Question

Give two examples of how the Song made Japan, Korea, and Vietnam part of their tributary System.

Answer 1

Explanation:

The tributary system of China (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese:  pinyin: Zhōnghuá cháogòng tǐxì), or Cefeng system (simplified Chinese:  traditional Chinese: pinyin: Cèfēng tǐzhì) was a network of loose international relations focused on China which facilitated trade and foreign relations by acknowledging China's predominant role in East Asia. It involved multiple relationships of trade, military force, diplomacy and ritual. The other nations had to send a tributary envoy to China on schedule, who would kowtow to the Chinese emperor as a form of tribute, and acknowledge his superiority and precedence. The other countries followed China's formal ritual in order to keep the peace with the more powerful neighbor and be eligible for diplomatic or military help under certain conditions. Political actors within the tributary system were largely autonomous and in almost all cases virtually independent.[1]

Answer 2

Give two examples of how the Song made Japan, Korea, and Vietnam part of their tributary System.

• Up to Yoshimitsu's demise in 1408, Japan briefly served as the Ming dynasty's recognised tributary. This relationship came to an end in 1549 when Japan, unlike Korea, decided to stop acknowledging China's hegemony in the region and stop sending any further tribute missions.
• Barbarians were subdued through the tribute system by being "sinicized" or "sinified." Chinese superiority over the local "barbarians" may manifest itself less through military strength and more through material affluence and cultural achievements.
• I dispel the myth that the East Asian international system was historically hierarchical and non-egalitarian. I contend that power mostly determines how the tribute system works. Confucian values and guidelines were supported by authority and constituted the system's ground rules.
• Foreign relations hierarchy was a result of power asymmetries, whereas diplomatic equality between superpowers resulted from power symmetry. From the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries, East Asia had a multistate system without a dominant state.
• Due to power symmetry, the two great powers in the Song-Liao international system (960–1125) operated on an official premise of equality when it came to conducting foreign policy. The weaker Song China became a Jin vassal state and accepted its inferior place in the Song-Jin international system (1127–1234).

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