The publication continues the study of the religious life of Harbin through the prism of folklore texts of its inhabitants (Russians and Chinese). The authors focus on the image of St. Nicholas the Saint (Nicholas the Wonderworker, Nicholas of Myra), inseparable from the architectural mythologeme of the city – St. Nicholas Cathedral and other Harbin temples dedicated to the image of the saint. Russian Railways builders, Nicholas the Wonderworker, found in the minds of the Russian builders the features of the guardian of the Russian city in the middle of the Manchurian steppes and swamps. Later, as a result of deification, his features were transferred to the mythological character of Siberian folklore – the Old Man Ponuzhai. The Chinese religious consciousness projected on folklore plots about Nicholas the Saint the mythologeme of the wise “Оld man” (the Old Man of the station, the Old Man Nikola), Lao Tzu, the Spirit of the earth – Tu Di Kоng. The authors explore various genres (memorials, were, epics, apocryphal legends), which depict the image of St. Nicholas in his manifestations of holiness and the attitude of Russians and Chinese towards him. Russian Orthodox Christians venerate the saint, and the Russian and Chinese populations of Northern Manchuria venerate the Miracle Worker in the first half of the 20th century – a marginal, Russian-Chinese type of religiosity of the Far Eastern frontier
Keywords: Harbin, St. Nikolas, the Far Eastern frontier, religious syncretism, mythologeme, oral history, folklore text, prophetism
DOI: 10.22250/20728662_2022_1_35
About the authors
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Anna A. Zabiyako – Doctor of Philology, Professor, Head of the Department of Literature and World Art Culture; Amur State University; |
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Ju Kunyi – Postgraduate student of the Department of Literature and World Art Culture; Amur State University; |