Until the arrival of West, China was confident of its centrality and supremacy in Asia. This was obvious in its tributary system, which included not only obedience and the exchange, but also the sphere of influence through supremacy. The China’s tributary system differed from Westphalian state system because China dynastic empires placed themselves at the center of territories and international affairs in the pre-modern Asian world. In this paper, I propose that the core of the China’s tributary system was hierarchical system of international relations. The tributary system had brought Asian countries into its tributary system, thus incorporating the states into the Chinese world order.
In the foreign relations, the emperors of China welcomed tribute from neighboring countries and gave titles of nobility. They also expected them to conform to the …show more content…
It was established during the Three Kingdoms of Korea.3 Korean was one of most loyal tributary states as they pay regular tribute once a year to the China, adopted the Chinese calendar, and accepted seals of authority and investiture of their rulers from the emperor of China.4 Korea lay on Chinese border and they were within the Chinese area, so they adopted Chinese writing system and classical Chinese learning into their country, more important, they were ruled by the Chinese tributary system. However, the tributary relationship between Chinese court and Korea was asymmetries. “This Chinese tributary system produced Tributary state of Korea and neighboring countries. China created suzerainty relationship. China is considered as a suzerain.”5 Korea more liked purchased their autonomy, offering obeisance to the emperors of China as the smaller and relatively weaker state. This is not to say that the Korean understanding of Chinese hegemony was the same as the Chinese. There was always a degree of deceit and
In the foreign relations, the emperors of China welcomed tribute from neighboring countries and gave titles of nobility. They also expected them to conform to the …show more content…
It was established during the Three Kingdoms of Korea.3 Korean was one of most loyal tributary states as they pay regular tribute once a year to the China, adopted the Chinese calendar, and accepted seals of authority and investiture of their rulers from the emperor of China.4 Korea lay on Chinese border and they were within the Chinese area, so they adopted Chinese writing system and classical Chinese learning into their country, more important, they were ruled by the Chinese tributary system. However, the tributary relationship between Chinese court and Korea was asymmetries. “This Chinese tributary system produced Tributary state of Korea and neighboring countries. China created suzerainty relationship. China is considered as a suzerain.”5 Korea more liked purchased their autonomy, offering obeisance to the emperors of China as the smaller and relatively weaker state. This is not to say that the Korean understanding of Chinese hegemony was the same as the Chinese. There was always a degree of deceit and