Introduction

Abstract

The seventeenth century was a momentous epoch. While western European countries were busy expanding westward and eastward, Russia, quietly crossed the Ural Mountains, absorbed Siberia and reached as far as Alaska. Russia did not expand toward the East without opposition from the western European countries. In the last half of the sixteenth century, inspired by the “gorgeous East,” the Dutch and the English made many efforts to find a northern passage to China to attain gold, gems, silks, pearls and spices.¹ They attempted to reach China by land routes but were hindered by continual wars between the Kazaks and Mongol tribes, as is indicated in a letter written by an English traveler, Jenkinson, in 1559.² They also attempted to reach China by way of the Northern Ocean, but the Arctic weather foiled all of these efforts.