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1 Introduction

In 18th–19th century Russian literature, depictions of China were largely based on books rather than reality. In the 20th century, a large number of Chinese laborers entered Russia, participating in the Russian Civil War, with approximately 40,000–50,000 joining the Red Army, while some scholars estimate the total reached 150,000–200,000. The involvement of these laborers prompted Soviet writers to focus on and create works about Chinese Red Army soldiers, such as Pilnyak’s St. Petersburg and Bulgakov’s The Chinese Tale. While domestic scholarship has extensively studied Chinese imagery in Russian and Soviet literature, research on depictions of China in 1920s Soviet Civil War narratives remains limited. This paper explores how early Soviet writers portrayed China in Civil War-themed works—a period when official political stereotypes about China had not yet solidified, and the influx of Chinese laborers into Russia, along with their participation in the war, diminished the "exotic" perception of China. This study helps clarify the genuine understanding and attitudes of early Soviet writers toward China.

2 The Image of China in The Naked Year—A Mystical Symbol

Pilnyak, a Soviet writer, frequently incorporated Chinese imagery and elements into his works, particularly in his masterpiece The Naked Year, where he employs "wordplay" to link Moscow’s "Kitay-Gorod" (Chinatown) with China, constructing a symbolic triad of "Chinese cities" representing Russian land. These "Chinese cities" take on different appearances by day and night, embodying Western capitalist influences and Eastern mysticism, respectively. Pilnyak treats "China" as a mystical symbol for Russia, using it to depict the transformative effects of revolution on the nation. Scholars note that these "Chinese cities" metaphorically represent the latent destructive forces within the people. In other works, Pilnyak draws parallels between Chinese and Russian history and culture, such as comparing Qin Shi Huang’s construction of the Great Wall with Peter the Great’s founding of St. Petersburg. Although Pilnyak had some knowledge of China, his writings convey a sense of incomprehension and distance, often treating China as a literary device to explore Russian issues.

3 The Chinese Figure in The Chinese Tale—A Laborer-Turned-Soldier

The Chinese Tale (1923) is a short story by Bulgakov, depicting in six vignettes the life of Bo Xianjin, a Chinese laborer who joins the Red Army and dies in battle. Bulgakov vividly portrays Bo as physically strong while highlighting the harsh living conditions of Chinese immigrants in Russia. Through sparse dialogue—exchanges of "have" and "have not" between Bo and an elderly Chinese roommate—the story exposes the struggles of its characters. The linguistic pairing of "have" and "have not" structures the narrative, as noted by the narrator. Bo finds solace in the melody of a clock, associating its beauty with Lenin and the Red Army. Bulgakov does not endow Bo with explicit revolutionary ideals but instead portrays him as an ordinary man driven by circumstance, clinging to a vague sense of hope. Bo is simple, tinged with Eastern exoticism—his face bears a "saffron-like smile," and he is praised by comrades as a "master." The camaraderie warms him, and when faced with defeat, he refuses to surrender, dying at the hands of the White Army while remembering the praise of his fellow soldiers. Through fragmented storytelling, Bulgakov paints a multifaceted picture of Chinese laborers in Russia, leaving room for open interpretation. His portrayal of Bo is lifelike yet retains an exotic quality, such as Bo’s marksmanship and his accented Russian. Bulgakov’s political detachment allows him to observe the harsh realities of Chinese laborers in Russia from an outsider’s perspective.

4 The Chinese Figure in Armored Train 14-69—A Revolutionary Warrior

In Vsevolod Ivanov’s novel Armored Train 14-69 and its theatrical adaptation, the Chinese guerrilla fighter Shen Binwu embodies proletarian conviction and internationalist spirit. Based on real events from the Russian Civil War, Shen sacrifices himself to stop an armored train, symbolizing internationalist solidarity. Through Shen, Ivanov conveys faith in the unity of the revolutionary cause and the connection between Chinese and Soviet struggles. The novel’s mythologized "Chinese dragon" imagery frames Shen as a comrade in the shared revolutionary struggle, constructing a narrative of ideological kinship. In the early 1920s, Soviet literary depictions of China and its people shifted from fiction to documentary realism. By the late 1920s, as Sino-Soviet ties deepened, Soviet writers gained more firsthand exposure to China, grounding their works in real-life accounts. Later Civil War narratives increasingly portrayed Chinese figures as embodiments of lofty ideals and steadfast belief, whereas early 1920s writers—operating with greater independence—depicted varied Chinese images, reflecting an evolution from ambiguity to clarity, imagination to realism.

5 Conclusion

Since the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War, Soviet ideology and culture have profoundly influenced Chinese society and literary creation. The contributions of Chinese laborers to the Soviet Revolution spurred Soviet writers to engage directly with China, drawing on diverse sources to depict real-life Chinese people and their experiences. Soviet literature introduced Chinese soldier figures set in the Far East, Siberia, and western border regions. Pilnyak, Bulgakov, and Ivanov portrayed China and its people from distinct angles, reflecting evolving understandings of Chinese culture, laborer life, and internationalist spirit. Compared to 19th-century Russian literature, their depictions were more grounded in reality, with reduced exoticism, rooted in contemporary events and firsthand accounts. Post-Civil War, Soviet writers and poets turned their attention to China’s revolutionary cause, shifting their "Chinese tales" and "Chinese imagery" from fiction to documentary, abstraction to specificity, marking a growing engagement with Chinese reality. The Chinese figures in early Soviet Civil War literature signify the starting point of this transformative trend in Soviet literary portrayals of China.

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