This study examines the source materials of Russian translations of the Shijing between 1850 and 1930, which predominantly relied on European intermediary texts
(Latin, English, French, and German versions). Confronting the absence of explicit source references in most Russian translations, the author establishes correlative models between Russian texts and their European / Chinese prototypes through analyzing verse order, title renderings, and imagery treatment. The statistical preference for translating Guofeng (Airs of the States) over Ya (Hymns) and Song (Eulogies) reflects Russia’s selective reception ofChinese literature. These translations functioned both as early adaptations of Chinese classics and as elements in constructing Russia’s Orientalist discourse. The study further underscores
the significance of transmediated texts for Russian literary history, with added value in its analysis of previously overlooked European intermediary translations, clarifying the unique role of such transmediated texts.
For citation: Fu Daen. From Europe to Russia: a history of indirect translations of the “Shijing” (1850—1930), Ivanovo State University Bulletin, Series: Humanities, 2025, iss. 4, pp. 46—53.