Irina Fedorovna Popova (; born September 28, 1961) is a Russian sinologist and historian. Since April 2003 she has been the Director of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IOM RAS) at Saint Petersburg, Russia. She is also Head of the Department of Manuscripts and Documents of the IOM RAS, and Full Professor at St Petersburg State University.
Popova has been a visiting scholar with the Center for Chinese Studies in Taipei (Taiwan), University of Pennsylvania (US), Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (Copenhagen, Denmark), and Peking University (China).
Popova graduated in 1983 from the St Petersburg State University (Faculty of Asian and African Studies, Department of the History of Far East), and completed her Ph.D. in 1989 at the Russian Academy of Sciences. She holds a Doctor of Sciences degree in history (2000) from the Russian Academy of Sciences. The subject of her Ph.D. thesis (in Russian) is "Rules for Emperors" ("Difan") by Tang Taizong as a source on the Chinese Political Thought of the 7th century, and the subject of her Doctoral thesis (in Russian) is The Theory of the State Rulership in the Early Tang China.
Honorary Professor of several universities in China: Lanzhou, Ningxia, Shandong, Peoplesâ University of China (Beijing), Shaanxi Normal University (XiâÂÂan), Honorary Doctor of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of China. Member of the Council on Science and Education under the President of the Russian Federation (since 2020).
Basing primarily on the documents of the Tang dynasty, Popova has contributed to the study of imperial rulership in medieval China and the study of the influence of the political practice and imperial ideology in pre-modern China. She has introduced into the academic use the original documents from Dunhuang and Turfan, Chinese epigraphic texts, visual sources on the history of Qing dynasty, archival material on the history of Russian expeditions in Central Asia and history of the Oriental studies.
Popova is an author of more than 200 academic works [6], including 9 monographs (5 of them are collective); editor of 19 collected works; Editor-in-chief of academic journals: âÂÂPis'mennye pamiatniki Vostokaâ (âÂÂWritten Monuments of the Orientâ in Russian), âÂÂStrany i Narody Vostokaâ (âÂÂCountries and Peoples of the OrientâÂÂ), âÂÂWritten Monuments of the Orientâ (English version); Deputy Chair of the editorial board of the academic series âÂÂPamiatniki pismennosti Vostokaâ (âÂÂWritten Monuments in the Oriental ScriptsâÂÂ). Member of the editorial boards of Russian and foreign academic periodicals, including âÂÂTurfan Studiesâ (âÂÂTulufan YanjiuâÂÂ, in China), âÂÂStudy of the Documents in the Chinese Minorities Scriptsâ (âÂÂMinzu guji YanjiuâÂÂ, China), âÂÂStudia Orientalia Slovacaâ (University of Bratislava), etc.
1. ÃÂþÿþòð ÃÂ. ä. [Popova I. F.]. ÃÂþûøÃÂøÃÂõÃÂúðàÿÃÂðúÃÂøúð ø øôõþûþóøàÃÂðýýõÃÂðýÃÂúþóþ ÃÂøÃÂðà[Political Practice and Ideology of Early Tang China]. Moscow, Vostochnaya Literatura Publishers, 1999, 279 pp.; Review: V. S. Myasnikov. In: Problemy DalâÂÂnego Vostoka (Problems of the Far East), 2001, No. 1, pp. 179âÂÂ182.
2. Popova I. F. The Administrative and Legal Regulations of the Tang Emperors for the Frontier Territories. In: Central Asian Law: An Historical Overview. A Festschrift for The Ninetieth Birthday of Herbert Franke. Ed. by W. Johnson, I. F. Popova. Society for Asian Legal History, The Hall Center for the Humanities, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Ks., 2004, ÃÂÃÂ. 41âÂÂ54. 3. æøýÃÂúøù ÃÂõúøý. ÃÂðÃÂÃÂøýàýðÃÂþôýþù öø÷ýø (üøýÃÂÃÂÃÂàÃÂð) [Beijing During the Qing Dynasty: Pictures of Folklife (Minsuhua)]. Introduction, translation from Chinese, commentaries by I. F. Popova. St. Petersburg, Slavia Publishers, 2009, 248 pp.; Reviews: T. A. Pang. In: Pis'mennye pamiatniki Vostoka (Written Monuments of the Orient), 1 (12), 2010, pp. 277âÂÂ279; Walravens, Hartmut. In: Monumenta Serica. No. 59 (2011), ÃÂÃÂ. 586âÂÂ588.
4. Dunhuang Studies: Prospects and Problems for the Coming Second Century of Research / æÂ¦ç Âå¸:第äºÂÃ¥ÂÂç¾年çÂÂç Âç©¶è¦Âè§ÂèÂÂÃ¥ÂÂé¡ / ÃÂÃÂýÃÂàÃÂðýþòõôõýøõ: ÿõÃÂÃÂÿõúÃÂøòàø ÿÃÂþñûõüàòÃÂþÃÂþóþ ÃÂÃÂþûõÃÂøàøÃÂÃÂûõôþòðýøù. Ed. by I. Popova and Liu Yi. St. Petersburg, Slavia Publishers, 2012, 367 pp.; Review: 榮æÂ°æ± Rong Xinjiang. ä¿Âç¾ æÂ¯çÂÂæÂ¦ç Âå¸ --- è©ÂãÂÂæÂ¦ç Âå¸ï¼Â第äºÂÃ¥ÂÂç¾年çÂÂç Âç©¶è¦Âè§ÂèÂÂÃ¥ÂÂé¡ÂãÂÂÃ¥ÂÂå ¶ä» [Dunhuang Studies in Russia. On the Book âÂÂDunhuang Studies: Prospects and Problems for the Coming Second Century of Researchâ : and others. In: æÂ¦ç ÂÃ¥ÂÂé¯çªç Âç©¶ [Journal of the Dunhuang and Turfan Studies]. No. XIII (2013), pp. 563âÂÂ578 (in Chinese).
5. âðýóÃÂÃÂàò æõýÃÂÃÂðûÃÂýþù ÃÂ÷øø [Tanguts in Central Asia: Collected Work in Honor of the 80th Anniversary of Prof. E. I. Kychanov]. Ed. by I. F. Popova. Moscow, Vostochnaya Literatura Publishers, 2012, 501 pp.[12]
6. ÃÂÃÂÃÂþÃÂøàÃÂøÃÂðààôÃÂõòýõùÃÂøàòÃÂõüõý ôþ ýðÃÂðûð XXI òõúð [The History of China from Ancient Times to the Beginning of the 21st century] in 10 volumes. Ed. by S. L. Tikhvinskyi: vol. III: âÃÂþõÃÂðÃÂÃÂÃÂòøõ, æ÷øýÃÂ, îöýÃÂõ ø áõòõÃÂýÃÂõ ôøýðÃÂÃÂøø, áÃÂù, âðý (220âÂÂ907) [Three Kingdoms, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang (220âÂÂ907)]. Ed. by I. F. Popova, M. E. Kravtsova. Moscow, Nauka - Vostochnaya Literatura Publishers, 2014, 991 pp., .
7. ÃÂÃÂÃÂþÃÂøàÃÂøÃÂðààôÃÂõòýõùÃÂøàòÃÂõüõý ôþ ýðÃÂðûð XXI òõúð [The History of China from Ancient Times to the Beginning of the 21st century] in 10 volumes. Ed. by S. L. Tikhvinsky: vol. IV. ÃÂõÃÂøþô ÃÂÃÂÃÂø ôøýðÃÂÃÂøù, øüÿõÃÂøàáÃÂý, óþÃÂÃÂôðÃÂÃÂÃÂòð ÃÂÃÂþ, æ÷øýÃÂ, áø áà(907âÂÂ1279) [The Period of the Five Dynasties, the Song Empire, the States of Liao, Jin, Xi Xia (907âÂÂ1279)]. Ed. by I. F. Popova. Moscow, Nauka âÂÂVostochnaya Literatura Publishers, 2016, 942 pp.: .
8. áûþòðÃÂø úÃÂàÃÂøýÃÂúþóþ ÿøôöøýð [Vocabularies of Kyakhta Pidgin]. Translation from Chinese, publication, transcription, research and annexes by I. F. Popova and Takata Tokio. Moscow: Nauka - Vostochnaya Literatura Publishers, 2017. 603 pp. + facsimile. (Pamiatniki pismennosti Vostoka [Written Monuments in the Oriental Scripts] CL.): .
9. ÃÂþÿþòð ÃÂ. ä. [Popova I. F.]. ÃÂõüÃÂÃÂöøýàúøÃÂðùÃÂúøàúþûûõúÃÂøù ÃÂýÃÂÃÂøÃÂÃÂÃÂð òþÃÂÃÂþÃÂýÃÂàÃÂÃÂúþÿøÃÂõù àÃÂÃÂ/ Pearls from the Chinese Collections of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS. St. Petersburg: Kvarta Publishers, 2018: .
10. ÃÂ÷øðÃÂcúøù ÃÂÃÂ÷õù â ÃÂýÃÂÃÂøÃÂÃÂàòþÃÂÃÂþÃÂýÃÂàÃÂÃÂúþÿøÃÂõù àÃÂÃÂ. ÃÂÃÂÃÂõòþôøÃÂõûà[Asiatic Museum â Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS. Collections and Personalia. Moscow: Nauka â Vostochnaya Literatura Publishers, 2018.
11. ÃÂþÿþòð ÃÂ.ä., ÃÂñôÃÂàðûøúþò ä.ä. ÃÂÃÂûÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂýþõ ýðÃÂûõôøõ ã÷ñõúøÃÂÃÂðýð ò ÃÂþñÃÂðýøÃÂàüøÃÂð. áþñÃÂðýøõ ÃÂýÃÂÃÂøÃÂÃÂÃÂð òþÃÂÃÂþÃÂýÃÂàÃÂÃÂúþÿøÃÂõù àÃÂà2020 ISBN 978-9943-4865-5-3