Drobotushenko E. V.

Christian Union of Young People in Harbin in the mid-1920s: Its Structure and Activities  P. 27 –34.

UDC 94(47).084.5

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2023.78.1.003

Abstract. The article is based on statistical data and provides a detailed description of the structure, administration, types and scope of activities of one of the most interesting organizations of Russians in China, the Young People’s Christian Union (YPCU) in Harbin. The author notes that up to now, its history has not attracted sufficient attention of researchers, although this was the only branch of the interconfessional world organization “Christian Union of Young People” (“Young Man’s Christian Association”) (YMCA) created to work “among Russians”. Available separate scientific or popular scientific publications present certain facts, but the general history of YPCU in Harbin has not been reconstructed. The basis of the current study is reports on the activities of the organization in the middle of the 1930s. They give an idea about some aspects of the history of the YPCU in Harbin at the initial stage of its existence. The amount of work carried out by the organization suggests that it played a fairly important role in the Russian emigrant community in northeast China. YPCU in Harbin was actively engaged in educational and upbringing activities among emigrants from the former Russian Empire. A number of facts from the history of the Christian Union of Young People in Harbin still require clarifying. Today, for example, it is not entirely clear how its interaction was organized by the “head structure”, and there is little information about the Union’s work in the late 1920s — early 1930s. All these considerations suggest a need for further serious work with sources within the subject field.

Keywords: China, educational and upbringing activities, public organization, religion, Russian emigration, Harbin, Christian Union of Young People, Christianity.

 

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