A Study on the Actual Condition and Functional Change of the tributary system from the 10th to 12th Century

Abstract

China s tributary system(朝貢·冊封體制) is a typical international relations system that existed in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia from the 3rd century B.C. to the end of the 19th century A.D. It was a conventional wisdom in Chinese history that from the establishment of the Zhou(周) Dynasty until the defeat in the Opium War at the end of the Qing(淸) Dynasty, the order centered around China was established under this tributary system. However, the international order in East Asia from the 10th century to the 12th century no longer has a unified ruling order based on tributes, and the conquest dynasty and Zhongyuan(中原) dynasty became bipolar systems in which power is balanced. The tributes of this period can be defined as diplomatic expressions in the pluralistic international order as a means of mutually beneficial reinforcement, not as a product of domination and submission. The reason why East Asian countries form the same cultural zone around China is not because they were subordinate to China, which was a powerful country under the tributary system, but because they recognized and accepted China s superior culture. Therefore, the tributary system should be regarded as being implemented simply because of the need between nations.