Zakharov-Shabat-Mikhailov scheme of construction of two-dimensional completely integrable field theories

General algebraic and analytic formalism for derivation and solution of general two dimensional field theory equations of Zakharov-Shabat-Mikhailov type is presented. The examples presented show that this class of equations covers most of the known two-dimensional completely integrable equations. Possible generalizations for four dimensional systems require detailed analysis of Baecklund transformation of these equations. Baecklund transformation is presented in the form of Riemann problem and one special case of dual symmetry is worked out. (orig.)