Abstract：Abstract: The Cathedral Clergy is one of the representative novels by the 19thcentury Russian writer Nicolay Semenovich Leskov. Embodied with the writer’s deep Orthodox complex and strong desire to improve the society, the novel has aroused much notice by scholars at home and abroad. However, the influence of Orthodox Church on the theme of fiction and the novel’s reflection of real life from literary creation’s perspective have been the focus of research while the role that the Orthodox Church plays in the artistic form of fiction creation has been ignored. Taking the perspective of semiotics theory, this article discusses the influence of one of the core concepts of Orthodox ideology, the Messianic consciousness, on the unique artistic expression of the novel The Cathedral Clergy and further explores the means of visualization and dissemination of the ideas of the Orthodox Church in the novel, revealing, ultimately, the artistic charm of this classic work--- the mechanism of meaning regeneration.
Key words：Leskov; The Cathedral Clergy; The Messianic Consciousness; ideas of the Orthodox Church
