For almost half a century now, in the spring of odd-numbered years, at the Eastern Faculty of the Leningrad State University./St. Petersburg State University hosts a conference on the problems of historiography and source studies of Asian and African countries. First held in 1961, this scientific forum brings together researchers in the field of history and culture of the peoples of the East and Africa, representing the leading scientific schools of our country, as well as the countries of the "near abroad". At the origins of the conference, which has long received the status of a traditional one, were outstanding Russian orientalists L. A. Berezny, G. V. Efimov, A.D. Zheltyakov, A. A. Zhukov, E. Ya. Lyusternik, A.D. Novichev, N. S. Petrovsky, I. P. Petrushevsky, N. V. Pigulevskaya, B. B. Piotrovsky, L. V. Stroeva and many others others.

Almost from the very beginning of its existence, the conference acquired an international character, along with representatives of the "union republics", scientists from Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, and later from leading universities in the West, often took part in it.

The circle of participants of the last XXIV International Conference of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of St. Petersburg State University was also quite wide. Its organizing committee received about two hundred applications from representatives of the eastern and a number of other faculties of St. Petersburg.GU (History, International Relations, philosophy and political science), leading universities and academic institutes of St. Petersburg and many cities of the country. In the opening of the conference, which took place on April 10, 2007 in the assembly hall of the Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg.Well-known and young orientalists and Africanists who came from Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Makhachkala, Novosibirsk, Petrozavodsk, Ufa, Ulan-Ude, Khabarovsk, Elista, as well as from Riga and Tbilisi participated in the event. "Far Abroad" was presented by scientists from Germany, Mongolia, Turkey and France.

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The conference was opened by the Honorary Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences M. N. Bogolyubov.

At the first plenary session, presentations were made by Professor of Kazan University R. M. Valeev ("The main stages of the development of Russian historiography in the history of Russian Oriental studies. XIX-XX centuries"), Professor of the Higher School (State University) of Economics L. R. Syukiyainen ("Principles of Fiqh - legal understanding of the religious and moral ideal in Islam"), Scientific Secretary of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the Development of African countries A. D. Savateev ("Sources and literature on Islam in Tropical Africa"). The Eastern Faculty was represented at this plenary session by the Dean of the Faculty E. I. Zelenev ("Theory of geocultural space - geocultural field: historiography and historiosophy of the problem") and V. B. Kasevich ("Text as integrity").

Working sessions of the conference were held in 10 sections, including a new section "Monuments of the written and oral traditions of the East", which brought together mainly orientalists and philologists. Meetings of the "School of Young Orientalists", which for the first time worked within the framework of a general "adult" scientific conference, were held according to its own extensive program.

Number one, probably due to the venerable age of the material being studied, was the section "Source Studies and Historiography of the Ancient East", at two meetings of which (chairs: N. V. Kozyreva, A. G. Sushchevsky) leading scientists of St. Petersburg. State Hermitage Museum and St. Petersburg.The Faculty of Philology of the Russian Academy of Sciences discussed a wide range of problems of Assyriology and Egyptology. Reports at the section were presented, in particular, by V. V. Yemelyanov "Development of ideas about royal power in the Sumerian period of Mesopotamian history", M. R. Zeleyeva "Structural features of stelae from Abydos in the second half of the XVIII dynasty", I. S. Klochkov "New translations of Akkadian poetic texts", N. V. Kozyreva " Letters from Tsilli-Shamash to Balmunamkha from the collection of the State Hermitage", A. O. Moskalev " Protective formula in the Middle Assyrian royal inscriptions. 2nd millennium BC", A. V. Nemirovskaya " Jus talionis: Biblical and Mesopotamian legislation. Source studies notes", M. A. Redina "Studying the archive from Tell Amarna as a source on the history of Kassite Babylonia", A. G. Sushchevsky "Introductory course of the New Egyptian language by Friedrich Junge: history or state of Science", etc.

The section "Source Studies and Historiography of African countries", which worked under the general supervision of the Head of the Department of African Studies of the Eastern Faculty A. Y. Zheltov and co-chaired by N. A. Dobronravin and V. A. Arsenyev, brought together researchers from St. Petersburg.State University, MAE RAS ("Kunstkamera"), Institute of Africa RAS (Moscow). The reports presented by V. R. Arsenyev and V. A. Popov were devoted to the historiography of the problems of such a specific phenomenon as jamu in Western Sudan, and colonial society as a civilizational phenomenon. The reports of A. Y. Siim and N. A. Dobronravin were rather descriptive in nature and touched upon the problems of museology within the framework of different traditions of exhibiting and interpreting African artifacts outside of Africa. I. V. Gerasimov's report was a description of contacts between the Arab-Islamic and African worlds in late medieval Sudan. And S. M. Tishchenko's report "The impact of modernization on the ethno-psychological attitudes and values of modern sub-Saharan Africa" should be noted first of all for its boldness in choosing such a complex topic. All the reports of the Africanists aroused great interest and active reaction of the audience.

In the Middle East section of the conference, the third section was the most representative, discussing the problems of source studies and historiography of the Arab world. At the section meetings, which were chaired by the Head of the Department of History of the Middle East N. N. Dyakov and S. A. Kirillina (ISAA at Moscow State University), 14 reports were presented, prepared by both venerable and novice researchers. S. A. Kirillina touched upon the ethno-confessional aspects of studying the Ottoman society based on the documents of " khozheniy"Russian pilgrims to the Holy Land. M. F. Vidyasova (ISAA at Moscow State University) shared new materials of modern historiography devoted to the secular reforms of the founding father of independent Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba. The reports of young researchers from RSUH - I. L. Alekseev, A.V. Dushak, A. S. Stolypinskaya "The sociohistorical theory of Ibn Khaldun in modern historiography: problems and prospects of studying", P. V. Basharin "On the status of the "Mahdist" movements of the tenth century in the Middle East and their links with the political struggle in the Caliphate"also aroused great interest.

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Foreign guests of the section also spoke on a wide range of issues related to the historiography of the Arab world. Well-known for her work on the socio-economic development of Arab countries during the Ottoman era, Randy Deguillem from Aix-en-Provence (IREMAM-MMSH) presented a report on the historiography and sources of Waqf studies from the colonial era to the present ("From the Normal to the Discursive: Sources and Historiography of Waqf Studies from Colonial times"). to Present Times"). A post-graduate student of the St. Petersburg Faculty of Oriental Studies, who also arrived from France.O. V. Andriyanova presented materials on slavery and the slave trade in Oman in the light of local and European sources of the XVIII-XIX centuries. Another graduate of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, currently working in Berlin, K. Abdolhoff, made a presentation on "The ruling circles of Syria in the XIX century: on the question of social origin". Yaza Chingian, an Iraqi Mooc researcher, presented an interesting article on contemporary problems of Middle East development - "Political Islam: an obstacle or a Path to peace". A diverse range of problems were also raised in their reports by St. Petersburg Middle Eastern scholars: N. N. Dyakov "Sidi Abd ar-Rahman al-Majdub-the Moroccan Holy Fool in hagiography of the XVII-XVIII centuries", M. Y. Ilyushina "Three Manuscripts on the origin of Ridvan Bey", A. S. Matveev "Fatimids and Crusaders: diplomacy and Culture". confrontation during the 1st Crusade" and "The project of the database of Middle Eastern sources at the Department of History of the Middle East Countries of St. Petersburg State University", M. A. Rodionov " Secular and spiritual power in the Sultanate of al-Qasiri (Hadramaut) (based on archival documents)", T. M. Sipenkova "On the pages of domestic textbooks".

Three reports on source studies and historiography of Iran and Afghanistan were presented by scientists of the Eastern Faculty of St. Petersburg.State Institution: S. E. Grigoriev "Unknown map of Kabul", M. S. Pelevin " Classic monument of Afghan historiography "Tarikh-i Murassa", E. M. Rodionova "Armenians in the north of Iran in the first decades of the XVII century".

The section "Source Studies and Historiography of Turkey" discussed many aspects of the study of documents and historiography of Turkish history, which was reflected in the topics of reports presented by St. Petersburg scientists.GU K. A. Zhukov "The Russian Consul in the East: K. N. Leontiev in Ottoman Turkey in 1863-1874 (according to diplomatic reports)", SEE Ivanov "The economy of the Ottoman Empire in figures (based on the work of V. V. Tolstoy). Eldema)", A. A. Sotnichenko "Dynamics of the Southern borders of the Russian Empire based on the results of the Russo-Turkish Wars of the XIX century", and S. F. Oreshkova (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) "New Historical Approaches to the study of the Ottoman Empire".

It is worth noting the active participation in the conference of guests from Turkey - A. Erdogan (Aegean University, Izmir), who made a report on a little-known manuscript in the Old Ottoman language on the history of Russia ("Tarih-i Rusya or Tewarih-i Imparatorice") and M. Chapa (Black Sea Technical University). University of Trabzon), who told about the history of the Russian Consulate in Trabzon.

The most representative, as expected, was the section "Source Studies and Historiography of China", which was chaired by G. Ya. Smolin, B. N. Melnichenko and N. A. Samoilov. The section presented 18 reports, mostly source studies and dealing with many aspects of studying the historiography of the history of the great Asian power.

G. Ya. Smolin, B. N. Melnichenko, I. F. Popova, T. A. Pan, and E. V. Stepanov presented papers on the problems of classical Chinese historiography. So, in the report of I. F. Popova (SPb.Tang Political Treatise from Dunhuang "describes a written monument that was long considered lost, but was discovered in 1937-the" family manual " (jia xun) of the Tang Emperor Gao-tsung (649-683). The reports of B. N. Melnichenko (St. Petersburg) aroused great interest. GU) "Chinese Dynastic History" by Ming shi "on Sino-Siamese relations at the end of the XIV-XVI centuries" and A. A. Bokschanin (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) "Europe and Russia in Da Qing yitong zhi". The reports of T. I. Vinogradova (BAN) "Chinese folk picture-calendar", T. A. Pan (St. Petersburg)were devoted to individual works or genre varieties of Chinese written source creation.Federal Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) "Written sources on the shamanic palace ritual during the Qing Dynasty", E. V. Stepanova (St. Petersburg.Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) " Travel Notes "(Yu ji) as historical sources on the ideology of Confucianism in the Song period (X-XIII centuries) on the example of" The Inscription on the Yueyang Tower "by Fan Zhong-yan", G. Ya.Shanghai of the XI-XII centuries from the perspective of Sung "local descriptions"", E. V. Timonova (Novosibirsk State University) "Historical significance of the treatise "Ying tsao fa shi"", E. E. Voitishek (Novosibirsk State University)

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"The Chinese Canon" Majiang-sanzi jing "as a guide to the game of Majiang", E. A. Sinetskaya (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) "Features of sources on feminism in China", S. E. Myasishchev (St. Petersburg.GU) "Issues of terminology of traditional Chinese edged weapons in Russian historiography".

Various topics of historiographic content were covered in the reports of A. L. Verchenko (IDV RAS) " Chinese scientists on the state and prospects of Russian-Chinese scientific and technical cooperation (based on the materials of scientific conferences held in China in 2003-2007)", E. G. Temnikov (Kazan State University) "Review of Russian historiography and sources of Russian-Chinese interstate relations (the second half of the XIX century)", N. A. Samoilova (St. Petersburg.GU) "French studies of Sino-French relations at the present stage", V. N. Usova (IDV) "New publications about the" cultural Revolution "in China published in China in recent years", E. Y. Staburova (Riga State University) "Modern Chinese Historiography on anarchism in China", A. E. Donskoy (St. Petersburg.GU) "New studies of population mortality during the famine of 1959-1961 in China", B. M. Novikova (St. Petersburg.GU) "Chinese historical and biographical collections of the 1980s-2000s: innovations in the framework of tradition".

At the sessions of the section "Source Studies, historiography of India and Southeast Asian countries" 10 reports of scientists from St. Petersburg were heard.State University, ISAA at Moscow State University, Petrozavodsk State University, IB RAS and MAHE RAS. The audience was particularly interested in the reports of N. V. Gurov (St. Petersburg State University) on Hindustani courses in pre - revolutionary Tashkent and I. A. Dorokhova (Petrozavodsk State University) - "The British prison and Indian traditions (from the history of South African satyagraha under the leadership of M. K. Gandhi at the beginning of the XX century)". I. Y. Kotin (MAE RAS) introduced his colleagues to new materials on the history of the Indian Diaspora. E. S. Soboleva (MAE RAS) highlighted the current problems of Goa culture in the works of Olivinho Gomis. Substantial reports of researchers from St. Petersburg were devoted to the problems of Vietnamese historiography.GU V. N. Kolotova ("Catechism in eight days" as a source on the method of conversion to Catholicism in Vietnam of the XVII century") and E. V. Lyutik ("Basic approaches in Soviet-Russian historiography and archives of OIM to the study of the problem of the Catholic Church in Vietnam (XIX century)". Yu. A. Trishina (St. Petersburg.GU of Economics and Finance) dedicated her message to A. de Rod and the birth of the Quoc ngu script in Vietnam. O. S. Khizhnyak from the St. Petersburg State Museum of the History of Religion ("The role of the Stupa in the Formation of Buddhism as a religion") and A. O. Zakharov (Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences) gave talks on the history of Srivijaya studies. All the reports presented at the section meetings were performed at a high scientific level and caused lively discussions in the audience.

The program of the section "Source Studies, Historiography of Japan, Korea, and Mongolia" included 11 reports, including 6 on Japanese historiography, 4 on Mongolia, and 1 on Korean historiography. Along with the St. Petersburg and Moscow reports, the section included reports from researchers from Novosibirsk (E. E. Voitishek "Genji-monogatari novel as a source of studying Japanese gaming traditions"), Khabarovsk (A. Y. Ivanov "Japanese Historiography on Korean-Japanese Relations in Ancient Times and the Middle Ages"), as well as from Mongolia (Dairimaa Baasanzhargal "Folklore materials in the Sector of Folklore Studies and Dialectology of the Institute of Language and Literature of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences"). The diverse reports aroused the interest and active discussion of the section's audience, which numbered more than two dozen listeners.

11 reports were presented at the sessions of the section "Source Studies and Historiography of Central Asia and the Caucasus".

Presentations were made by the staff of the Eastern Faculty of St. Petersburg.State University (A. K. Alekseev "Rashid ad-Din's opinion on the influence of geography on population formation", N. E. Vasilyeva " Historical ethnography in the works of K. A. Inostrantsev "Nuruz"", Z. A. Dzhandosov " Turkestan: a bygone nature (book illustration as a historical source)", T. I. Sultanov "Divorce in Russia").Muslim (based on the materials of Persian and Turkic works)". G. N. Ishberdina from ISEI of the Ufa Scientific Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences made a report on the topic: "Early works of A.-Z. Validov on the history of the Turks", noting that all the early works of this author on the history of the Turks were written from the standpoint of Turkism. S. S. Nikoyan from Ural State University presented a report on translations of Chinese sources about the Tugyu Turks in Russian and foreign historiography. Temirbekov (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Kazan State University) based on archival materials from Kazan and St. Petersburg restored the eventful outline of the life and work of the remarkable traveler, turkologist and Iranist I. N. Berezin. L. V. Okonova (Kalmyk Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) spoke about the materials of the First Session-

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the current population census of 1897 as a source on the demographic history of the Kalmyks of the Astrakhan province. The report of G. Otkhmezuri (Tbilisi State University) was dedicated to Marie Brosse, whose name is associated with the first scientific study and publication of Georgian epigraphic monuments. A graduate of the St. Petersburg Faculty of Oriental Studies who arrived from Berlin.GU K. Abdolhoff delivered a report on " Central Asia in the system of international relations. 2003-2006".

As already mentioned, for the first time in the framework of this conference, the section "Monuments of written and oral traditions of the East" was organized. 20 scientists from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Elista and Ulan-Ude spoke at its meetings. A significant place in the reports was occupied by the analysis of Buddhist monuments. This topic was covered, in particular, by the reports of A. M. Strelkov from St. Petersburg.Ph. D. of the Russian Academy of Sciences ("Exposition of the Kalachakra teaching in the work of Sol Lama Agwan Lobsan "History and Terminology (Tantra) of Adi-Buddha Sri Kalachakra"), B. V. Menyaev from the Kalmyk Institute of Higher Education of the Russian Academy of Sciences ("Jataks from the Oirat collection "Legend of the Nectarian Teaching"), R. A. Yanson ("Tipitaka" in Burma, Myanmar"),

A significant place in the reports of this section was occupied by Indian topics. It should be noted the original report of S. S. Tavastsherny (St. Petersburg.GU) ""Oral" in the traditional written Indian text", report by E. K. Brozalina (St. Petersburg.GU) "The role of the theatrical mystery jatra in the formation of new genres of Bengali literature", Yu. G. Kokova (St. Petersburg GU) - "The Greatness of the Bhagavata".

Mongol studies were successfully presented in the reports of P. L. Grokhovsky (SPb.GU) "The Tibetan grammatical tradition in modern light (on the example of the "Clear Mirror" Kelsang Gyurme)", A.D. Kose (St. Petersburg GU) ("The term qutuy in old written Mongolian texts of the Yuan era"), P. O. Rykina (Institute of Linguistics. research of St. Petersburg) "To the study of the Chinese-Mongolian dictionary of the beginning of the XVII century "Dada Yu". "Tatar words".

The Georgian theme was reflected in the report of L. S. Ermolova (Spb.GU) "On the scientific significance of ancient Georgian written monuments (linguistic aspect)" and in the collective report of V. A. Krylova and A. K. Chugunova (both St. Petersburg.GU) "On one feature of the structure of the ancient Georgian text. Based on the material of the monument of the fifth century "Martyrdom of Shushanik".

The reports of D. I. Mayatsky (St. Petersburg) are devoted to literary studies.GU) "Gao Ming's play Pipa Tzu (Lute) and its significance in Chinese drama", M. L. Reisner (ISAA at Moscow State University) "Self-consciousness, traditions and the problem of stylistic evolution of Persian poetry of the X-beginning of the XVIII century", V. V. Rybina (St. Petersburg.GU) "Keka - one of the genres of Japanese poetry", M. S. Salikhova (St. Petersburg.GU) "Proverbs, sayings, winged words and aphorisms in the "History of Beihaki" (XI century)".

Within the framework of the XXIV Conference of the Faculty of Oriental Studies on April 11-12, the School of Young Orientalists held four sessions on the following topics:: 1. Literature and languages of Asian and African countries; 2. History of Asian and African countries; 3. Culture and religion of Asian and African countries; 4.Politics, society and economy of Asian and African countries and international relations and current political processes in Asian and African countries. At four working sessions of the School, 32 reports were presented.

At the section "Literature and Languages of Asian and African countries", eight reports were presented by students from Far Eastern State University, Novosibirsk State University, RSUH (Moscow), Kazan State University and VF St. Petersburg State University. First of all, we should note the speeches of E. K. Dzgoeva "The role of the monologue in the novels of the modern Israeli writer A. B. Yehoshua" (St. Petersburg State University), K. E. Kulikova (RSUH) "The story of a mountain that has moved in Egypt", which were recommended for publication.

The section "History of Asian and African countries" presented six reports. The section was attended by guests from FESU, the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Business and Politics (Moscow) and, of course, students of the Eastern Faculty of St. Petersburg State University. The greatest interest of the audience was aroused by the reports of A. I. Averkina (Institute of Business and Politics, Moscow) "Interaction of civilizations in the Middle Ages: the case of Al-Andalus", V. V. Shchepinin (St. Petersburg State University, VF) "The struggle of the Ming Empire with Japanese pirates in the XVI century", which were also recommended for publication.

The section "Culture and Religion of Asian and African Countries" heard presentations by participants from the Far Eastern State University, the State Hermitage Museum, the Ural State University named after A.M. Gorky, St. Petersburg State University.GU) "Features of the religious practice of "secret" Christians in modern Japan", V. V. Ivanova (St. Petersburg.GU) " The existence of jinns as an argument in the polemic of modern traditionalists based on the book "The World of jinns and devils" by Dr. Umar Suleiman al-Ashkar", E. A. Lupareva (Far Eastern State University) "The canon of female beauty among the Hindu-speaking peoples of India".

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The section "Politics, Society and Economy of Asian and African countries and international relations and current political processes in Asian and African countries" included 13 reports. It was attended by participants from FESU (Eastern Institute), RUDN University, Yaroslavl State University. Demidov, Ural State University named after A. M. Gorky, Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences, IDV RAS, Kazan State University, Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies of the Institute of Africa, St. Petersburg State University. The audience was particularly interested in the speeches of A. S. Mukhina (Yaroslavl State University) "Peculiarities of the formation of the political elite of Syria in the XX century", S. M. Tishchenko (Institute of Africa) "The impact of modernization on the ethno-psychological attitudes and values of modern sub-Saharan Africa", V. I. Mukhina (St. Petersburg.GU) " Interethnic marriages in Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1912)", N. V. Zaderey (RUDN University) "Shanghai Cooperation Organization-the Geopolitical Game in Central Asia continues", P. N. Mamed-zadeh (RUDN University) "Approaches of Egyptian diplomacy to the solution of the Middle East conflict", M. N. Malashevskaya (St. Petersburg.GU) " The Tanaka Memorandum of 1927 and its consequences for the USSR (1927-1937)", which were also recommended for publication.

Participants of the" School of Young Orientalists "were offered an exciting cultural program: excursions to the "Kunstkamera" named after Peter the Great and a sightseeing bus tour of the city for nonresident participants, as well as within the framework of the general cultural program - "Evening of Turkey" (within the framework of the cultural and educational project of the Faculty of Oriental Studies "ORIENTAL").

In the Turkish cafe "Resbes" were held: a computer summary presentation on Turkish culture, as well as a mini-lecture on the peculiarities of the Turkish national mentality: "Trip to Anatolia" (A. A. Sotnichenko), a story about the peculiarities of Turkish cuisine (chef of the Gek-khan restaurant and Master's student of the Eastern Faculty of St. Petersburg.State Institution of V. V. Ivanov). As part of the cultural program, a performance based on the story "For the Sake of a Clean Towel" by Omer Seifeddin (1884-1920) was also presented, involving a variety of ethnographic material (A. A. Sotnichenko and V. V. Ivanov).

Closing of the XXIV International Conference of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of St. Petersburg.The State University on Problems of Source Studies and Historiography of Asian and African countries was held on April 12 under the chairmanship of the Head of the Department of History of the Middle East Countries of St. Petersburg.State Institution of N. N. Dyakov. B. G. Doronin (St. Petersburg) presented their reports at the final plenary session.GU) "Three Faces of the Qing Empire (1644-1911): on the Interpretation of the History of the last Chinese Dynasty", S. M. Ivanov (St. Petersburg.State Institution) "The East in the context of globalization: problems and judgments", N. A. Samoilov (SPb.GU) "Anthropologization of historiography: an interdisciplinary synthesis and perspective of Oriental studies". E. A. Rezvan, Deputy Director of the MAE RAS, presented interesting material on the Ijma-Consent project to the conference participants.

N. A. Dobronravii, N. N. Dyakov, N. V. Kozyreva, B. N. Melnichenko, G. Ya. Smolin, T. N. Sultanov, A.V. Filippov, R. A. Yanson and the chief coordinator summed up the results of the conference "Source Studies and Historiography of Asian and African countries" in their reports "Schools of Young Orientalists " M. N. Malashevskaya.

The Conference confirmed the extreme relevance of studying classical monuments and modern materials on the historiography of Asian and African countries - vast civilizational areas, whose contribution to the world historical process is difficult to overestimate, and the need to develop these studies with the full range of tools and opportunities that open up today for Orientalists and Africanists.

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