The Zewei article from week four was about how the Confucian worldview in China and how it was merely based on a Celestial Empire and also exemplified a Tributary System. In the article, it discusses the excursion and effort the Chinese had to go through to accept international law and modern international relations. As the Chinese empire started to collapse, scholars, officials began to educate themselves and slowly started to recognize and use international law. The question we ask is what caused the Chinese to learn about modern international law and international relations? It’s said to be that the Opium wars (1839-1842) and the threats from Western powers, which caused the Qing government to compromise and fold in. Zewei article is divided
