The Reception of the Yijing in the Context of Russian Orthodox Theology: A Dialectical Reconstruction of Alienation and Agreement

The Book of Changes (Yijing), as a foundational classic of Chinese thought, has been received within the framework of Russian Orthodox theology through a distinctive process of dialectical reconstruction, characterized by both alienation and agreement. This study examines how Russian scholars have translated and interpreted the Yijing, seeking to integrate its impersonal cosmological philosophy into a religious system centered on a personal God. It argues that the religious and philosophical orientations of Russian Yijing studies operate in a dialectical mode: on the one hand, translators employ strategies of alienation to recast the Yijing’s impersonal cosmology as moral or phenomenological notions; on the other hand, through strategies of agreement, they embed its core concepts within the Orthodox theological context, thereby endowing them with renewed universality and practical relevance. By combining textual analysis with philosophical interpretation, the research reveals how the Yijing has been reshaped in Russian cultural and religious contexts. It demonstrates that the transmission of non-Western classics in specific religious environments is not a one-way cultural export, but a dialogical process with local traditions that generates new intellectual forms, thereby offering a valuable case study for cross-cultural religious dialog.