On October 13, 2012, N. I. Fomina, a talented scholar, historian and Sinologist, passed away. Natalia Ivanovna was an amazing, truly sunny person, with a kind and sincere heart. She was able to support her colleagues in difficult times, always giving a piece of warmth to the people around her.

Natalya Ivanovna's character was formed during her student years, during the Khrushchev thaw, when people had hope to change their lives for the better. Natalia Ivanovna not only carried this hope through her entire life, but also did everything in her power to make it a reality. Since her youth, she had felt a genuine interest in the East. Therefore, during her student years, while studying at the Moscow State University Faculty of History, she began to study the Chinese language, Chinese history and culture, and later expanded her interests to a wider area, covering almost the entire Far East and South Asia. Boundless scientific "curiosity", high professionalism, demanding attitude to herself and her colleagues found their embodiment in the form of collections that were diverse in their subject matter, in the creation of which she was directly involved as a contributing editor. In her works, Natalia Ivanovna had an amazing ability to feel and systematize historical experience.

material, especially when it came to the two regions she most liked-China and India.

N. I. Fomina was born on January 20, 1932, in the village of St. Petersburg. Verkhnyaya Salda of the Sverdlovsk region in a family of employees. In 1955, she graduated from the History Department of Moscow State University. Candidate of Historical Sciences (01.06.1973). From 1957 until her death, N. I. Fomina was a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. During her research activities, she wrote about 40 works.

In the 1970s, N. I. Fomina studied changes in the social structure of Southeastern China caused by the defeat of the Chinese state, which failed to resist the invasion of Manchurian troops on the territory of the country in the XVII century. Natalia Ivanovna showed that the foreign invasion caused powerful anti-Qin sentiments among the Chinese population, which often resulted (especially in the South) in anti-Manchu uprisings. In her works, she noted that the place of the Ming Dynasty aristocracy was taken by a foreign-national elite, one of the consequences of whose policy was a sharp reduction in the share of the commercial and industrial population. At the same time, the struggle of the inhabitants of Southern China against the power of a foreign government and for the preservation of ancestral customs led to the fact that the policy of the Qing dynasty rulers in the South was less rigid than in the North of the Middle Kingdom. According to N. I. Fomina, the anti-Qin struggle had an impact not only on the society of that time, but also to a certain extent on the trends of its development in the future. At that time, this topic was poorly studied in both Russian and Western historiography, so the work of N. I. Kropotkin was published in the Russian Academy of Sciences. Fomina was of great interest to specialists in Oriental studies.

One of the main areas of work of N. I. Fomina was her active participation as a contributing editor in writing and publishing various collections, the main subject of which was the culture of the East-politics, economics, history, etiquette, etc. In one of the collections ("Political Intrigue in the East"), N. I. Fomina, after writing her final article, used an unexpected method of analysis - a questionnaire - with the help of which orientalists were given the opportunity to express themselves on a given topic. The novelty of Natalia Ivanovna's approach consisted in the fact that, despite the controversial nature of the opinions expressed, the researcher (and after him, the reader) he could recreate a bright and colorful picture, against which the intrigue in the East unfolded and was largely determined. In determining the role that intrigue played in the life of Eastern societies and investigating its ethnic specifics (i.e., answering the question of whether "Asian" intrigue differs from "Western" intrigue), the experts interviewed by Natalia Ivanovna eventually came to the conclusion that intrigue is a global phenomenon and is more culturological than political. At the same time, intrigue, of course, is an instrument of political struggle, taking into account the variety of its forms and manifestations.

The example of another work by N. I. Fomina ("The idea of the connection between Heaven and Earth in the Indian and Chinese traditions") shows with what awe and professional interest she treated the culture of China and India. The main topic of her research was the comparison of traditional culture of India and China. As a result of the analysis based on the study of various materials, Natalia Ivanovna came to the conclusion that in comparison with the Indian culture, the character of Chinese traditional thought was more "earthly". At the same time, for all the uniqueness of these cultures, they are united by common fundamental features inherent in Eastern traditions.

An important contribution to Russian Sinology can be considered the work on which N. I. Fomina worked for many years - the book "Mosaic of Ancient Chinese Culture", dedicated to the memory of the famous Russian sinologist I. S. Lisevich (1932-2000), which included selected pages of his creative heritage. This book is the result of N. I. Fomina's painstaking work, thanks to which all those who are interested in Ancient China have another opportunity to plunge into the wonderful world of history, literature and philosophy. It can be said that the "unwritten monograph", which was supposed to be the final work of I. S. Lisevich's scientific life, still managed to see the light of day.

"People are alive as long as they are remembered" - the memory of N. I. Fomina will remain not only in the hearts of people who knew and appreciated this amazing, modest, proud and in the full sense of the word intelligent person, but also on the pages of her works, which revealed to readers the infinitely beloved East in all its diversity, beauty, mystery and attraction.

O. A. KOROLEVA, A. L. RYABININ

MAIN SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF N. I. FOMINA*

Cand. dis: Antitsinsk. the struggle in the South-East of China in the middle of the XVII century. Moscow, 1973. 227 p. (AN SSSSR. Institute of Oriental Studies).

Izuchenie v PRC osnovnykh voprosy istorii antitsinskoy borby XVII v. [Studying the main issues of the history of the anti-Qing struggle of the 17th century in China]. Istoricheskaya nauka v PRC, Moscow, 1971, pp. 146-157.

The role of tradition in the forms and methods of anti-Qin struggle in the South-East of China (mid-17th century). pp. 24-276 / / The role of traditions in the history and culture of China. Moscow, 1972.

Wang and the leader of the struggle of the peasants of Zhejiang in the middle of the XVII century / / Agrarian relations and peasant movements in China. Moscow, 1974. pp. 142-155.

Merchants of medieval China in Soviet historiography / / Social and socio-economic history of China, Moscow, 1979, pp. 134-158.

Merchants in the social structure of medieval China / / Social organization in China, Moscow, 1981, pp. 67-99.

Discussion of the problem of "the beginnings of capitalism" in China / / Social Sciences in China, Moscow, 1986, pp. 148-157.

Private property in the East. Collection of articles / Ed. by N. I. Fomin, Moscow, 1998, 493 p.

The role of intrigue in the life of the East. Politicheskaya intriga na Vostoke [Political Intrigue in the East], Moscow, 2000, pp. 387-410 (sovm. with L. R. Fomina).

Introduction / / Man and Nature in the spiritual culture of the East, Moscow, 2004, pp. 3-4 (together with L. S. Vasiliev).

Representations of the connection between Heaven and Earth in Indian and Chinese traditions / / Man and Nature in the spiritual culture of the East, Moscow, 2004, pp. 148-218.

I. S. Lisevich. Mosaika drevnekitayskoi kul'tury: izbrannoe [Mosaic of Ancient Chinese culture: selected works].

Etiquette of the peoples of the East. Normative tradition, ritual, and customs. Collection of articles/ RAS. Institute of Oriental Studies, Moscow: Vostochny lit., 2011, 479 p.

* Compiled by S. D. Miliband.

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