This article introduces the key stages and major figures in the historical development of the Beijing Institute of Russian Language (1899–1935), a leading school offering Russian language education in China at the end of the Qing Dynasty and during the Republican era. The institute attracted several notable Russian sinologists and brought up Chinese translators, who became the leading agents of Russian literary thought in China. Current work discusses the contribution that the school’s lecturers made in the field of intellectual and literary exchange between China and Russia while teaching in the Beijing Institute of Russian Language. It evaluates the translation activities carried out by the graduates, predominantly Geng Jizhi, Qu Qiubai, and Wei Suyuan, reflecting the changing priorities of Chinese literary thought from the beginning of the May 4th movement to the late 1930s.