Fyodor Baykov

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Fyodor Isakovich Baykov (Russian: Фёдор Исакович Байков, c. 1612-c. 1663) was the first Russian envoy to China. Like many later Russian ambassadors to China (Nicolae Milescu, Sava Vladislavich) he left a detailed account of his journey.

Russia's expansion along the Amur River and establishment of the Cossack settlements such as Albazin enraged the Manchurian government of the Qing Empire. In 1654 Tsar Alexis sent Baykov to the court of the Shunzhi Emperor to negotiate a treaty establishing regular trade between Moscow and Beijing.

Baykov's mission embarked from Tobolsk up the Irtysh River in autumn 1654. It took them more than a year to cross Dzungaria and Gobi. In 1655 they visited Kalgan before arriving in the Forbidden City on 3 March 1656.

As a precondition for being received by the Shunzhi Emperor, Baykov was ordered to perform a series of prostrations and genuflections. He flatly refused to follow the ritual that symbolized his country's submission to the Emperor and, after several months of isolation, was expelled from China's capital (4 September, 1656).

[edit] References

• Mancall, Mark. Russia and China: Their Diplomatic Relations to 1728. Harvard University Press, 1971.