Abstract
Abstract The article investigates the recent (2000–2019) mainland Chinese historiography on the Sinocentric tributary system of the Míng and Qīng periods (1368–1912). The theoretical approach of the article is based on Foucauldian discourse theory, as well as Chinese theoretical scholarship on the evolution of Chinese thought. Its methodology is primarily based on Reiner Keller’s sociological discourse research method. The main body of the article is structured upon the major fields of argumentation of the discourse, identified by the author as “the validity of the term ‘tributary system,’” “the tributary system and pre-modern Chinese culture,” “the tributary system and Míng-Qīng Chinese socio-economic history,” and “the tributary system and the regional political order.” The article argues that the ‘discursive struggle’ in recent historiography on the tributary system is primarily a result of its contested interpretation and evaluation under current dominant framings of an ideal international order—one centred around the principles of national sovereignty and “win-win” economic cooperation.
Highlights
The “tributary system” is a term coined and used by American Sinologist and historian John King Fairbank (1907–1991) to describe the inter-state relations of East Asia in pre-modern times
Kang argues that for most of the Míng and Qīng eras (1368–1912), the hierarchical, Sinocentric system constituted a set of norms among the Confucian East Asian states3 which contributed to long-lasting periods of regional stability. He claims that this set of diplomatic rules, rooted in Confucian notions of harmony through hierarchy, was shared throughout the region and led to an extremely low number of interstate wars fought among the East Asian states between the establishment of the Míng dynasty (1368) and the late nineteenth century
The choice of many authors to refrain from discussing Inner Asia and focus on East and Southeast Asia apparently has much to do with present-day norms of political correctness, current national borders, and current ideas of the ‘self’ and the ‘other’
Summary
The “tributary system” ( known as the “tribute system”) is a term coined and used by American Sinologist and historian John King Fairbank (1907–1991) (see Fairbank and Têng 1941; Fairbank 1968) to describe the inter-state relations of East Asia in pre-modern times. He claims that this set of diplomatic rules, rooted in Confucian notions of harmony through hierarchy, was shared throughout the region and led to an extremely low number of interstate wars fought among the East Asian states between the establishment of the Míng dynasty (1368) and the late nineteenth century.4 He contrasts these 500 years of interstate stability with the lack of comparably long stable periods and the constancy of interstate warfare in Europe in the same era, despite the emergence of the so-called Westphalian norms of territorial sovereignty and nominal equality in European diplomatic relations. The theoretical and methodological approach taken by the author to investigate these issues is elaborated
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