InRussian folklore theOponskoye Kingdom (Russian:Опонское/опоньское царство,romanized: Oponskoye/opon'skoe tsarstvo, supposed to meanYaponskoye tsarstvo, or "kingdom of Japan"),[1][2] or as some English-language sources have it,Kingdom of Opona, is amythical kingdom, envisioned byRussianpeasants as lying at the edge of theflat Earth. Here, they believed, the peasants lived happy lives undisturbed by thestate or thegentry,[3] under a "White Tsar" who ruled truly and justly.[4] Other names in legend include theGolden Land[5]the Land ofChud[6]andBelovodye [ru] ("Land of White Water").[4][1]
The myth of theUtopian kingdom of old Russia is similar to other myths of "earthly paradises",[Notes 1][7] - out of sight but possibly reachable - likeShambhala,El Dorado, etc. - by the right courageous explorer.[4]
Initially some Russians treated the tale ofBelovodye as hearsay about a real place.[8]Groups of peasants from various regions of Russia wandered in thefar north of Russia trying to find the mythical utopia.[3] There was strain ofOld Believers called"Runners" [ru] (Russian:Бегуны) or "Wanderers" (Russian:странники), since they spent their lives wandering, and some researchers asserted that they were instrumental in the propagation of the legend. However other researchers have arguments against this hypothesis.[1] About 1900 the tale gradually transformed from a "real thing" into an element of Russian folklore.[9]
^Brown, Matt; Davies, Rhys B. (28 September 2021). "Kingdom of Opona".Atlas of Imagined Places: from Lilliput to Gotham City. Atlases of the Imagination. London: Batsford Books.ISBN9781849947428. Retrieved22 February 2025.Kingdom of Opona [...] A fabled utopian kingdom, lying somewhere beyond the bounds of charted Russia [...] this realm [...] is also known as the Golden Land, Land of Chud and Belovodye.
^Ellwood, Robert (1 January 2008). "The End of Days and the Life Everlasting: Eschatological Myths".Myth: Key Concepts in Religion. Key Concepts in Religion. London: A&C Black. p. 97.ISBN9781847062345. Retrieved22 February 2025.In old Russia persistent legends whispered of a Kingdom of God in some far distant corner of the vast Russian Empire, called the Belovode, Kingdom of Opona, the Golden Land, the Land of Chud, where a "White Tsar" ruled truly and justly, and which could be found by those who sought it diligently enough. There were those called Wanderers who made it their lifework to try to find the mysterious paradise.
^Katkova, S. S. (2009). "Город Всеобщего Благоденствия".Вестник Костромского государственного университета им. Н. А. Некрасова. Серия «Гуманитарные науки» [Bulletin of N. A. Nekrasov Kostroma State University. Series "Humanities"] (in Russian). Vol. 15. Энтелехия: Журнал. pp. 102–112.
^Мальцев, А. И. (2002)."Беловодье".Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediyaПравославная энциклопедия [Orthodox Encyclopedia] (in Russian). Vol. 4: Афанасий — Бессмертие. Moscow: Церковно-научный центр «Православная Энциклопедия».ISBN5-89572-009-9. Retrieved22 February 2025. pp. 534–535:Широкое распространение списков «Путешественника» и слухов о Б. стимулировали попытки поисков этой земли, прежде всего со стороны алтайских крестьян, неск. коллективных побегов в Б. с Алтая, в к-рых принимали участие как беспоповцы, так и поповцы, имели место в 1826-1897 гг. [...] В 1898 г. на поиски Б. отправилась группа уральских казаков, побывавших на Ближ. Востоке, на Цейлоне, в Сингапуре, Китае, Японии.
^Мальцев, А. И. (2002)."Беловодье".Pravoslavnaya entsiklopediyaПравославная энциклопедия [Orthodox Encyclopedia] (in Russian). Vol. 4: Афанасий — Бессмертие. Moscow: Церковно-научный центр «Православная Энциклопедия».ISBN5-89572-009-9. Retrieved22 February 2025. pp. 534–535:Периодом наиболее активной жизни беловодской легенды следует считать 50-80-е гг. XIX в., в кон. XIX - нач. XX в. легенда постепенно стала приобретать фольклорный характер.
