Worldview centred on or biased towards Chinese civilisation
This article is about the diplomatic system and state ideology. For ethnocentric attitudes among ethnic Han within China, see Han chauvinism. For Han ethnic-related nationalism, see Han nationalism.
Sinocentrism refers to a worldview that China is the cultural,political,or economic center of the world.[1] Sinocentrism was a core concept in various Chinese dynasties. The Chinese considered themselves to be "all-under-Heaven",ruled by the emperor,known as Son of Heaven. Those that lived outside of the Huaxia were regarded as "barbarians". In addition,states outside of China,such as Japan or Korea,were considered to be vassals of China.[2]
Depending on the historical context,Sinocentrism can refer to either the ethnocentrism of the Han society and culture,or the modern concept of zhonghua minzu,popular among the Korean elites up to the final demise of the Qing dynasty. The concept came to an end in the 19th century and suffered several more blows in the 20th century,and as a result is not as widely popular among Chinese people in the present day.[1]
In pre-modern times,it often took the form of viewing China as the most advanced civilization in the world,and external ethnic groups or foreign nations as being uncivilized to various degrees,a distinction known in Chinese as the Hua–Yi distinction.[3][4]
The Sinocentric system was a hierarchical system of international relations that prevailed in East Asia before the adoption of the Westphalian system in modern times. Surrounding states such as Japan (which cut off its vassal relationship with China during the Asuka period,because it regarded itself as an equal and individual culture),Korea,the Ryukyu Kingdom,and Vietnam were regarded as vassals of China. Relations between the Chinese Empire and these peoples were interpreted as tributary relationships under which these countries offered tributes to the Emperor of China.[5] Areas not under Sinocentric influence were called Huawai zhi di (化外之地;"lands outside of civilization").
At the center of the system stood China,ruled by a dynasty that had gained the Mandate of Heaven. This "Celestial Dynasty",distinguished by its Confucian codes of morality and propriety,regarded itself as the most prominent civilization in the world;the Emperor of China was considered the only legitimate emperor of the entire world (all lands under heaven).
Under this scheme of international relations,only China could use the title of emperor whereas other states were ruled by kings.[6] Chinese emperors were considered the Son of Heaven. The Japanese use of the term Tennō (天皇;"heavenly sovereign") for the rulers of Japan was a subversion of this principle. Throughout history,Koreans have sometimes referred to their rulers as king,conforming with traditional Korean belief of the Posterity of Heaven.
Identification of the heartland and the legitimacy of dynastic succession were both essential aspects of the system. Originally the center was synonymous with the Zhongyuan,an area that was expanded through invasion and conquest over many centuries. The dynastic succession was at times subject to radical changes in interpretation,such as the period of the Southern Song when the ruling dynasty lost the traditional heartland to the northern barbarians. Outside the center were several concentric circles. Local ethnic minorities were not regarded as "foreign countries". However,they were governed by their native leaders called tusi,subject to recognition by the Chinese court,and were exempt from the Chinese bureaucratic system.
Outside this circle were the tributary states which offered tributes to the Chinese emperor and over which China exercised suzerainty. Under the Ming dynasty,when the tribute system entered its peak,these states were classified into a number of groups. The southeastern barbarians (category one) included some of the major states of East Asia and Southeast Asia,such as Korea,Japan,the Ryukyu Kingdom,Vietnam,Thailand,Champa,and Java. A second group of southeastern barbarians covered countries like Sulu,Malacca,and Sri Lanka.[7] Many of these are independent states in modern times.
The situation was complicated by the fact that some tributary states had their own tributaries. Laos was a tributary of Vietnam while the Ryukyu Kingdom paid tribute to both China and Japan. Tsushima Island was also a tributary of the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties of Korea.
Beyond the circle of tributary states were countries in a trading relationship with China. The Portuguese,for instance,were allowed to trade with China from leased territory in Macau but did not officially enter the tributary system. During the Qing dynasty's rule of Taiwan,some Qing officials have used the term Huawai zhi di to refer to Taiwan (Formosa),specifically to areas in Taiwan that have yet to be fully cultivated,developed and under the control of the Qing government.[8][9]
While Sinocentrism tends to be identified as a politically inspired system of international relations,in fact it possessed an important economic aspect. The Sinocentric tribute and trade system provided Northeast and Southeast Asia with a political and economic framework for international trade. Countries wishing to trade with China were required to submit to a suzerain-vassal relationship with the Chinese sovereign. After investiture (冊封;cèfēng) of the ruler in question,the missions were allowed to come to China to pay tribute to the Chinese emperor. In exchange,tributary missions were presented with return bestowals (回賜;huícì). Special licences were issued to merchants accompanying these missions to carry out trade. Trade was also permitted at land frontiers and specified ports. This Sinocentric trade zone was based on the use of silver as a currency with prices set by reference to Chinese prices.
The Sinocentric model was not seriously challenged until contact with the European powers in the 18th and 19th century,in particular after the First Opium War.[citation needed] This was partly due to the fact that sustained contact between the Chinese Empire and other empires of the pre-modern period was limited. By the mid 19th century,imperial China was well past its peak and was on the verge of collapse.
In the late 19th century,the Sinocentric tributary state system in East Asia was superseded by the Westphalian multi-state system.[10]
Within Asia,the cultural and economic centrality of China was recognized,and most countries submitted to the Sinocentric model,if only to enjoy the benefits of a trading relationship. However,clear differences of nuance can be discerned in the responses of different countries.
Korea
Until the era of the Three Kingdoms of Korea,Southern Korean states had been protected from Chinese invasions by militarily powerful Northern Korean states such as Goguryeo which ruled the northern region of Korean peninsula and Manchuria. Goguryeo considered itself as an equally supreme state as China and adopted its own centric system to adjacent countries. Refusing to pay any tributes and continuing to conquer eastern territories of China altogether incurred a series of massive Chinese invasions of Goguryeo from 598 to 614,which ended disastrously,and they mainly contributed to the fall of Chinese Sui dynasty in 618. Such numerous defeats of the Chinese raised the sense of ethnic superiority in Goguryeo and further expansions into the Chinese territories continued.[citation needed]
After Goguryeo was collapsed by the allied forces of Silla,one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea,and the Tang dynasty in 668,Silla,now being the sole ruler of Korean peninsula,more readily started the tribute system between Silla and Tang. However,such ties between two countries were weakened after Silla's submission to Goryeo who claimed to succeed Goguryeo.[citation needed]
In the mid-Goryeo period,Korea idealized the Song dynasty and actively sought cultural assimilation into the Sinosphere.[11] The relationship continued until the Mongol invasions of Korea and the Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty where the two kingdoms fell,leading to the rise of the Yuan dynasty.[12] After 30 years of fierce resistance,both Goryeo and Mongols finally sued for peace and Goryeo became a dependency of the Yuan dynasty. Soon after the weakening of Yuan dynasty,Goryeo retook their lost territories from the Yuan dynasty by military campaigns and regained her sovereign rights.[citation needed]
The Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) encouraged the entrenchment of Korean Confucian ideals and doctrines in Korean society and again willingly entered into the Sinocentric system. After the Ming dynasty,which regarded itself as huá(華),cultured civilization was considered to have collapsed under the invasion of the Qing,where the dominant Manchus were considered barbarian (夷) by Koreans.[13] The Ming was thought of as the last true Sino culture (中華).[14]
Sinocentrism waned further after Britain militarily defeated Qing China in the Second Opium War,creating an influx of Western culture with the decline of the Qing dynasty. Some Koreans especially those who studied abroad saw a need for reforms and associated Western civilization with modernization.[11]
Vietnam
The Painting of Foreign Countries (外國圖) in the 18th century with Revival Lêdynasty as "middle state" (中國).
Vietnam (Đại Việt) had an intimate but not always peaceful relationship with China. Vietnam,originally independent,was part of various Chinese dynasties and kingdoms for approximately 900 years before gaining independence in the 10th century. In subsequent centuries the Vietnamese drove out Chinese invaders on a number of occasions,to the extent that conflict with China may be seen as one of the main themes of Vietnamese history.
However,Vietnam was also heavily Sinicized,adopting most aspects of Chinese culture,including the administrative system,architecture,philosophy,religion,literature of China,and even a general cultural outlook. Classical Chinese (ChữHán) was adopted as national writing system since the Triệu dynasty. Vietnamese merchants along with Chinese merchants had the important roles in spreading of Hanzi and Confucianism to the world. First Vietnamese reached the Persian shores in the late 1st century. Vietnam persistently identified itself in relation to China,regarding itself as the kingdom of the south as against China in the north,as seen in this line from a poem (in Classical Chinese) by General LýThường Kiệt (李常傑) (1019–1105):Nam Quốc sơn hàNam Đếcư. (南國山河南帝居),which means "Over mountains and rivers of the South reigns the Emperor of the South".
In adopting Chinese customs,the Vietnamese court also began to adopt Sinocentric world view during the expanding Later Lêand Nguyễn dynasties. "Trung Quốc" 中國was used as a name for Vietnam by Emperor Gia Long in 1805.[15] It was said "Hán di hữu hạn" 漢夷有限("the Vietnamese and the barbarians must have clear borders") by the Gia Long Emperor (Nguyễn Phúc Ánh) when differentiating between Khmer and Vietnamese.[16] Minh Mang implemented an acculturation integration policy directed at minority non-Vietnamese peoples.[17] Thanh nhân 清人was used to refer to ethnic Chinese by the Vietnamese while Vietnamese called themselves as Hán nhân 漢人in Vietnam during the 1800s under Nguyễn rule.[18]Cambodia was regularly called Cao Man Quốc (高蠻國),the country of "upper barbarians". In 1815,Gia Long claimed 13 countries as Vietnamese vassals,including Luang Prabang,Vientiane,Burma,Tran Ninh in eastern Laos,and two countries called "Thủy XáQuốc" and "Hỏa XáQuốc",which were actually Malayo-Polynesian Jarai tribes living between Vietnam and Cambodia. Mirroring the Chinese model,the Vietnamese court attempted to regulate the presentation of tribute to the Vietnamese court,participation in New Year and emperor's birthday ceremonies,as well as the travel routes and size of tributary missions.[19]
Vietnamese Nguyen Emperor Minh Mạng sinicized ethnic minorities such as Khmer and Cham,claimed the legacy of Confucianism and China's Han dynasty for Vietnam,and used the term Han people 漢人(Hán nhân) to refer to the Vietnamese.[20] Minh Mang declared that "We must hope that their barbarian habits will be subconsciously dissipated,and that they will daily become more infected by Han [Sino-Vietnamese] customs."[21] These policies were directed at the Khmer and hill tribes.[22] The Nguyen lord Nguyen Phuc Chu had referred to Vietnamese as "Han people" in 1712 when differentiating between Vietnamese and Chams.[23] The Nguyen Lords established đồn điền after 1790. It was said "Hán di hữu hạn" 漢夷有限("the Vietnamese and the barbarians must have clear borders") by the Gia Long Emperor (Nguyễn Phúc Ánh) when differentiating between Khmer and Vietnamese.[16] Minh Mang implemented an acculturation integration policy directed at minority non-Vietnamese peoples.[17] Thanh nhân 清人or Đường nhân 唐人were used to refer to ethnic Chinese by the Vietnamese while Vietnamese called themselves as Hán dân 漢民and Hán nhân 漢人in Vietnam during the 1800s under Nguyễn rule.[18]
Chinese style clothing was forced on Vietnamese people by the Nguyễn.[24][25][26][27][28][29] Trousers have been adopted by White H'mong.[30] The trousers replaced the traditional skirts of the females of the White Hmong.[31] The tunics and trouser clothing of the Han Chinese on the Ming tradition was worn by the Vietnamese. The Áo dài was created when tucks which were close fitting and compact were added in the 1920s to this Chinese style.[32] Trousers and tunics on the Chinese pattern in 1774 were ordered by the Nguyễn Phúc Khoát to replace the sarong type Vietnamese clothing.[33] The Chinese clothing in the form of trousers and tunic were mandated by the Vietnamese Nguyen government. It was up to the 1920s in Vietnam's north area in isolated hamlets wear skirts were worn.[34] The Chinese Qin and Han dynasty state clothing was ordered to be adopted by Vietnamese military and bureaucrats since Vietnam under Triệu rule Triệu Đà (179 BC).[35]
Chinese influence waned as French influence rose in the 19th century,and Vietnam eventually abolished the Imperial examinations and stopped using ChữHán and the related ChữNôm script in the 20th century in official.
Japan
In Japan,an ambivalent tone was set early in its relationship with China. Shōtoku Taishi (574–622),Prince Regent of Japan,is famous for having sent a letter to the Emperor of China starting with the words:"The Emperor of the land where the sun rises sends a letter to the Emperor of the land where the sun sets to ask if you are healthy" (日出處天子致書日沒處天子無恙云云). This is commonly believed as the origin of the name Nihon (source of the sun),although the actual characters for Nihon (日本) were not used.
In 1401,during the Muromachi period (室町時代),the shōgunYoshimitsu (足利義満) restarted the lapsed tribute system (1401),describing himself in a letter to the Chinese Emperor as "Your subject,the King of Japan" while also a subject of the Japanese Emperor. The benefit of the tribute system was a profitable trade. The trade was called Kangō[36] trade (means tally trade[36]) and Japanese products were traded for Chinese goods. This relationship ended with the last envoy of Japanese monk Sakugen Shūryō in 1551,[37][38] which was Ashikaga Yoshiteru's era,including a 20 years suspension by Ashikaga Yoshimochi.[clarification needed] These embassies were sent to China on 19 occasions.
During the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China,Japan thought of China as no longer a genuine Chinese land.[39] Subsequently,Japan often used the names "China" and "Huaxia" to refer to itself.[39]
In the years 1592–1593,Toyotomi Hideyoshi,having unified Japan,tried to conquer Korea as a prelude to conquering Ming China. The attempt to conquer "all under heaven" (itself a sinocentric concept identifying China as "the world") ended in failure.
Japanese responses to Sinocentric concepts have not always been so straightforward. The Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281 evoked a national consciousness of the role of the kamikaze (神風) in defeating the enemy. Less than fifty years later (1339–43),Kitabatake Chikafusa wrote the JinnōShōtōki (神皇正統記,'Chronicle of the Direct Descent of the Divine Sovereigns') emphasizing the divine descent of the imperial line. The JinnōShōtōki provided a Shinto view of history stressing the divine nature of Japan and its spiritual supremacy over China and India.
In the Tokugawa era,the study of Kokugaku (国学) arose as an attempt to reconstruct and recover the authentic native roots of Japanese culture,particularly Shinto,excluding later elements borrowed from China. In 1657,Tokugawa Mitsukuni established the Mito School,which was charged with writing a history of Japan as a perfect exemplar of a "nation" under Confucian thought,with the emphasis on unified rule by the emperors and respect for the imperial court and Shinto deities.
In an ironic affirmation of the spirit of Sinocentrism,claims were even heard that the Japanese,not the Chinese,were the legitimate heirs of Chinese culture. Reasons included that the Imperial House of Japan never died out comparing to the rise and fall of Chinese monarchs in the past,and that Japan was free of barbarism like Qing dynasty's forced adoption of Manchu queue and clothing on Han Chinese after 1644. Combined with Shinto,came the concept of "Shinkoku/the Divine Kingdom (神國). In the early Edo period,neo-ConfucianistYamaga Sokō asserted that Japan was superior to China in Confucian terms and more deserving of the name "Chūgoku". Other scholars picked this up,notably Aizawa Seishisai,an adherent of the Mito School,in his political tract Shinron (新論New Theses) in 1825.
As a country that had much to gain by eclipsing Chinese power in East Asia,Japan in more recent times has perhaps been most ardent in identifying and demolishing what it dismissively calls Chūka shisō (中華思想),loosely meaning "Zhonghua ideology". One manifestation of Japanese resistance to Sinocentrism was the insistence for many years in the early 20th century on using the name Shina (支那) for China,based on the Western word 'China',in preference to Chūgoku (中国Central Country) advocated by the Chinese themselves.[citation needed]
Burma
Unlike East Asian states,which communicated in written Chinese,Burma used a different written language in its communications with China. While China consistently regarded Burma as a vassal,Burmese records indicate that Burma considered itself as China's equal. Under the Burmese interpretation,Burma was the "younger brother" and China was the "elder brother".[40]
Thailand
Thailand was subordinate to China as a tributary state from the Sui dynasty until the Taiping Rebellion of the late Qing dynasty in the mid-19th century.[5] The Sukhothai Kingdom established official relations with the Yuan dynasty during the reign of King Ram Khamhaeng.[41]Wei Yuan,the 19th century Chinese scholar,considered Thailand to be the strongest and most loyal of China's Southeast Asian tributaries,citing the time when Thailand offered to directly attack Japan to divert the Japanese in their planned invasions of Korea and the Asian mainland,as well as other acts of loyalty to the Ming dynasty.[42] Thailand was welcoming and open to Chinese immigrants,who dominated commerce and trade,and achieved high positions in the government.[43]
The last Sri Lankan kingdom,the Kingdom of Kandy (1469–1815),did not establish any significant relationships with imperial China. However,the preceding Kotte kingdom (1412–1597) had significant interactions with Ming China. Parakramabahu VI of Kotte,the founder of Kotte,established a significant alliance with Ming China during his reign,resulting in noteworthy political and economic consequences for the region. This alliance led to the removal of Vira Alakesvara of Gampola from the throne in favor of Parakramabahu VI,with documented details found in Chinese records.[44]
Historical accounts reveal that Parakramabahu VI's legitimacy was fortified through a selection process at the Ming court. He was nominated by the Yongle Ming emperor and subsequently installed into power by Admiral Zheng He. This transition was ensured by the commanding presence of Zheng He's formidable fleet.[44] This collaboration marked the beginning of an era characterized by increased economic interaction between the Ming dynasty and the Kotte kingdom. In order to strengthen these relations,Parakramabahu VI initiated several diplomatic missions,totaling at least five,to China. These missions aimed to affirm the cessation of sea piracy within the Sea of Kotte.[44]
A notable legacy of Parakramabahu VI's reign is attributed to Admiral Zheng He,who made a lasting impact on Sri Lanka. This is exemplified by the installation of the Galle Trilingual inscription,serving as an artifact that attests to the interactions between the two nations during this historical period.[44] Sri Lanka,like Japan,was considered yuanyi (remote foreigners;遠夷) in jueyu (remote territories;絕域) under the Imperial Chinese Tributary System.[45][46]
Europe
One of the most historically well-known official encounter between Sinocentric attitudes and Europeans was the Macartney Embassy of 1792–93,which sought to establish a permanent British presence in Peking and establish official trade relations.[47] The rejection of the Chinese Emperor to the British overtures and the British refusal to kowtow to the Emperor has passed into legend in British and Chinese folklore. In response to the British request to recognise Macartney as official ambassador,the Emperor wrote:[46]
The Celestial Empire,ruling all within the four seas,simply concentrates on carrying out the affairs of Government properly... We have never valued ingenious articles,nor do we have the slightest need of your country's manufactures,therefore O King,as regards to your request to send someone to remain at the capital,which it is not in harmony with the regulations of the Celestial Empire–we also feel very much that it is of no advantage to your country.
In a cultural sense, Sinocentrism can refer to the tendency among both Chinese and foreigners to regard the culture of China as more ancient than or superior to other cultures. This often involves regarding neighboring countries as mere cultural offshoots of China. The geographical dimension of traditional Sinocentrism was highlighted by Chinese reactions to the publication of the first world map by the JesuitmissionaryMatteo Ricci (1552–1610):
Lately Matteo Ricci utilized some false teachings to fool people, and scholars unanimously believed him...The Map of the World which he made contains elements of the fabulous and mysterious, and is a down right attempt to deceive people on things which they personally cannot go to verify for themselves...We need not discuss other points, but just take for example the position of China on the map. He puts it not in the center but slightly to the West and inclined to the north. This is altogether far from the truth, for China should be in the center of the world, which we can prove by the single fact that we can see the North Star resting at the zenith of the heaven at midnight.[48][49]
In the late Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a belief in Chinese cultural circles that knowledge entering China from the West had already existed in China in the past. This trend of thought was known in Chinese as xi xue zhong yuan (Chinese:西學中源; pinyin:Xīxué Zhōng yuán; lit.'Western knowledge has Chinese origins'). Xi xue zhong yuan was a way to not only enhance the prestige of ancient Chinese learning, but also that of Western learning and make it more acceptable to the Chinese at that time.[46]
One notable example was Chouren Zhuan (Chinese:疇人傳; pinyin:Chuórén zhuàn; lit.'Biographies of Astronomers and Mathematicians'), a book by the Qing dynasty scholar Ruan Yuan which adopted the point of view that some Western sciences had an ancient Chinese origin. Scholars such as Ruan saw astronomy and mathematics as a key to deciphering the ancient classics. Until the Sino-Japanese War, some intellectuals believed that some of the sciences and technologies coming from Europe were actually lost ancient Chinese knowledge. The Chinese have abandoned the idea of xi xue zhong yuan since the early 20th century.[46]
Cultural Sinocentrism was the political and cultural core of the region: traditional Chinese language and writing system, ideological frames of the Confucian social and familial order; legal and administrative systems; Buddhism and the art of historiography were used in China, the Korean peninsula (Korean Confucianism) and also Vietnam.[48]
Indigenous criticism
Followers of Chinese Buddhism were some of the fiercest critics of Sinocentrism, since they followed a religion that originated in India, rather than China. The monk Zhiyi (538–597 CE) referred to China as "Zhendan" (震旦; Zhèndàn), rather than by any epithet for China that emphasized China's centrality, such as Zhōngguó (the modern name of China, 中國; 中国; Zhōngguó) or Zhonghua (中華; 中华; Zhōnghuá). "Zhendan" originated in a transcription of the Sanskrit word for China, चीनस्थान, cīnasthāna. Another anti-Sinocentric name for China used by Buddhists was "country of the Han" (漢國; 汉国; Hàn-guó) or "region of the Han".[50] Reacting to an insecurity against China's indigenous religions of Confucianism and Daoism, Buddhists in China asserted[when?] that Confucius and Yan Hui were avatars of the Buddha, and that Confucianism was merely an offshoot of Buddhism. When Buddhists had influence in the court, such as in the minority-led Yuan dynasty, they successfully persuaded the imperial governments to censor and destroy Daoist texts. They especially hated the Huahujing, which made the opposite argument to that of the Buddhists; that Buddhism was an offshoot of Daoism.[51]
Liu Ji, one of the key advisors of the Ming-dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang, generally supported the idea that while the Chinese and the non-Chinese are different, they are actually equal. Liu was therefore arguing against the idea that the Chinese were and are superior to other people.[52]
Culturally, one of the most famous attacks on Sinocentrism and its associated beliefs was made by the author Lu Xun in The True Story of Ah Q, in which the protagonist is humiliated and defeated; satirizing the ridiculous way in which he claimed "spiritual victories" in spite of this.[53]
Today
The influence of the Sinocentric model of political relations and Sinocentric belief in cultural superiority (especially against the West) declined in the 19th century. The Sinocentric ideology suffered a further blow when Imperial Japan, having undergone the Meiji Restoration, defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese War. As a result, China adopted the Westphalian system of equal independent states.[46]
In modern Chinese foreign policy, the People's Republic of China has repeatedly stated that it will never seek to establish hegemony beyond its borders (Chinese:永不称霸).[54] However, some historians, such as John Friend and Bradley Thayer believe there are individuals in the Chinese government who doggedly hold onto Sinocentric beliefs.[55]Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretaryXi Jinping has called for a 'pan-Asian security concept', which has been compared to Imperial Japan by commentators.[56][57]
Related concepts
Successive peoples from the north, such as the Xianbei, Jurchens, Mongols,[58] or Manchus, were quite willing to place themselves at the center of the model, although they were not always successful. The Xianbei empires during the Northern and Southern dynasties, for example, regarded the Han regimes of southern China as "barbarians" because they refused to submit to Xianbei rule. Similarly, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty regarded the Westerners they encountered in the mid-19th century as "barbarians" due to their "uncouth manners".[46]
Sinocentrism is not synonymous with Chinese nationalism. The successive dynasties in China's history were Sinocentric in the sense that they regarded Chinese civilization to be universal in its reach and application.[citation needed] Chinese nationalism, in contrast, is a more modern concept (nationalism) focused primarily on the idea of a unified, cohesive, and powerful Chinese nation state, as one of the nations of the world.[citation needed]
A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state conquered. In the case of alliances, lesser parties may pay tribute to more powerful parties as a sign of allegiance. Tributes are different from taxes, as they are not collected in the same regularly routine manner that taxes are. Further, with tributes, a recognition of political submission by the payer to the payee is uniquely required.
For most of its history, China was organized into various dynastic states under the rule of hereditary monarchs. Beginning with the establishment of dynastic rule by Yu the Great c. 2070 BC, and ending with the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in AD 1912, Chinese historiography came to organize itself around the succession of monarchical dynasties. Besides those established by the dominant Han ethnic group or its spiritual Huaxia predecessors, dynasties throughout Chinese history were also founded by non-Han peoples.
Pax Sinica is a historiographical term referring to periods of peace and stability in East Asia, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia led by China. A study on the Sinocentric world system reveals that the multiple periods of Pax Sinica, when taken together, amounted to a length of approximately two thousand years.
The foreign relations of Imperial China from the Qin dynasty until the Qing dynasty encompassed many situations as the fortunes of dynasties rose and fell. Chinese culture had influenced neighboring and distant countries, while being transformed by outside influences as well as being conquered. During the Western Han dynasty, the Silk Road trade routes were established and brought Hellenistic Central Asia, Persia under the Parthian Empire, and South Asia into contact with the Chinese empire. During the 2nd century BC, Zhang Qian became the first known Chinese diplomat to venture deep into Central Asia in search of allies against the Mongolic Xiongnu confederation. Han Chinese attempts were made at reaching the Roman Empire and although the mission led by Gan Ying in 97 AD was a failure, Chinese historical records nevertheless maintain that the Romans traveled to southern China and Vietnam via the Indian Ocean. Buddhism from India was introduced to China during the Eastern Han period and would spread to neighboring Vietnam, Korea, and Japan, all of which would adopt similar Confucian cultures based on the Chinese model.
The Tây Sơn dynasty (Vietnamese:[təjʂəːn], Vietnamese: Nhà Tây Sơn, Chữ Nôm: 茹西山, lit. 'House of Tây Sơn'; Vietnamese: triều Tây Sơn, officially Đại Việt, was a dynasty of Vietnam. It was founded after three Nguyễn brothers from the village of Tây Sơn rebelled against the Lê dynasty, Nguyễn lords, and Trịnh lords. The Tây Sơn were led by these three brothers, referred to by modern Vietnamese historians as the Tây Sơn brothers because of their origin in the district of Tây Sơn. The Tây Sơn was later succeeded by the Nguyễn dynasty.
Son of Heaven, or Tianzi, was the sacred monarchial and imperial title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty, the secular imperial title of the Son of Heaven was "Huangdi".
The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty, officially Đại Việt, was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, having ruled from 1428 to 1789, with an interregnum between 1527 and 1533. The Lê dynasty is divided into two historical periods: the Initial Lê dynasty before the usurpation by the Mạc dynasty, in which emperors ruled in their own right, and the Revival Lê dynasty, in which emperors were figures reigned under the auspices of the powerful Trịnh family. The Revival Lê dynasty was marked by two lengthy civil wars: the Lê–Mạc War (1533–1592) in which two dynasties battled for legitimacy in northern Vietnam and the Trịnh–Nguyễn Wars between the Trịnh lords in North and the Nguyễn lords of the South.
The Nguyễn lords, also known as the Nguyễn clan, were a feudal nobility clan that ruled southern part of Đại Việt during the Revival Lê dynasty and ancestors of Nguyễn dynasty's emperors. The territory they ruled was known contemporarily as Đàng Trong and known by Europeans as Kingdom of Cochinchina and by Imperial China as Kingdom of Quảng Nam, in opposition to the Trịnh lords ruling northern Đại Việt as Đàng Ngoài, known as Kingdom of Tonkin by Europeans and Kingdom of Annam by Imperial China in bilateral diplomacy. They were officially called King of Nguyễn in 1744 when lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát self-proclaimed himself to elevate his status equally to Trịnh lords's title known as King of Trịnh . Both Nguyễn and Trịnh clans were de jure subordinates and fief of the Lê dynasty. However, The de jure submission of the Nguyễn lords to the Trịnh lords ended in 1600.
The Guozijian, sometimes translated as the Imperial College, Imperial Academy, Imperial University, National Academy, or National University, was the national central institution of higher learning in Chinese dynasties after the Sui dynasty. It was the highest institution of academic research and learning in China's traditional educational system, with the function of administration of education.
The Mạc dynasty (1527–1677), officially Đại Việt, was a Vietnamese dynasty which ruled over a unified Vietnam between 1527 and 1540, and northern Vietnam from 1540 until 1593. The Mạc dynasty lost control over the capital Đông Kinh for the last time in its wars against the Later Lê dynasty and the Trịnh Lords in 1592. Subsequent members of the Mạc dynasty ruled over the province of Cao Bằng with the direct support of the Chinese Ming and Qing dynasties until 1677.
During the late Zhou dynasty, the inhabitants of the Central Plains began to make a distinction between Hua and Yi, referred to by 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. The Hua–Yi distinction was not unique to China, but was also applied by various Vietnamese, Japanese, and Koreans regimes, all of whom considered themselves at one point in history to be legitimate successors to the Chinese civilization and the "Central State" in imitation of China.
Ryukyuan missions to Imperial China were diplomatic missions that were intermittently sent from the Ryukyuan kings to the Ming and Qing emperors. These diplomatic contacts were within the Sinocentric system of bilateral and multinational relationships in East Asia. A total of 347 Ryukyuan missions to China have been recorded.
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.
Dragon robes, also known as gunlongpao or longpao for short, is a form of everyday clothing which had a Chinese dragon, called long (龍), as the main decoration; it was worn by the emperors of China. Dragon robes were also adopted by the rulers of neighbouring countries, such as Korea, Vietnam, and the Ryukyu Kingdom.
The history of Sino-Korean relations dates back to prehistoric times.
Little China refers to a politico-cultural ideology and phenomenon in which various Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese regimes identified themselves as the "Central State" and regarded themselves to be legitimate successors to the Chinese civilization. Informed by the traditional Chinese concepts of Sinocentrism and Sino–barbarian dichotomy, this belief became more apparent after the Manchu-led Qing dynasty had superseded the Han-led Ming dynasty in China proper, as Tokugawa Japan, Joseon Korea and Nguyễn Vietnam, among others, perceived that "barbarians" had ruined the center of world civilization.
Emperor at home, king abroad was a system of conducting relations between states within the Chinese cultural sphere. Rulers of lesser regimes would adopt the title of emperor and/or other imperial titles domestically, and adopt the title of king when dealing with the dominant Chinese regime. Instead of using the styles Imperial Majesty and Majesty (陛下), rulers of lesser realms were styled as Highness (殿下). This system was applicable to Japan, Korea and Vietnam, as well as less powerful Chinese states, among others.
Minh Hương refers to descendants of Ming dynasty immigrants who settled in southern Vietnam during the 16th and 18th centuries. They were among the first wave of ethnic Han who came to southern Vietnam.
China was a monarchy from prehistoric times up to 1912, when a republic was established. The succession of legendary monarchs of China were non-hereditary. Dynastic rule began c. 2070 BC when Yu the Great established the Xia dynasty, and monarchy lasted until 1912 when dynastic rule collapsed together with the monarchical government. Various attempts at preserving and restoring the Chinese monarchy occurred during and following the Xinhai Revolution, but these regimes were short-lived and lacked widespread recognition.
References
Citations
1 2 "Beneath the Facade of China". School of Contemporary Chinese Studies. NG8 1BB. 30 May 2007.
↑ Schmid, Andre (1997), "Rediscovering Manchuria: Sin Ch'aeho and the Politics of Territorial History in Korea", Journal of Asian Studies, 56 (1): 29, doi:10.2307/2646342, JSTOR2646342, S2CID162879663
↑ Stephen R. Platt, Imperial Twilight: the Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age (NY: Knopf, 2018), 166-73. ISBN9780307961730
1 2 "... Cultural Sinocentrism was the basso ostinato of East Asia for more than a millennium: the classical Chinese language and writing system; ideological frames of the Confucian social and familial order; legal and administrative systems; Buddhism, which was transmitted to Korea, Vietnam, and China via Chinese translations of canonical texts and Chinese versions of Buddhist prac- tice; and the art of historiography itself" The Oxford History of Historical Writing. Volume 3. Jose Rabasa, Masayuki Sato, Edoardo Tortarolo, Daniel Woolf - 1400-1800, page 2.
↑ Wei Chün, On Ricci's Fallacies to Deceive the World (Li shuo huang-t'ang huo-shih p'ien), quoted in: George H. C. Wong, “China's Opposition to Western Science during Late Ming and Early Ch'ing”, Isis, Vol. 54, No. 1. (Mar., 1963), pp. 29-49 (44)
↑ Abramson, Marc (2011). Ethnic Identity in Tang China. University of Pennsylvania Press. p.76.
↑ Pregadio, Fabrizio, ed. (2004). "Huahu jing". The Encyclopedia of Taoism. Psychology Press. p.494.
↑ Zhou Songfang, "Lun Liu Ji de Yimin Xintai" (On Liu Ji's Mentality as a Dweller of Subjugated Empire) in Xueshu Yanjiu no.4 (2005), 112-117.
↑ Lu Xun [鲁迅] (1981), Lu Xun Quanji (鲁迅全集, Collected Works of Lu Xun), 16 volumes, Renmin Chubanshe, Beijing
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