Palladius (Kafarov)

For other people named Palladius, see Palladius (disambiguation).

Palladius
Born	Pyotr Ivanovich Kafarov (1817-09-29)September 29, 1817 Starosheshminsk [ru], Chistopolsky Uyezd, Kazan Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	December 18, 1878(1878-12-18) (aged 61) Marsailles, France
Known for	Sinology
Notable work	Chinese-Russian Dictionary

Pyotr Ivanovich Kafarov^[a] (29 September 1817 – 18 December 1878), also known by his monastic name Palladius,^[b] was an early Russian sinologist and Eastern Orthodox monk.

Biography

Kafarov was born into the family of an Orthodox priest. He studied in Kazan seminary and Saint-Petersbourg Academy, from which he was sent to the Russian Orthodox Mission in China.

Like his teacher Hyacinth (Bichurin), Palladius was a Russian Orthodox monk. During his stay in China, he discovered and published many invaluable manuscripts, including The Secret History of the Mongols.

During his scholarly career, Kafarov's works focused on Chinese linguistics, history, geography, and religion. Kafarov notably translated many Buddhist scriptures from Chinese, Mongolian, and Tibetan. Kafarov also studied the history of Christianity in imperial China and helped pioneer the study of Chinese Islam.^[1]

For more than three decades, Archimandrite Palladius headed the Russian Orthodox mission in China^[2] and engaged in ethnographic and linguistic research there.

Kafarov designed a Cyrillization system for the Chinese language, known as the Palladius system. This system has remained the basis for official transcription of Chinese personal and geographical names in Russia ever since.

The Chinese-Russian Dictionary composed by Archimandrite Palladius remains a well-known work even today.

Works

• 《漢俄合璧韻編》掌院修士巴第遺篇，1888年，北京同文舘 (Chinese-Russian Dictionary by Archimandrite Palladius, 1888, Tungwen Guan) Volume 1[1] Volume 2[2] 1896 edition

See also

• Cyrillization of Chinese
• «Elucidations of the Marco Polo’s Travels in North-China» («Journal of the North-China Branch of the R. As. Soc.», vol. X, 1876)
• «The Road from Beijing to Blagoveschinsk» (The journal of the Royal Geographic Society of London, Volume 42, J. Murray, 1872)

Notes

1. Russian: Пётр Ива́нович Кафа́ров, pre-reform: Петръ Ива́новичъ Кафа́ровъ
2. Pre-reform Russian: Палла́дій; Modern Russian: Палла́дий

References

1. Tuoheti, Alimu (2021). Islam in China: A History of European and American Scholarship. Gorgias Press LLC. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-4632-4329-6.
2. "Путешественник - Архимандрит Палладий Кафаров", Russian "СМ номер один" Magazine, September 2005, in Russian