Analysis of old Chinese administrative terminology as a new field of research

All traditional Chinese texts, from dynastic histories to verse and fiction, are full of names of institutions and positions. Meanwhile, in Russian Sinology there has not been and still is not a single dictionary of such terminology. This is even more unacceptable since in medieval China itself such names were selected very carefully and with great responsibility. In fact, the official titles in traditional China are the closest derivatives of the state ideology, allowing us to trace the changes and priorities of that ideology. Analysis of administrative names provides unique opportunities for studying this ideology and is the only way to create at last the long-awaited dictionary of such terminology, which is so lacking in Russian Oriental studies.