E-mail: yasya11111@mail.ru Tel.: +7 (4162) 23-47-09
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PhD Candidate, Department of Religious Studies and History, Amur State University
This article discusses the calendar rituals of Russians in Trekhrechye, past and present. The research is based on archival publications and field expeditions during 2015–2019 in the area of Trekhrechye (Inner Mongolia Region, PRC) in which Russians are concentrated. In the culture of the Russian population of Trekhrechye who inherited the traditions of Russian Transbaikal, calendar cycle rituals were preserved in complete form until the mid-1950s. Years of political reaction and then the “cultural revolution” led to the neglect of the Russian language, Russian culture, and religious traditions. A revival of calendar rituals among the Russians of Trekhrechye began during the era of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms. However, it did not prove possible to restore the cycle of calendar holidays and their spiritual content fully. The last keepers of tradition and their children were leaving the area, while most descendants of Russian-Chinese marriages of the third and later generations abandoned religion. Calendar rites turned from an ethno-cultural marker of Russianness to a way to attract tourists from the southern regions of China. Nowadays, Eas- ter, Radonitsa, Ascension and Trinity have not lost their relevance for Trekhrechye residents, but these celebrations have acquired a secular character, losing their religious meaning. At the same time, the calendar rites of the Russian population of Trekhrechye represent an example of “triple belief” — a combination of Orthodox, pre-Christian and Chinese folk beliefs.
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