A Conscious Choice of Sources

Tomasz Szpot Dunin on Muscovy in Inner Asia and Sino-Russian Relations in Historia Sinarum Imperii

Abstract

This article explores the sources and interpretive frameworks that shaped Tomasz Szpot Dunin’s representation of Muscovy, its position in Inner Asia, and its relations with China at the turn of the eighteenth century. It examines the missionary literature on which he relied, asking whether his account drew on earlier Catholic reports describing attempts to enter and traverse Muscovy, or whether it was based primarily on writings produced by Jesuit missionaries active in China. The study further examines the extent to which Szpot Dunin engaged with information and stereotypes circulating in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and whether his portrayal of Muscovy aligned with Polish–Lithuanian political interests in the aftermath of the Treaty of Grzymułtowski (1686). Finally, it considers how the global aims of the Jesuit Order, including access to Muscovy and the establishment of an overland route to China may have influenced his narrative strategies. By addressing these questions, the article situates Historia Sinarum Imperii within its intellectual, political, and institutional contexts and contributes to ongoing discussions about competing loyalties to royal patrons and other networks of the early modern Jesuit order.