This is a list of states that paid tribute to the Imperial dynasties of China under the tributary system. It encompassed states in Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe. [1]
In the 5th century, a status hierarchy was an explicit element of the tributary system in which Korea and Vietnam were ranked higher than others, including Japan, the Ryukyus, Siam and others. [2] All diplomatic and trade missions were construed in the context of a tributary relationship with China, [3] including:
During Wang Mang's reign, relations with many of the empire's allies and tributaries deteriorated, due in large part to Wang Mang's arrogance and inept diplomacy.
In the 5th century the Wa (Japan during the Kofun period) sent five tributes to the Jin and to the Liu Song dynasty and the emperors promoted the five kings to the title like Supreme Military Commander of the Six States of Wa, Silla, Mimana, Gaya, Jinhan and Mahan.
According to the Xīn Táng shū the kingdom of Zhēnlà had conquered different principalities in Northwestern Cambodia after the end of the Yǒnghuī (永徽) era (i.e. after 31 January 656), which previously (in 638/39) paid tribute to China. [49]
The Chinese retaliated against Cham which was raiding the Rinan coast around 430s-440s by seizing Qusu, and then plundering the capital of the Cham around Huế. Around 100,000 jin in gold was the amount of plunder. Lin Yi then paid 10,000 jin in gold, 100,000 jin in silver, and 300,000 jin in copper in 445 as tribute to China. The final tribute paid to China from Lin Yi was in 749, among the items were 100 strings of pearls, 30 jin gharuwood, baidi, and 20 elephants. [50]
Enslaved people from tributary countries were sent to Tang China by various groups, the Cambodians sent albinos, the Uyghurs sent Turkic Karluks, the Japanese sent Ainu, and Göktürk (Tujue) and Tibetan girls were also sent to China. [51] Prisoners captured from Liaodong, Korea, and Japan were sent as tribute to China from Balhae. [52] Tang dynasty China received 11 Japanese girl dancers as tribute from Balhae in 777. [53]
The Song dynasty received 302 tribute missions from other countries. Vietnamese missions consisted of 45 of them, another 56 were from Champa. More tribute was sent by Champa in order to curry favor from China against Vietnam. [54] Champa brought as tribute Champa rice, a fast-growing rice strain, to China, which massively increased Chinese yields of rice. [55] [56]
In 969 the son of King Li Shengtian named Zongchang sent a tribute mission to China. According to Chinese accounts, the King of Khotan offered to send in tribute to the Chinese court a dancing elephant captured from Kashgar in 970. [57]
The Mongols extracted tribute from throughout their empire. [58] From Goryeo, they received gold, silver, cloth, grain, ginseng, and falcons. [59] [60] The tribute payments were a burden on Goryeo and subjugated polities in the empire. [59] [60] [61] As with all parts of the Mongol Empire, Goryeo provided palace women, eunuchs, Buddhist monks, and other personnel to the Mongols. [62]
Just as Korean women entered the Yuan court, the Korean Koryo kingdom also saw the entry of Mongol women. [63] Great power was attained by some of the Korean women who entered the Yuan court. [64] One example is the Empress Ki (Qi) and her eunuch Bak Bulhwa when they attempted a major coup of Northern China and Koryo. [65] King Ch'ungson (1309–1313) married two Mongol women, Princess Botasirin and a non-royal woman named Yesujin. She gave birth to a son and had a posthumous title of "virtuous concubine". In addition 1324, the Yuan court sent a Mongol princess of Wei named Jintong to the Koryo King Ch'ungsug. [66]
The entry of Korean women into the Yuan court was reciprocated by the entry of Yuan princesses into the Goryeo court, and this affected relations between Korea and the Yuan. Marriages between the imperial family of Yuan existed between certain states. These included the Onggirat tribe, Idug-qut's Uighur tribe, the Oirat tribe, and the Koryo (Korean) royal family. [67] [68]
Under the Ming dynasty, countries that wanted to have any form of relationship with China, political, economic or otherwise, had to enter the tribute system. As a result, tribute was often paid for opportunistic reasons rather than as a serious gesture of allegiance to the Chinese emperor, and the mere fact that tribute was paid may not be understood in a way that China had political leverage over its tributary. [69] Also some tribute missions may just have been up by ingenious traders. A number of countries only paid tribute once, as a result of Zheng He's expeditions. As of 1587, in Chinese sources the following countries are listed to have paid tribute to the Ming emperors: [70]
The Hongwu Emperor started tributary relations in 1368, emissaries being sent to countries like Korea, Vietnam, Champa, Japan, of which Korea, Vietnam, and Champa sent back tribute in 1369. During Hongwu's rule, Liuch'iu sent 20, Korea sent 20, Champa sent 19, and Vietnam sent 14 tribute missions. [71] The tribute system was an economically profitable form of government trade, and Korea requested and successfully increased the number of tributes sent to Ming from once every three years to three times each year starting in 1400, and eventually four times each year starting in 1531. [72]
The 1471 Vietnamese invasion of Champa and Ming Turpan Border Wars were either started by or marked by disruptions in the tribute system.
Tribute in the form of servants, eunuchs, and virgin girls came from: Ming's various ethnic-minority tribes, tribes on the Mongolian Plateau, Korea, [75] Vietnam, [76] Cambodia, Central Asia, Siam, Champa, and Okinawa. [77]
There were Korean, Jurchen, Mongol, Central Asian, and Vietnamese eunuchs under the Yongle Emperor, [78] [79] including Mongol eunuchs who served him while he was the Prince of Yan. [80] In 1381, Muslim and Mongol eunuchs were captured from Yunnan, and possibly among them was the great Ming maritime explorer Zheng He. [81] Vietnamese eunuchs like Ruan Lang, Ruan An, Fan Hong, Chen Wu, and Wang Jin were sent by Zhang Fu to the Ming. [82]
During Ming's early contentious relations with Joseon, when there were disputes such as competition for influence over the Jurchens in Manchuria, Korean officials were even flogged by Korean-born Ming eunuch ambassadors, when their demands were not met. [83] Some of the ambassadors were arrogant, such as Sin Kwi-saeng who, in 1398, got drunk and brandished a knife at a dinner in the presence of the king. [84] [85] Sino-Korean relations later became amiable, and Korean envoys' seating arrangement in the Ming court was always the highest among the tributaries. [83] A total of 198 eunuchs were sent from Korea to Ming. [86]
On 30 Jan 1406, the Ming Yongle Emperor expressed horror when the Ryukyuans castrated some of their own children to become eunuchs in order to give them to Yongle. Yongle said that the boys who were castrated were innocent and didn't deserve castration, and he returned the boys to Ryukyu and instructed them not to send eunuchs again. [87]
Joseon sent a total of 114 women to the Ming dynasty, consisting of 16 virgin girls, accompanied by 48 female servants, 42 cooks (執饌女), and 8 musical performers (歌舞女). [88] [89] The women were sent to the Yongle and Xuande emperors in a total of 7 missions between 1408 and 1433. [89] Xuande was the last Ming emperor to receive human tribute from Korea. [83] with his death in 1435, 53 Korean women were repatriated. [90] [91] There was much speculation that the Yongle Emperor's real mother was a Korean [92] [93] [94] [95] [96] [97] [98] [99] [100] or Mongolian [101] concubine. [102] [103] [104] Relations between Ming China and Joseon Korea improved dramatically and became much more amicable and mutually profitable during Yongle's reign. [96] Yongle and Xuande were said to have a penchant for Korean cuisine and women. [96] [105] [106]
An anti pig slaughter edict led to speculation that the Zhengde Emperor adopted Islam, due to his use of Muslim eunuchs who commissioned the production of porcelain with Persian and Arabic inscriptions in white and blue color. [107] Muslim eunuchs contributed money in 1496 to repairing Niujie Mosque. Central Asian women were provided to the Zhengde Emperor by a Muslim guard and Sayyid Hussein from Hami. [108] The guard was Yu Yung and the women were Uighur. [109]
It is unknown who really was behind the anti-pig slaughter edict. [110] The speculation of him becoming a Muslim is remembered alongside his excessive and debauched behavior along with his concubines of foreign origin. [111] Muslim Central Asian girls were favored by Zhengde, with Korean girls being favored by Xuande. [112] A Uighur concubine was kept by Zhengde. [113] Uighur and Mongol women were favored by the Zhengde emperor. [114]
This list covers states that sent tribute between 1662 and 1875, and were not covered under the Lifan Yuan. Therefore, Tibet or the Khalkha are not included, although they did send tribute in the period given: [115]
After the Second Manchu invasion of Korea, Joseon Korea was forced to give several of their royal princesses as concubines to the Qing Manchu regent Prince Dorgon. [123] [124] [125] [126] [127] [128] [129] In 1650, Dorgon married the Korean Princess Uisun (義順). [130] The Princess' name in Korean was Uisun, she was Prince Yi Kaeyoon's (Kumrimgoon) daughter. [131] Dorgon married two Korean princesses at Lianshan. [132]
The tribute system did not dissolve in 1875, but tribute embassies became less frequent and regular: twelve more Korean embassies until 1894, one more (abortive) from Liuqiu in 1877, three more from Vietnam, and four from Nepal, the last one in 1908. [115]
In 1886, after Britain took over Burma, they maintained the sending of tribute to China, putting themselves in a lower status than in their previous relations. [133] It was agreed in the Burma convention in 1886 that China would recognize Britain's occupation of Upper Burma while Britain continued the Burmese payment of tribute every ten years to Peking. [134]
General:
Zheng He was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during the early Ming dynasty often regarded as the greatest admiral in Chinese history. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferred by the Yongle Emperor. Commissioned by the Yongle Emperor and later the Xuande Emperor, Zheng commanded seven expeditionary treasure voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and East Africa from 1405 to 1433. According to legend, his larger ships carried hundreds of sailors on four decks and were almost twice as long as any wooden ship ever recorded.
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, the majority ethnic group in China. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng, numerous rump regimes ruled by remnants of the Ming imperial family—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662.
The Yongle Emperor, personal name Zhu Di, was the third emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.
Hongwu Emperor, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming (明太祖), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
Jurchen is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian Tungusic-speaking people. They lived in northeastern China, also known as Manchuria, before the 18th century. The Jurchens were renamed Manchus in 1635 by Hong Taiji. Different Jurchen groups lived as hunter-gatherers, pastoralist semi-nomads, or sedentary agriculturists. Generally lacking a central authority, and having little communication with each other, many Jurchen groups fell under the influence of neighbouring dynasties, their chiefs paying tribute and holding nominal posts as effectively hereditary commanders of border guards.
Sinocentrism refers to the worldview that China is the cultural, political, or economic center of the world.
The Ryukyu Kingdom was a kingdom in the Ryukyu Islands from 1429 to 1879. It was ruled as a tributary state of imperial Ming China by the Ryukyuan monarchy, who unified Okinawa Island to end the Sanzan period, and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands and Sakishima Islands. The Ryukyu Kingdom played a central role in the maritime trade networks of medieval East Asia and Southeast Asia despite its small size. The Ryukyu Kingdom became a vassal state of the Satsuma Domain of Japan after the invasion of Ryukyu in 1609 but retained de jure independence until it was transformed into the Ryukyu Domain by the Empire of Japan in 1872. The Ryukyu Kingdom was formally annexed and dissolved by Japan in 1879 to form Okinawa Prefecture, and the Ryukyuan monarchy was integrated into the new Japanese nobility.
The Fourth Era of Northern Domination was a period of Vietnamese history, from 1407 to 1427, during which Ming-dynasty China ruled Vietnam as the province of Jiaozhi. The Ming established their rule in Vietnam following their conquest of the Hồ dynasty in 1406-1407. The fourth period of Chinese rule over Vietnam eventually ended with the establishment of the Lê dynasty in 1428.
The Korean–Jurchen border conflicts were a series of conflicts from the 10th century to the 17th century between the Korean states of Goryeo and Joseon and the Jurchen people.
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, founded by the peasant rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang, known as the Hongwu Emperor, was an imperial dynasty of China. It was the successor to the Yuan dynasty and the predecessor of the short-lived Shun dynasty, which was in turn succeeded by the Qing dynasty. At its height, the Ming dynasty had a population of 160 million people, while some assert the population could actually have been as large as 200 million.
The Ming dynasty considered Tibet to be part of the Western Regions. While the Ming dynasty at its height had some degree of influence in Tibet, the exact nature of their relations is under dispute by modern scholars. Analysis of the relationship is further complicated by modern political conflicts and the application of Westphalian sovereignty to a time when the concept did not exist. The Historical Status of China's Tibet, a book published by the People's Republic of China, asserts that the Ming dynasty had unquestioned sovereignty over Tibet by pointing to the Ming court's issuing of various titles to Tibetan leaders, Tibetans' full acceptance of the titles, and a renewal process for successors of these titles that involved traveling to the Ming capital. Scholars in China also argue that Tibet has been an integral part of China since the 13th century and so it was a part of the Ming Empire. However, most scholars outside China, such as Turrell V. Wylie, Melvyn C. Goldstein, and Helmut Hoffman, say that the relationship was one of suzerainty, Ming titles were only nominal, Tibet remained an independent region outside Ming control, and it simply paid tribute until the Jiajing Emperor, who ceased relations with Tibet.
During the late Zhou dynasty, the inhabitants of the Central Plains began to make a distinction between Hua and Yi, referred to be some historians as the Sino–barbarian dichotomy. They defined themselves as part of cultural and political region known as Huaxia, which they contrasted with the surrounding regions home to outsiders, conventionally known as the Four Barbarians. Although Yi is usually translated as "barbarian", other translations of this term in English include "foreigners", "ordinary others", "wild tribes" and "uncivilized tribes". The Hua–Yi distinction asserted Chinese superiority, but implied that outsiders could become Hua by adopting their culture and customs. These concepts were not unique to Ancient China, but were also applied by the Vietnamese, Japanese, and Koreans, all of whom considered themselves at one point in history to be the "Central Kingdom" in imitation of China.
The Korean state Joseon (1392–1897) sent numerous diplomatic missions to the Chinese states of Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1636–1912).
Joseon diplomacy was the foreign policy of the Joseon dynasty of Korea from 1392 through 1910; and its theoretical and functional foundations were rooted in Neo-Confucian scholar-bureaucrats, institutions and philosophy.
The tributary system of China, or Cefeng system at its height was a network of loose international relations centered around China which facilitated trade and foreign relations by acknowledging China's hegemonic role within a Sinocentric world order. It involved multiple relationships of trade, military force, diplomacy and ritual. The other states had to send a tributary envoy to China on schedule, who would kowtow to the Chinese emperor as a form of tribute, and acknowledge his superiority and precedence. The other countries followed China's formal ritual in order to keep the peace with the more powerful neighbor and be eligible for diplomatic or military help under certain conditions. Political actors within the tributary system were largely autonomous and in almost all cases virtually independent.
The history of Sino-Korean relations dates back to prehistoric times.
Yongle Emperor's campaigns against the Mongols (1410–1424), also known as Emperor Chengzu's Northern (Mobei) Campaigns, or the Yongle's Northern Expeditions, was a military campaign of the Ming dynasty under the Yongle Emperor against the Northern Yuan. During his reign he launched several aggressive campaigns, defeating the Northern Yuan, Eastern Mongols, Oirats, and various other Mongol tribes.
Manchuria under Ming rule refers to the domination of the Ming dynasty of China over the greater region of Manchuria, including today's Northeast China and Outer Manchuria. The Ming rule of Manchuria began with its conquest of Manchuria in the late 1380s after the fall of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, and reached its peak in the early 15th century with the establishment of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission. With the dissolution of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission the Ming power waned considerably in Manchuria. Starting in the 1580s, Nurhaci, the Jianzhou Jurchen chieftain who had been a Ming vassal, began to take control of most of Manchuria over the next several decades, and in 1616 he established the Later Jin and openly renounced Ming overlordship with the Seven Grievances. The Qing dynasty established by his son Hong Taiji would eventually conquer the Ming and take control of China proper.
A eunuch is a man who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
Consort Kanghuizhuangshuli, of the Korean Cheongju Han clan, was a consort of the Yongle Emperor.
Between 1392 and 1450, the Choson court dispatched 391 envoys to China: on average, seven each year.
thus, between 1637 and 1881, Korea sent 435 special embassies to the Qing court, or an average of almost 1.5 embassies per year.
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(help)Joseon requested to send a tribute "thrice each year" or "four times per year" instead and achieved it.
The tribute taken to Beijing three or four times a year during most of the Joseon period provides an interesting insight into Korean products at this time.
dorgon korean princess.
burma was a tributary state of china british forward tribute peking.(Original from the University of California)
tribute china.(Colonial period Korea; WWC-5)(Original from the University of California)