Aleksei Ivanovich Ivanov
Encyclopedia
Aleksei Ivanovich Ivanov was a Russian
Sinologist
and Tangutologist. Ivanov entered Saint Petersburg University
in 1897, where he studied Chinese
and Manchu
. After graduating in 1902 he went to China for further study for two years, and on his return in 1904 he went on a study tour of England, France and German for a year. He was appointed a lecturer in Chinese at Saint Petersburg University in 1904, and he was made a professor Chinese and Manchu in 1915. In 1922 Ivanov was apponted as a senior dragoman
(interpreter) at the Soviet
embassy in Beijing
. In the summer of 1937, during the Great Purge
, Ivanov was arrested and executed.
Ivanov was the first scholar to study the printed books and manuscripts written in the as yet undeciphered Tangut script
that had been found in the abandoned city of Khara-Khoto
in Inner Mongolia
by Pyotr Kozlov
in 1908–1909. In autumn 1909 as many as 24,000 volumes of books and manuscripts in Chinese, Tangut and other languages, together with numerous archaeological artefacts, had been sent to the Russian Geographical Society
in Saint Petersburg by Kozlov. The books and manuscripts were subsequently moved to the Asiatic Museum of the Academy of Sciences, which later became the Saint Petersburg branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
. Together with V. L. Kotvich, a scholar of Mongolian
and Manchu
, Ivanov worked on the identification and preservation of the books and manuscripts from Khara-Khoto. Among these books Ivanov discovered a bilingual Chinese-Tangut glossary called the Pearl in the Palm
which he realised was the key to deciphering the Tangut language. He later discovered three monolingual Tangut dictionaries and glossaries: Homophones ; Sea of Characters ; and Mixed Characters . Based on the Pearl in the Palm and the other dictionaries, Ivanov was able to compile a dictionary of about 3,000 Tangut characters. The dictionary was completed in 1918, and deposited at the Asiatic Museum, where it remained until 1922, when Ivanov took it back. Due to the unstable political situation at the time, the dictionary was never published, and was not even known to Ivanov's most famous student, Nikolai Aleksandrovich Nevsky
, whose posthumous work, Tangut Philology (1960), laid the bedrock for modern Tangut scholarship. Ivanov's dictionary, which was at his home at the time of his arrest and execution in 1937, has never been seen since.
463–477.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
Sinologist
Sinology
Sinology in general use is the study of China and things related to China, but, especially in the American academic context, refers more strictly to the study of classical language and literature, and the philological approach...
and Tangutologist. Ivanov entered Saint Petersburg University
Saint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg State University is a Russian federal state-owned higher education institution based in Saint Petersburg and one of the oldest and largest universities in Russia....
in 1897, where he studied Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and Manchu
Manchu language
Manchu is a Tungusic endangered language spoken in Northeast China; it used to be the language of the Manchu, though now most Manchus speak Mandarin Chinese and there are fewer than 70 native speakers of Manchu out of a total of nearly 10 million ethnic Manchus...
. After graduating in 1902 he went to China for further study for two years, and on his return in 1904 he went on a study tour of England, France and German for a year. He was appointed a lecturer in Chinese at Saint Petersburg University in 1904, and he was made a professor Chinese and Manchu in 1915. In 1922 Ivanov was apponted as a senior dragoman
Dragoman
A dragoman was an interpreter, translator and official guide between Turkish, Arabic, and Persian-speaking countries and polities of the Middle East and European embassies, consulates, vice-consulates and trading posts...
(interpreter) at the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
embassy in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. In the summer of 1937, during the Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
, Ivanov was arrested and executed.
Ivanov was the first scholar to study the printed books and manuscripts written in the as yet undeciphered Tangut script
Tangut script
The Tangut script was a logographic writing system, used for writing the extinct Tangut language of the Western Xia Dynasty. According to the latest count, 5863 Tangut characters are known, excluding variants...
that had been found in the abandoned city of Khara-Khoto
Khara-Khoto
Khara-Khoto was a Tangut city in the Ejin khoshuu of Alxa League, in western Inner Mongolia, near the former Gashun Lake. It has been identified as the city of Etzina, which appears in The Travels of Marco Polo.-History:...
in Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
by Pyotr Kozlov
Pyotr Kozlov
Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov was a Russian and Soviet traveler and explorer who continued the studies of Nikolai Przhevalsky in Mongolia and Tibet.Although prepared by his parents for military career, Kozlov chose to join Przhevalsky's expedition. After his mentor's death, Kozlov continued travelling in...
in 1908–1909. In autumn 1909 as many as 24,000 volumes of books and manuscripts in Chinese, Tangut and other languages, together with numerous archaeological artefacts, had been sent to the Russian Geographical Society
Russian Geographical Society
The Russian Geographical Society is a learned society, founded on 6 August 1845 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.-Imperial Geographical Society:Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, it was known as the Imperial Russian Geographical Society....
in Saint Petersburg by Kozlov. The books and manuscripts were subsequently moved to the Asiatic Museum of the Academy of Sciences, which later became the Saint Petersburg branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences , formerly Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, is Russia's leading research institution for the study of the countries and cultures of Asia and North Africa...
. Together with V. L. Kotvich, a scholar of Mongolian
Mongolian language
The Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...
and Manchu
Manchu language
Manchu is a Tungusic endangered language spoken in Northeast China; it used to be the language of the Manchu, though now most Manchus speak Mandarin Chinese and there are fewer than 70 native speakers of Manchu out of a total of nearly 10 million ethnic Manchus...
, Ivanov worked on the identification and preservation of the books and manuscripts from Khara-Khoto. Among these books Ivanov discovered a bilingual Chinese-Tangut glossary called the Pearl in the Palm
Pearl in the Palm
The Pearl in the Palm is a bilingual glossary between the Chinese language and Tangut which transcribes the pronunciation of Chinese words into Tangut characters, and the pronunciation of Tangut characters into Chinese characters...
which he realised was the key to deciphering the Tangut language. He later discovered three monolingual Tangut dictionaries and glossaries: Homophones ; Sea of Characters ; and Mixed Characters . Based on the Pearl in the Palm and the other dictionaries, Ivanov was able to compile a dictionary of about 3,000 Tangut characters. The dictionary was completed in 1918, and deposited at the Asiatic Museum, where it remained until 1922, when Ivanov took it back. Due to the unstable political situation at the time, the dictionary was never published, and was not even known to Ivanov's most famous student, Nikolai Aleksandrovich Nevsky
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Nevsky
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Nevsky was a Russian and Soviet linguist, an expert on a number of East Asian languages. He was one of the founders of the modern study of the Tangut language of the mediaeval Xi Xia Empire, the work for which he...
, whose posthumous work, Tangut Philology (1960), laid the bedrock for modern Tangut scholarship. Ivanov's dictionary, which was at his home at the time of his arrest and execution in 1937, has never been seen since.
Works
- 1909. "Из находок П. К. Козлова в г. Хара-хото" [From the finds of P. K. Kozlov at Kharakhoto]; in Izvestiia Imperatorskogo Geograficheskogo obshchestva [Bulletin of the Imperial Geographical Society], vol. XLV pp. * 1911. "Страница из истории Си-ся" [A chapter in the history of Xixia]; in Izvestiia Imperatorskoi Akademii Nauk [Bulletin of the Imperial Academy of Sciences] pp. 831-836.
- 1909. "Zur Kenntniss der Hsi-hsia-Sprache"; in Izvestiia Imperatorskoi Akademii Nauk [Bulletin of the Imperial Academy of Sciences], series VI pp. 1221–1233.
- 1913. "Документы из города Хара-хото" [Documents from Khara-khoto]; in Izvestiia Imperatorskoi Akademii Nauk [Bulletin of the Imperial Academy of Sciences].
463–477.
- 1918. "Памятники тангутского письма" [Tangut manuscripts]; in Izvestiia Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk [Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences], series VI pp.1221–1233.
- 1920. "Monuments de l'écriture tangout"; in Journal Asiatique, series XI pp.107–109.