Diplomacy in the Northern Song Dynasty: Five Song Envoys and Their Contributions

Abstract

Chinese foreign relations in pre-modern settings can be described as flexible and pragmatic. When China was strong like in the Qin and Han dynasties, it enforced a world order placing China in the center of the universe. However, when China was relatively weak compared to its neighbors, Chinese rulers would share their legitimate ruling position, namely the Son of Heaven, with their counterparts in foreign states. The latter is exactly the situation that had happened in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). This paper intends to use five Northern Song envoys as case study to expound this historical phenomenon. Moreover, these figures representing the five key time periods of the Song-Liao relations deserve a close examination, not only to understand their contributions but more importantly, the patterns of China's foreign relations in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).