宗座代牧区（Apostolic Vicariate of... more

19世纪中叶，天主教满洲宗座代牧区（Apostolic Vicariate of Manchuria）成立，由法国巴黎外方传教会管理。与中国其他具有天主教传统的地区不同，19世纪之前，涉足中国东北的天主教传教士极少，而东北的天主教徒则多为来自山东等地的天主教移民。19世纪欧洲天主教传教运动复兴，法国尤盛。在此大背景下，由法国传教士组成的巴黎外方传教会成为满洲代牧区建立和发展的主要推动力量。在其前辈传教士中国传教工作的基础上，这批19世纪的传教士具有新的特点。例如，他们并不认同早期耶稣会士的传教策略，他们致力于建立一套严格有序的教会制度、刻意强调天主教教义与仪式的严谨、以地方天主教移民家庭为中心建立天主教村落、广泛建立要理学房与天主教学校、关注女性教徒。在东北，许多天主教村落延续至今，与19世纪这批传教士的工作密切相关。本文基于笔者过去数年对巴黎外方传教会满洲代牧区档案文献的发掘、整理和解读，力图梳理19世纪天主教在东北地区的发展过程，并将此历史过程置于19世纪欧洲天主教复兴的历史背景之中。笔者还希望将文献的爬梳和文本解读，与新的史学分析方法相结合，探讨如何重新发掘和利用教会材料，进一步扩展“基督教在中国”这一主题的研究视野。

While Nakajima Atsushi (1909-1942) is well-known in the modern Japanese literary canon for his tales set in ancient China, this project examines six of his early works, written from 1927 to 1932, which have been disregarded in serious... more

While Nakajima Atsushi (1909-1942) is well-known in the modern Japanese literary canon for his tales set in ancient China, this project examines six of his early works, written from 1927 to 1932, which have been disregarded in serious literary scholarship. The six short stories take place in Japan, colonial Seoul, Japanese-occupied southern Manchuria, and a frigid city in pre-colonized northern Manchuria, and include some of Nakajima’s most dynamic and diverse works. The project examines the ways in which these texts respond to hegemonic colonial narratives about space and landscape, about gendered and ethnicized hierarchy prescribed by the Empire, and about illness, hygiene, and bodily experience. The introduction situates the project in the understanding that meaning is dynamically negotiated at every instance of reading a text, that all texts are predicated on dialogue with various contexts, and that texts are hybrid spaces wherein the resistance toward and reification of one single narrative have the potential to exist as one multifaceted position. Given this knowledge, each chapter explores the short stories’ complex positions toward the hegemonic narratives in question. Chapter One traces a literary history of spatial representation in modern Japanese literature, which uncovers the privileging of the Japanese settler viewing subject. The chapter reveals the texts’ occasional challenges toward – but usually reinscription of – colonial space narratives. Chapter Two explores the texts’ hierarchical configuration of the multiethnic Empire vis-à-vis male settler desire, showing that although Nakajima’s Japanese male protagonists take a passive role in most situations, they are still privileged figures within this hierarchy, being afforded the most subjectivity. Chapter Three discusses the texts’ many instances of ill or bodily non-hegemonic characters and how their characterizations challenge the Japanese notion of fukoku-kyōhei (“rich nation, strong army”), which idealized strong and healthy male bodies to settle the colonies, and how they also assert notions of Japanese male settler privilege. This analytical project, followed by original translations of the six stories, aims to present the dynamicity of understudied stories within the realm of Japanese colonial literature.

These are mommories concerning my grandmother - Maria Przyłuska, who had a very interesting life. She was Polish, but born in Odessa in 1904. After her mother had died, she went with her father and sister to Manchuria, but after some time... more

These are mommories concerning my grandmother - Maria Przyłuska, who had a very interesting life. She was Polish, but born in Odessa in 1904. After her mother had died, she went with her father and sister to Manchuria, but after some time was sent to school of "well born girls "in St Petersburg. In the meantime her father died (officially disappeared) during the First World War, so she stayed alone in Petersburg during the Revolusion in Russia. Finally she managed to escape to Poland at age 14 where her uncles and aunts lived in Łomianki (by Warsaw).

The history of Christianity in China has become a very promising field in recent years. This paper uses the example of a recent study on the history of Catholicism in Manchuria and examines new trends in the study of Christianity in... more

The history of Christianity in China has become a very promising field in recent years. This paper uses the example of a recent study on the history of Catholicism in Manchuria
and examines new trends in the study of Christianity in China. By focusing on different
perspectives, new sources, theories and methodologies, this paper offers a reflection on the purpose of systematic exploration of church records. It further examines the means of analysis and interpretation of historical documents using interdisciplinary methods within a global perspective.

The fall of Manchukuo, in the closing days of the Second World War, resulted in the capture by the Soviet Union of thousands of Japanese troops and civilians. Interned in labour camps, it would take them years to go home. Since the end of... more

The fall of Manchukuo, in the closing days of the Second World War, resulted in the capture by the Soviet Union of thousands of Japanese troops and civilians. Interned in labour camps, it would take them years to go home. Since the end of the Cold War, Japanese authorities have been working to locate the remains of those who died in captivity.

In this article, I will explore the history of Man’ei from the perspective of modern colonialism and conduct a case study on the artificial identity of “Li Xianglan.” As Hannah Arendt writes in The Origin of Totalitarianism, the capital... more

In this article, I will explore the history of Man’ei from the perspective of modern colonialism and conduct a case study on the artificial identity of “Li Xianglan.” As Hannah Arendt writes in The Origin of Totalitarianism, the capital expansion is an endless process, in which the expansion itself becomes both the means and aim. Eventually, it will devour all (AHRENDT 1951: 333–350). In this sense, the rising and demise of Man’ei and Li Xianglan serve as a vivid illustration. The focus of this study is nevertheless on the existent Man’ei feature films. According to target audiences, Man’ei coproduced a number of location-driven films. I choose Winter Jasmine, Chi-na Night and Sayon’s Bell as regional samples for analysing and discussing Man’ei’s gendered nationalist motif. I argue that Japanese adopts a differentiated geopolitics respectively in Manchu, mainland China and Taiwan. In the puppet Manchukuo, Ja-pan adopts a modern colonialism and is prone to build a seemingly equal and har-mony relationship with Manchurians. Accordingly, in Winter Jasmine a modern and exotically attractive image of Manchukuo is purposely constructed. On contrary, in Taiwan Japan continues the outdated trade colonialism. In Sayon’s Bell, through the brave, beautiful and pro-Japan patriotic Taiwanese girl Sayon, Taiwan serves as a reliable raw material reservoir for Japanese empire. The recent acquired mainland China, however, as showed in China Night is backward, damaged and dangerous, thence needs to be violently conquered and tamed. Notable is Iwasaki Akira’s (1903–1981) exceptional realistic criticism in Winter Jasmine.

Manchuria remains a problematic region in modern Korean historiography. The intense interactions between the Korean peninsula and Manchuria before 1945 often become subsumed into nationalist narratives of anti-Japanese resistance and the... more

Manchuria remains a problematic region in modern Korean historiography. The intense interactions between the Korean peninsula and Manchuria before 1945 often become subsumed into nationalist narratives of anti-Japanese resistance and the suffering of impoverished Korean migrants. While recent Korean historiography on Manchuria has addressed a broader array of historical issues, there is still much more research necessary to understand fully the position of Manchuria in modern Korean history. This study examines the postliberation narratives of Korean returnees from Manchuria during the immediate liberation period and reconnects their collective experiences with some key events of Korea and Manchuria under the Japanese empire. Through a discussion of the large scale Korean migration and economic integration that took place within Manchuria before 1945, the need for a broader historical paradigm becomes apparent. Colonial era historians developed their own historiographical models to explain the interconnections between the two regions. While the colonial historiography need not be rehabilitated for such purposes, there is still a need to conceptualize Manchuria and Korea from a transnational historical framework that can better elucidate the deep interconnections between the two regions before 1945.

Historically, Northeast China (Manchuria) was a border zone between China and the nomadic peoples, as well as between the Russian and Qing empires since the 17th century. In the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th century,... more

Historically, Northeast China (Manchuria) was a border zone between China and the nomadic peoples, as well as between the Russian and Qing empires since the 17th century. In the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th century, a number of factors (penetration by foreign powers, collapse of the Qing Empire, revolution in Russia, Japanese expansion and demographic changes) transformed this area into " a contact zone " in the sense given by Mary Louise Pratt. The main focus of the article is the way in which this contact zone was described by Polish and Serbian travellers. Their accounts can provide a special outlook, because Poland and Serbia did not participate extensively in the colonial penetration into China, however, Serbs and Poles travelled there, often representing Russian institutions. Therefore they were observing China as agents of an imperial power, but they did not identify themselves fully with it. Our analysis of the image of Northeast China as a contact zone will be divided into three broad sections: 1) political and military expansion 2) economic and demographic relations 3) transcultural phenomena of everyday life.

Chinese laborers migration to colonial Korea became a major issue that resulted in entry restrictions in 1934. During the early years of colonial rule, the Government General of Korea did not actively limit the entry of Chinese laborers... more

Chinese laborers migration to colonial Korea became a major issue that resulted in entry restrictions in 1934. During the early years of colonial rule, the Government General of Korea did not actively limit the entry of Chinese laborers and the colonial state was one of the largest employers. However, in the 1930s migration restrictions appeared not only in Korea but also in neighboring Manchuria. The efforts at border control in colonial Korea need to be viewed in conjunction with labor policies in Japan and Manchuria. The restrictions on Chinese labor were ultimately linked to efforts to reconfigure Japan’s new territorial possessions after the Manchurian Incident in 1931 as the region became a space for resolving the intractable social and economic problems of the Japanese empire.

This paper presents accounts of seven travelogues, written by Hungarian travellers and professionals who visited or worked in Manchuria between the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. So far these texts have... more

This paper presents accounts of seven travelogues, written by Hungarian travellers and professionals who visited or worked in Manchuria between the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. So far these texts have not received wide scholarly attention because they are accessible only in Hungarian, although they con- tain unique first-hand observations of the construction of the Eastern Chinese Railway and many ethnographic notes. The author suggests that some narratives, especially those written by Hungarians who worked as engineering specialists, present very bal- anced analysis of the situation, because they belonged neither to the colonising project in China, nor to the colonised side, but rather were enthusiasts of technologi- cal modernisation. As a theoretical frame, the author attempts to apply notions and concepts developed by infrastructural and cybernetic anthropology.

In the historiography of Japan’s Interaction with the Turkish and the Muslim World, Ahmed Münir İbrahim (1887-1941) has been overshadowed by his father, Abdürreşid İbrahim (1857-1944). Abdürreşid, a Russian Tatar scholar and journalist,... more

In the historiography of Japan’s Interaction with the Turkish and the Muslim World, Ahmed Münir İbrahim (1887-1941) has been overshadowed by his father, Abdürreşid İbrahim (1857-1944). Abdürreşid, a Russian Tatar scholar and journalist, spent five months in Japan in the first half of 1909. After his journey, he published a two-volume travelogue entitled Alem-i İslam ve Japonya’da İntişar-ı İslamiyet in Istanbul in 1910. This travelogue has remained one of the most important sources for the history of early Turkish-Japanese relations and has predominantly been regarded as an expression of pan-Islamist and pan-Asianist thinking. Similar to his father, Münir too traveled to Japan in December 1910 as a member of the first Ottoman student delegation. Münir and his two companions, Hasan Fehmi and Mehmed Tevfik, were sent to Japan at the request of the pan-Asianist society Ajia Gikai to take up their studies in Tokyo. After his arrival in Japan, Münir published a brief, serialized travelogue in the Kazan newspaper Beyanülhak, which relates the students’ journey from Harbin to Tokyo, alongside other articles on Harbin and Japan. While Münir’s articles in the Ottoman journal Sebilürreşad and the Japanese journal Daitō have recently been scrutinized by historians, his travelogue in Beyanülhak has to date remained completely obscure. This article will, first, provide a concise discussion of the Ottoman student delegation to Japan and, second, examine key aspects of Münir’s travelogue, which may provide historians with important insights into the more mundane aspects of Turkish- Japanese exchanges behind the idealizing visions of pan-Islamism and pan-Asianism.

JAPANESE HISTORICAL MIGRATION TO MANCHURIA: NOTES AND DOCUMENTATION During the first half of the twentieth century the former territory of Manchuria in Northeast China became one of the greatest settlement areas of the world and the... more

JAPANESE HISTORICAL MIGRATION TO MANCHURIA: NOTES AND DOCUMENTATION
During the first half of the twentieth century the former territory of Manchuria in Northeast China became one of the greatest settlement areas of the world and the most important foreign destination for the Japanese. This article discusses the socio-spatial context, the present status of related interdisciplinary studies, and the Japanese bibliographical and statistical sources for research into Japanese migration to Manchuria-Manchukuo.
Japanese emigration to Manchuria before the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) was almost negligible. Later there were steady increases, associated with highly urbanized areas in the Kwantung Leased Territory and the South Manchuria Railway Zone. The establishment of Manchukuo (1932-45) stimulated Japanese commercial and industrial activities, and a massive Japanese emigration took place, incorporating subsidized mass agricultural colonists and the Youth Colonization Volunteer Corps for Manchuria. As a result, the destination of the flows shifted from the restricted railway settlements located in the South Manchuria Railway Zone to the old Manchurian cities and Northern rural agricultural areas.
Over the last two decades, renewed academic interest in Manchukuo has produced some rediscovery of historical materials, the publication of emigrants’ personal experiences, new interpretations of the Japanese colonization, and so forth. On the other hand, intensive research has been heavily concentrated on the agricultural emigrants, there has been a comparative neglect of the larger Japanese migration, which emphasized a movement to the cities and urban occupations. This research bias is due in part to the scarce information on urban as opposed to agricultural trends. A range of official and unofficial bibliographical sources and statistical materials is presented to assist towards rectifying the imbalance.
Finally, it is suggested that more research is needed on the impacts of urbanization and associated emigration, especially with regard to the multi-ethnic society created in Manchurian cities. The dualism existing in the consideration of Manchukuo as a “puppet state” or as an “ideal state”, in which harmony among the five races (Han Chinese, Manchu, Japanese, Korean and Mongol) was reportedly assured by its foundational principles, might also be examined from the viewpoint of urban social geography.
KEY WORDS: Japanese migration, imperial expansion, multi-ethnic society, Manchuria

The formation of the Japanese colonial empire entailed major population movements and important socioeconomic and territorial impacts in East Asia. These were particularly relevant in Manchuria, where important Japanese immigration also... more

The formation of the Japanese colonial empire entailed major population movements and important socioeconomic and territorial impacts in East Asia. These were particularly relevant in Manchuria, where important Japanese immigration also occurred, especially after the establishment of Japanese-sponsored Manchukuo in 1932. This paper focuses on the location of co-ethnic concentrations of the four major population groups of immigrant background in Manchukuo. The aim of the study is to reexamine the reality of Manchukuo's inclusive ideology of ethnic harmony and the blurring of ethnic borders from a spatial viewpoint. The location of co-ethnic concentrations of Han Chinese, Koreans, Japanese and Russians was identified by calculating the Location Quotients for each group at national and urban (Mukden's railway town) scales. The results were mapped, showing uneven ethnic distributions and concentrations at both scales. This analysis confirmed the existence of clusters of affluent co-ethnic concentrations in Manchukuo, including some recent concentrations, such as the Japanese deliberate segregation in the North Manchuria countryside and in the Mukden railway town. Thus, the inclusive ideology of the new State coexisted, paradoxically, with high levels of co-ethnic spatial concentrations. This occurred not only because of group interest in achieving community cohesion, but also because of exclusions and restrictions resulting from official segregation-ist settlement policies. According to the results of the spatial analysis, the article concludes that Manchukuo's utopian ideals of equal coexistence and concord among all ethnicities were not realized.

Am Amur stoßen auf einer Länge von knapp 2000 Kilometern China und Russland aufeinander. Sören Urbansky ist ein Jahr lang vom Baikalsee bis zum Japanischen Meer durch die abgelegene Grenzregion gereist. In seiner fesselnden Reportage vom... more

Am Amur stoßen auf einer Länge von knapp 2000 Kilometern China und Russland aufeinander. Sören Urbansky ist ein Jahr lang vom Baikalsee bis zum Japanischen Meer durch die abgelegene Grenzregion gereist. In seiner fesselnden Reportage vom "Schwarzen Drachen", wie die Chinesen den riesigen Strom nennen, versteht er es meisterhaft, an unscheinbaren Begebenheiten, vorerst noch kleinen Beben und Brüchen, die großen tektonischen Verschiebungen der Supermächte abzulesen.
Wo der Norden Chinas sibirisch wird und der Südosten Russlands zunehmend chinesisch, stehen die beiden autoritären Imperien Rücken an Rücken zueinander. Bis zum Zweiten Weltkrieg kämpften hier die Sowjetunion und Japan um die Vorherrschaft. Auf der Suche nach Spuren der Geschichte ist Sören Urbansky auf eine erstaunliche chinesisch-russische Gegenwart gestoßen. In seinem wunderbar anschaulich erzählten Buch berichtet er von prosperierenden chinesischen Metropolen und erstarrten russischen Orten auf der anderen Seite des Flusses – vor wenigen Jahrzehnten war das Gefälle noch umgekehrt. Er besucht Städte wie Harbin im Nordosten Chinas, einst "Moskau des Ostens", und Wladiwostok, das erträumte russische San Francisco, und ist zu Gast bei einfachen Menschen, die fließend Chinesisch und Russisch sprechen und ihre Soljanka mit Stäbchen schlürfen. Sein einfühlsamer Bericht kommt den Profiteuren und Verlierern der Grenze ganz nahe und erlaubt gerade dadurch ungewöhnliche Einblicke in den Zustand der beiden Großmächte und ihr spannungsvolles Verhältnis.