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96-552: Chinese Empire (or Empire of China ) is a term referring to the realm ruled by the Emperor of China during the era known as Imperial China . It was coined by western scholars and used to describe the Ming and Qing dynasties (or imperial Chinese dynasties in general). Another term was " Celestial Empire ", in reference to the status of the emperor as the Son of Heaven . In 221 BC, China

192-531: A dynasty , and succession in most cases theoretically followed agnatic primogeniture . The emperor of China was an absolute monarch . During the Han dynasty , Confucianism gained sanction as the official political theory. The absolute authority of the emperor came with a variety of governing duties and moral obligations; failure to uphold these was thought to remove the dynasty's Mandate of Heaven and to justify its overthrow. In practice, emperors sometimes avoided

288-477: A "token of conformity to the Chinese world order". The Ming founder Hongwu Emperor adopted a maritime prohibition policy and issued tallies to "tribute-bearing" embassies for missions. Missions were subject to limits on the number of persons and items allowed. The Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang recorded Silla sending women, 4 in total, all rejected, gold, silver among other things as tribute to

384-680: A 2018 study in the Journal of Conflict Resolution covering Vietnam-China relations from 1365 to 1841, "the Vietnamese court explicitly recognized its unequal status in its relations with China through a number of institutions and norms." Due to their participation in the tributary system, Vietnamese rulers behaved as though China was not a threat and paid very little military attention to it. Rather, Vietnamese leaders were clearly more concerned with quelling chronic domestic instability and managing relations with kingdoms to their south and west." From

480-830: A coup in 1917 but was overthrown again shortly after. Although permitted to remain in the palace, he absconded to the Japanese concession in Tianjin in 1924. In 1934 he was installed as emperor of Manchukuo , a Japanese puppet state. In 1945, he was captured by the Red Army as a prisoner of war, where he was held in the Siberian city of Chita . In 1950, he was extradited to China and imprisoned in Fushun War Criminals Management Centre . He would be formally pardoned and released in 1959, working in

576-582: A few places, eunuchs wielded vast power; one of the most powerful eunuchs in Chinese history was Wei Zhongxian during the Ming. Occasionally, other nobles seized power as regents. The actual area ruled by the emperor of China varied from dynasty to dynasty. In some cases, such as during the Southern Song dynasty , political power in East Asia was effectively split among several governments; nonetheless,

672-467: A flexible practice with multiple meanings into an overly formalized ritual system" in which gong always had the same meanings and gong ritual was exclusively and predominately a marker of foreign relations, whereas the Qing conducted "many diverse forms of tributary ritual". The "tribute system" is often associated with a "Confucian world order", under which neighboring states complied and participated in

768-490: A foreign court sending envoys and exotic products to the Chinese emperor. The emperor then gave the envoys gifts in return and permitted them to trade in China. Presenting tribute involved theatrical subordination but usually not political subordination. The political sacrifice of participating actors was simply "symbolic obeisance". Nor were states that sent tribute forced to mimic Chinese institutions, for example in cases such as

864-448: A male emperor). The given names of all the emperor's deceased male ancestors were forbidden from being written, and were avoided ( 避諱 ) by the use of synonyms, homophones, or leaving out the final stroke of the taboo character. This linguistic feature can sometimes be used to date historical texts, by noting which words in parallel texts are altered. The emperor was never to be addressed as you . Instead, one used Bixia ( 陛下 'bottom of

960-538: A move out of necessity, we may still say that they have been able to correct their mistake Goryeo's rulers called themselves "Great King" viewing themselves as the sovereigns of the Goryeo-centered world of Northeast Asia. They maintained their own Imperial style, in their setup of government institutions, administrative divisions and own tributary system. As the struggle between the Northern Yuan and

1056-533: A repair shop and as a researcher of literature and history until his death in 1967. The current head of the House of Aisin-Gioro and hypothetical claimant to the throne is Jin Yuzhang . He has worked for various local councils on China, and has no interest in the restoration of monarchy. Traditional political theory holds that there can only be one legitimate Son of Heaven at any given time. However, identifying

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1152-494: A set of rituals from the tributary states whenever they sought relations with China as a way of regulating diplomatic relations. The main rituals generally included: After the completion of the rituals, the tributary states engaged in their desired business, such as trade. Tributary relations emerged during the Tang dynasty , under the reign of Emperor Taizong , as Chinese rulers started perceiving foreign envoys bearing tribute as

1248-833: A single empire, some dynasties may be grouped together by some scholars, such as the Qin and the Han dynasty that followed, collectively called the "Qin-Han Empire" by some researchers. Taken together, these two dynasties constitute the "classical" era of Chinese civilization , as did the Greeks and Romans in the West. The period of Imperial China lasted more than two millennia, connecting ancient and modern history. Although Chinese dynasties or empires rose and fell during those centuries, including during periods of strife and war, Imperial China endured with remarkable constancy. The defining characteristics of all Chinese empires were their large scale and

1344-433: Is a Western invention. There was no equivalent term in the Chinese lexicon to describe what would be considered the "tribute system" today, nor was it envisioned as an institution or system. John King Fairbank and Teng Ssu-yu created the "tribute system" theory in a series of articles in the early 1940s to describe "a set of ideas and practices developed and perpetuated by the rulers of China over many centuries." The concept

1440-575: The Ashikaga shogunate again became a tributary of China under the Ming dynasty in 1401. As a result, in 1404, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu , who held most of the de facto power in Japan, accepted the title "King of Japan" from the Ming, despite the nominal sovereign of Japan still residing in Kyōto . Yoshimitsu was the first and only Japanese ruler in the early modern period to accept a Chinese title. During

1536-453: The Jin dynasty and its successors and were appointed as "King of Wa ". The Emperors of China commonly referred to the ruler of Japan as 倭寇 王 wōkouwang ( wakuō ) meaning "King of Wa", while they themselves styled themselves as ōkimi , meaning "Great King" in relation to the Chinese emperor. Internally 天皇 tennō meaning "heavenly king" also used to put the ruler of Japan on the same level as

1632-772: The Jurchens of the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) , who later ruled the Qing dynasty as the Manchus , and the Mongols of the Yuan dynasty. The orthodox historical view sees these as dynasties as sinicized polities as they adopted Han culture, claimed the Mandate of Heaven , and performed the traditional imperial obligations such as annual sacrifices to Heaven for rain and prosperity. The revisionist New Qing History school, however, argues that

1728-515: The Manchu -led Qing dynasty , which invaded Joseon and forced it to become a tributary in 1636, in the same way as the Han -led Ming dynasty. Joseon had continued to support the Ming in their wars against the Qing despite incurring military retaliation from the latter. The Manchus were viewed as barbarians by the Korean court, which, regarding itself as the new "Confucian ideological center" in place of

1824-669: The Ming-era Huang-Ming Zuxun ( Ancestral Instructions ). During the Western Zhou dynasty ( c.  1046 BC  – 771 BC), Chinese vassal rulers with power over their particular fiefdoms served a strong central monarch. Following a brutal succession crisis and relocation of the royal capital, the power of the Zhou kings ( 王 ; wàng ) waned, and during the Eastern Zhou period,

1920-479: The Muromachi period Japan accepted the Ming led worldview. This relationship continued until 1549 (except the 1411-1432 period) when Japan chose to end its recognition of China's regional hegemony and cancel any further tribute missions. Membership in the tributary system was a prerequisite for any economic exchange with China. In exiting the system, Japan relinquished its trade relationship with China. Under

2016-636: The Nine Ding or the Heirloom Seal of the Realm . As with the First Emperor, it remained very common to grant posthumous titles to the ancestors of the victors. The Yuan and Qing dynasties were founded by successful invaders of different ethnic groups. As part of their rule over China, they also went through the culturally appropriate rituals of formally declaring a new dynasty and taking on

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2112-547: The Yuan dynasty during the reign of King Ram Khamhaeng , and Thailand remained a tributary of China until 1853. Wei Yuan , the 19th century Chinese scholar, considered Thailand to be the strongest and most loyal of China's Southeast Asian tributaries, citing the time when Thailand offered to directly attack Japan to divert the Japanese in their planned invasions of Korea and the Asian mainland, as well as other acts of loyalty to

2208-667: The Yuan dynasty . The Qing view, reported to Europe by the Jesuits, was that there had been 150 emperors from the First Emperor to the Kangxi Emperor . Adding the eight uncontroversial emperors that followed the Kangxi Emperor would give a grand total of 158 emperors from the First Emperor to Puyi. By one count, from the Qin dynasty to the Qing dynasty , there were a total 557 individuals who at one point or another claimed

2304-400: The censorate . Paranoid emperors, like Emperor Wu of Han and the Ming's Hongwu Emperor , would cycle through high government officials rapidly, or simply leave top-ranking posts vacant, such that no one could threaten their power. During other reigns, certain officials in the civil bureaucracy wielded more power than the emperor himself. The emperor's position, unless deposed in a rebellion,

2400-456: The political fiction that there was but one ruler was maintained. The title of emperor was hereditary, traditionally passed on from father to son in each dynasty. There are also instances where the throne is assumed by a younger brother, should the deceased emperor have no male offspring. By convention in most dynasties, the eldest son born to the Empress consort ( 嫡长子 ; 嫡長子 ) succeeded to

2496-598: The "Mandate of Heaven". There has been only one lawful queen regnant in Chinese history, Wu Zetian , who briefly replaced the Tang dynasty with her own Wu Zhou dynasty . Many women, however, did become de facto leaders, usually as Empress Dowager . Prominent examples include Empress Dowager Lü of the Han, Empress Liu of the Song , and Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing. As the emperor had, by law, an absolute position not to be challenged by anyone else, his subjects were to show

2592-465: The "legitimate" emperor during times of division is not always uncontroversial, and therefore the exact number of legitimate emperors depends on where one stands on a number of succession disputes. The two most notable such controversies are whether Cao Wei or Shu Han had legitimacy during the Three Kingdoms , and at what point the Song dynasty ceased to be the legitimate dynasty in favor of

2688-399: The "tribute system" to secure guarantees of peace, investiture, and trading opportunities. One member acknowledged another's position as superior, and the superior would bestow investiture upon them in the form of a crown, official seal, and formal robes, to confirm them as king. The practice of investing non-Chinese neighbors had been practiced since ancient times as a concrete expression of

2784-411: The 13th century (during the Yuan dynasty ), and it took a while for most Europeans to be convinced that Cathay referred to China or North China . The term "Chinese Empire" first appeared in the 16th century (late Ming dynasty ), and its usage increased during the following Qing dynasty . As European explorers came into direct contact with the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) of China during their voyages in

2880-544: The Chinese title of Huangdi , in addition to the titles of their respective people, especially in the case of the Yuan dynasty. Thus, Kublai Khan was simultaneously khagan of the Mongols and emperor of China. In 1911, the title of Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet was created to rule alongside the emperor, as part of an attempt to turn China into a constitutional monarchy . Puyi , who had reigned as

2976-525: The Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang of the Tang, the Hongwu Emperor and Yongle Emperor of the Ming, and the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing. The emperor's words were considered sacred edicts ( 圣旨 ; 聖旨 ), and his written proclamations were called 'directives from above' ( 上谕 ; 上諭 ). In theory, the emperor's orders were to be obeyed immediately. He was elevated above all commoners, nobility and members of

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3072-420: The Han, as well as the empress dowagers Cixi and Ci'an during the Qing, who for a time ruled jointly as co-regents. Where Empresses Dowager were too weak to assume power, or her family too strongly opposed, court officials often seized control. Court eunuchs had a significant role in the power structure, as emperors often relied on a few of them as confidants, which gave them access to many court documents. In

3168-599: The Imperial family. Addresses to the emperor were always to be formal and self-deprecatory, even by the closest of family members. In practice, however, the power of the emperor varied between different emperors and different dynasties . Generally, in the Chinese dynastic cycle , emperors founding a dynasty usually consolidated the empire through comparative autocracy —examples include Qin Shi Huang, emperors Gaozu and Guangwu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Kublai Khan of

3264-550: The Inner Asians, who basically ignored the trappings of Chinese government. Instead they manipulated Chinese tribute practices for their own financial benefit. The gifts doled out by the Ming emperor and the trade permits granted were of greater value than the tribute itself, so tribute states sent as many tribute missions as they could. In 1372, the Hongwu Emperor restricted tribute missions from Joseon and six other countries to just one every three years. The Ryukyu Kingdom

3360-480: The Japanese monarchy, Chinese political theory allowed for a change in the ruling house. This was based on the concept of the " Mandate of Heaven ". The theory behind this was that the Chinese emperor acted as the "Son of Heaven" and held a mandate to rule over everyone else in the world; but only as long as he served the people well. If the quality of rule became questionable because of repeated natural disasters such as flood or famine, or for other reasons, then rebellion

3456-480: The Ming dynasty. Thailand was welcoming and open to Chinese immigrants, who dominated commerce and trade, and achieved high positions in the government. Vietnam was ruled by China for 1050 years. When Vietnam gained independence in 939, it became a tributary of China until 1885 when it became a protectorate of France with the Treaty of Huế (1884) . The Lê dynasty (1428–1527) and Nguyễn dynasty (1802–1945) adopted

3552-548: The Ming, continued to use the Ming calendar and era names in defiance of the Qing, despite sending tribute missions. Meanwhile, Japan avoided direct contact with Qing China and instead manipulated embassies from neighboring Joseon and Ryukyu to make it falsely appear as though they came to pay tribute. Joseon Korea remained a tributary of Qing China until 1895, when the First Sino-Japanese War ended this relationship. The Chinese tributary system required

3648-571: The Mongol-based Yuan dynasty , when Inner Asian territories such as Tibet and Mongolia were incorporated. The Qing dynasty , founded three centuries after the fall of the Yuan dynasty, laid ground to most of China's modern border with its re-expansion into Inner Asia . One year after the 1911 Revolution , the Qing monarchy was abolished following the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor (Puyi), thus putting an end to

3744-479: The Qing realm. George Macartney , the first envoy of Great Britain to China in 1793, had famously said "the Empire of China is an old, crazy, first-rate Man of War, which a fortunate succession of able and vigilant officers have contrived to keep afloat for these hundred and fifty years past..." shortly after his mission to China . While the Qing dynasty tried to maintain the traditional Chinese tributary system , by

3840-635: The Red Turban Rebellion and the Ming remained indecisive, Goryeo retained neutrality despite both sides pleading for their assistance in order to break this stalemate. As the Ming eventually gained the upper hand Goryeo paid an enormous tribute to Ming in February 1385 consisting of five thousand horses, five hundred jin of gold, fifty thousand jin of silver and fifty thousand bolts of cotton fabric in order to maintain their neutrality. Early kings of Japan had formal diplomatic inquiries with

3936-460: The Tang dynasty. If Silla indeed served China wholeheartedly by dispatching tributary ships one after another, why did King Beopheung use his own reign title? This is indeed confusing! From then on, Silla maintained this erroneous practice for many more years, even after Emperor Taizong had learned about it and reproved the Silla ambassador. Now, they eventually adopted the Tang reign title. Although

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4032-592: The Xuantong Emperor, abdicated on 12 February 1912, ending the Qing dynasty as well as the imperial tradition altogether, after more than 2100 years. Yuan Shikai , former President of the Republic of China , attempted to restore dynastic rule with himself as the Hongxian Emperor, however he abdicated the throne on 22 March 1916 after only 83 days. Puyi was briefly restored for 12 days during

4128-437: The Yuan, and the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing. The usual method for widespread geographic power consolidation was to involve the whole family. From generation to generation, the bonds weakened between the branches of family established as local rulers in different areas. After a sufficient period of time, their loyalty could no longer be assured, and the taxes they collected sapped the imperial coffers. This led to situations like

4224-434: The centuries, it has not been uncommon to have numerous claimants to the title of "Son of Heaven". The Chinese political concept of the Mandate of Heaven essentially legitimized those claimants who emerged victorious. The proper list was considered those made by the official dynastic histories ; the compilation of a history of the preceding dynasty was considered one of the hallmarks of legitimacy, along with symbols such as

4320-494: The collapse of the Qin dynasty, with the Han dynasty expanding to the north, south and west. During the Tang dynasty four centuries later, China achieved a golden age in terms of its economic, military and political power. Tang's territory spanned Central Asia , Northeast Asia and parts of Southeast Asia , until the dynasty ended following the An Lushan rebellion in the eight century. Imperial China marked its revival under

4416-410: The death of Emperor Hongwu, the Chinese intervened after a Vietnamese general, Le Qui Ly, usurped the Vietnamese throne. The Malacca sultanate sent envoys to China to inform them that while returning to Malacca in 1469 from a trip to China, their ship had been driven by a storm to the coast of Vietnam and the Vietnamese killed, enslaved and castrated the survivors. The Malaccans reported that Vietnam

4512-527: The diversity of their peoples. Originally emerged as a loose collection of various Han Chinese-speaking entities during the Warring States period , the Qin's wars of unification brought most of the Huaxia realm into one single dynasty , establishing Qin as the first imperial dynasty in 221 BC, the year where the first Chinese empire was established. Imperial China would continue to expand even after

4608-476: The early 16th century, the European intellectual community began to update its concept of the Chinese political system. Initially however the vast majority of them considered Ming China a kingdom rather than an empire. It appeared that it was Maximilianus Transylvanus who first considered China an empire in his work. In 1585, Juan González de Mendoza pointed out that Ming China was at the imperial level based on

4704-588: The emperor was referred to in the third person simply as Huangdi Bixia ( 皇帝陛下 'His Majesty the Emperor') or Dangjin Huangshang ( 当今皇上 ; 當今皇上 'present emperor above'). Under the Qing, the emperor was usually styled 'His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty, Son of Heaven , Lord of Ten Thousand Years ', though this varied considerably. In historical texts, the present emperor

4800-538: The emperor, while still living, often designated a crown prince ( 太子 ). Even such a clear designation, however, was often thwarted by jealousy and distrust, whether it was the crown prince plotting against the emperor, or brothers plotting against each other. Some emperors, like the Yongzheng Emperor , after abolishing the position of Crown Prince, placed the succession papers in a sealed box, only to be opened and announced after his death. Unlike, for example,

4896-500: The emperors were known with a temple name given after their death. Most emperors were also given a posthumous name which was sometimes combined with the temple name (e.g. Emperor Shengzu Ren 圣祖仁皇帝 ; 聖祖仁皇帝 for the Kangxi Emperor). The passing of an emperor was referred to as Jiabeng ( 驾崩 ; 駕崩 'collapse of the imperial chariot') and an emperor that had just died was referred to as Daixing Huangdi ( 大行皇帝 'the emperor of

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4992-470: The era of Imperial China. Three years later, Yuan Shikai restored imperial rule with himself as the emperor. It lasted only 83 days before his own abdication due to mounting disapproval and revolts as well as Yuan's declining health. In July 1917, Puyi was reinstalled by Zhang Xun but the restoration was reversed in less than two weeks. Emperor of China Throughout Chinese history , " Emperor " ( Chinese : 皇帝 ; pinyin : Huángdì )

5088-481: The founding figures of the Jesuit China missions ) more often referred to Ming China as a kingdom than an empire. By the last decade of the Ming dynasty though, an increasing number of Europeans began to refer to the Ming dynasty as "Chinese Empire". With the transition from Ming to Qing , Europeans began to apply the name "Chinese Empire" to the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). "Chinese Empire" (or "Empire of China")

5184-508: The great journey'). The imperial family was made up of the emperor and the empress ( 皇后 ) as the primary consort and Mother of the Nation ( 国母 ; 國母 ). In addition, the emperor would typically have several other consorts and concubines ( 嫔妃 ; 嬪妃 ), ranked by importance into a harem , in which the Empress was supreme. Every dynasty had its set of rules regarding the numerical composition of

5280-526: The greatest respect in the palace and was the decision maker in most family affairs. At times, especially when a young emperor was on the throne, she was the de facto ruler. The emperor's children, the princes ( 皇子 ) and princesses ( 公主 ), were often referred to by their order of birth—e.g. Eldest Prince or Third Princess. Princes were often given titles of peerage once they reached adulthood. The emperor's brothers and uncles served in court by law, and held equal status with other court officials ( 子 ). The emperor

5376-441: The harem. During the Qing dynasty, for example, imperial convention dictated that at any given time there should be one Empress , one Imperial Noble Consort , two Noble Consort , four Consort and six Concubine , plus an unlimited number of Noble Lady , First Class Attendant and Second Class Attendant . Although the emperor had the highest status by law, by tradition and precedent the empress dowager ( 皇太后 ) usually received

5472-402: The hierarchic and nonegalitarian Confucian social order. "Tribute", points out Peter C. Perdue , the historian of Qing dynasty foreign relations, is "the inadequate translation for gong , a term with multiple meanings in classical Chinese," since its "root meaning of gift giving from inferiors to superiors applied to all personal relationships...." Fairbank's concept of tribute system "turned

5568-738: The imperial Chinese system, with rulers declaring themselves emperors on the Confucian model and attempting to create a Vietnamese imperial tributary system while still remaining a tributary state of China. Even though Vietnam was the only sinicized country in Southeast Asia, the Ming dynasty treated it with less respect than Korea or the Ryukyu Kingdom. The Hongwu Emperor was firmly opposed to military expeditions in Southeast Asia and only rebuked Vietnam's conquest of Champa , which had sent tribute missions to China seeking help. After

5664-470: The interaction between politics and ethnicity was far more complex and that elements of these dynasties differed from and altered "native Chinese" traditions concerning imperial rule. Tributary system of China Scholars differ on the nature of China's relations with its neighbors in traditional times. Many describe a system that embodied a collection of institutions, social and diplomatic conventions, and institutions that dominated China's contacts with

5760-468: The late 19th century, China had become part of a European-style community of sovereign states and established diplomatic relations with other countries in the world following international law . Some scholars have suggested that the tributary system is a model for understanding international relations in East Asia today, while others argue that the concept is misleading both about relations in early modern times and today. The term "tribute system"

5856-496: The late 14th to early 16th centuries, the Ryukyu Kingdom served an important position in the Ming's tributary order, as they became a key intermediary for the Ming's trade with Northeast and Southeast Asia through goods funnelled into Ming-Ryukyu tribute missions. Ryukyu's intermediary role was also facilitated by Chinese diaspora communities who settled in Ryukyu and served positions in the Ryukyu court. The Sultanate of Malacca and

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5952-640: The late 16th century, he clearly stated in three places that the first (mythical) sovereign of China, the Yellow Emperor , made the Chinese kingdom an empire; since China was already an empire during the time of the Yellow Emperor, all dynasties from then on were regarded as the continuation of the "empire". According to Matteo Ricci 's view of "imperial power transfer", the name of the empire had not changed since ancient times, but it often had other names due to different ruling families; for instance,

6048-407: The loose reign policy. The rulers of Joseon , in particular, sought to legitimize their rule through reference to Chinese symbolic authority. On the opposite side of the tributary relationship spectrum was Japan , whose leaders could hurt their own legitimacy by identifying with Chinese authority. In these politically tricky situations, sometimes a false king was set up to receive investiture for

6144-437: The multi-level system of the tribute system . Afterwards, Europeans like Matteo Ricci , Álvaro Semedo , Martino Martini and Philippe Couplet gradually constructed the name "Chinese Empire" by comparing the empire-kingdom level, translating European and Chinese concepts and constructing genealogies. However, popular adoption was a slow process. Even the 1615 book De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas by Matteo Ricci (one of

6240-570: The name of "German Empire" would never change, but when the Austrian family ruled, it could also be called "Austrian Empire". Likewise, according to the newspaper New York Herald published in 1853, "during four thousand and sixty years, twenty-one dynasties have swayed the destines of the Chinese Empire, embracing, besides the present sovereign, two hundred and twenty Emperors, whose average reigns have been nearly nineteen years each". On

6336-404: The non-Chinese world for two millennia, until the collapse of the system around the end of the 19th century. Other scholars like Odd Arne Westad see a variety of relationships that differed in character, not an overall "tributary system". They suggest a Sinocentric system, in which Chinese culture was central to the self-identification of many elite groups in the surrounding Asian countries. By

6432-744: The one of China. Between 607 and 839, Japan submitted and sent 19 missions to China under the Sui and Tang dynasties (a mission planned for 894 was cancelled). The nature of these bilateral contacts evolved gradually from political and ceremonial acknowledgment to cultural exchanges; and the process accompanied the growing commercial ties which developed over time. Knowledge was the principal objective of each expedition. For example: Priests studied Chinese Buddhism. Officials studied Chinese government. Doctors studied Chinese medicine . Painters studied Chinese painting . Approximately one third of those who embarked from Japan did not survive to return home. Japan under

6528-456: The original Chinese first-person singular pronoun arrogated by Qin Shi Huang, functioning as an equivalent to the royal we . In front of subjects, the emperor may also refer to themselves self-deprecatingly as Guaren ( 寡人 'the morally-deficient one') or Gu ( 孤 'lonely one'). In contrast to the Western convention of using a regnal or personal name (e.g. George V) to refer to a sovereign,

6624-546: The other hand, modern scholars usually consider the imperial dynasties separate states or empires rather than a single continuous empire, especially since the end of Imperial China. Meanwhile, the English term "Emperor" nowadays generally corresponds to the Chinese term Huangdi (皇帝), also referred to as Emperor of China . For example, the Qin dynasty , which was the first to use the title Emperor or Huangdi , has been referred to as "the first Chinese Empire" in modern sources. On

6720-413: The other hand, the Qing dynasty is regarded as the last Chinese Empire. The dynasties in between them are similarly regarded as empires instead of a single continuous empire, and terms such as " Sui-Tang transition " and " Ming-Qing transition " were introduced in the second half of the 20th century to highlight the changes during transitions of these periods, While imperial dynasties are no longer considered

6816-537: The purposes of tribute trade. In practice, the tribute system only became formalized during the early years of the Ming dynasty . Actors within the "tribute system" were virtually autonomous and carried out their own agendas despite sending tribute; as was the case with Japan, Korea, Ryukyu, and Vietnam. Chinese influence on tributary states was almost always non-interventionist in nature and tributary states "normally could expect no military assistance from Chinese armies should they be invaded". The "tribute" entailed

6912-458: The regional lords overshadowed the king and began to usurp that title for themselves. In 221 BC, after the King of Qin completed the conquest of the various kingdoms of the Warring States period , he adopted a new title to reflect his prestige as a ruler greater than the rulers before him. He called himself "Shi Huangdi", or the 'First Emperor'. Before this, Huang ( 皇 'august', 'sovereign' )

7008-479: The reign of Emperor Wu of Han , who disenfranchised and annihilated the nobilities of virtually all imperial relatives whose forebears had been enfeoffed by his own ancestor, Gaozu. Apart from a few very energetic monarchs, the emperor usually delegated the majority of decision making to the civil bureaucracy (chiefly the chancellery and the Central Secretariat ), the military, and in some periods

7104-649: The rule of the Wanli Emperor, Ming China quickly interpreted the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) which failed as a challenge to the Ming centered predominant worldview and order. Thailand was an important Chinese tributary state from the Sui dynasty (581–618), until the Taiping Rebellion of the late Qing dynasty during the mid-19th century. The Sukhothai Kingdom , the first unified Thai state, established official tributary relations with

7200-566: The second half of the 19th century it had become part of a European-style community of sovereign states . In the process, Qing dynasty's geographical boundaries were redefined by western powers and Japan through diplomacy and warfare. The Qing administration made an effort to effectively manage its borders while modernizing itself , and its dependencies in Inner Asia (collectively known as Chinese Tartary at that time) were internalized and integrated into China's imperial dominion as accepted by

7296-462: The steps'), corresponding to "Your Imperial Majesty" and originally referring to his attendents, Huangshang ( 皇上 'imperial highness', Shengshang ( 圣上 ; 聖上 'holy highness') or Tianzi ( 天子 'Son of Heaven'). The emperor was also alluded to indirectly through reference to the imperial dragon symbology . Servants often addressed the emperor as Wansuiye ( 万岁爷 ; 萬歲爺 'lord of ten thousand years '). The emperor referred to himself as zhen ( 朕 ),

7392-462: The strict rules of succession and dynasties' purported "failures" were detailed in official histories written by their successful replacements or even later dynasties. The power of the emperor was also limited by the imperial bureaucracy , which was staffed by scholar-officials , and eunuchs during some dynasties. An emperor was also constrained by filial obligations to his ancestors' policies and dynastic traditions, such as those first detailed in

7488-461: The term "Chinese Empire" may be used to specifically mean the Ming or the Qing dynasties during the existence of these dynasties, it was often used in a sense to refer to a continuous empire ruled by various dynasties in Chinese history, as the traditional Chinese historiography conceives its history in terms of an unbroken sequence of dynasties (see dynastic cycle ). For example, when Juan González de Mendoza talked about ancient China in his work in

7584-466: The throne. In some cases when the empress did not bear any children, the emperor would have a child with another of his many wives (all children of the emperor were said also to be the children of the empress, regardless of birth mother). In some dynasties the succession of the empress' eldest son was disputed, and because many emperors had large numbers of progeny, there were wars of succession between rival sons. In an attempt to resolve after-death disputes,

7680-435: The title of Emperor, including several simultaneous claimants at various times. Some, such as Li Zicheng , Huang Chao , and Yuan Shu , declared themselves the emperors, Son of Heaven and founded their own empires as a rival government to challenge the legitimacy of and overthrow the existing emperor. Among the most famous emperors were Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty , emperors Gaozu , Han Wudi as well as Guangwu of

7776-446: The utmost respect in his presence, whether in direct conversation or otherwise. When approaching the imperial throne, one was expected to kowtow before the emperor. In a conversation with the emperor, it was considered a crime to compare oneself to the emperor in any way. It was taboo to refer to the emperor by his given name, even for the emperor's own mother, who instead was to use Huangdi ( 皇帝 ), or simply Er ( 儿 ; 兒 'son', for

7872-511: The western countries. Throughout the 19th century, western cartographers commonly included Manchuria , Mongolia , Xinjiang ( Chinese Turkestan ), and Tibet , along with China proper separated by lines, as part of the "Chinese Empire" in published maps. In the last decade of the Qing dynasty, maps published in China caught up with Western cartography, and China's Inner Asian frontiers were enclosed by fixed international boundaries and not separated from China proper by special demarcations. While

7968-503: Was divinely appointed to rule. The appellation Huangdi carried similar shades of meaning. Alternate English translations of the word include "The August Ancestor", "The Holy Ruler", or "The Divine Lord". On that account, some modern scholars translate the title as " thearch ". On occasion, the father of the ascended emperor was still alive. Such an emperor was titled as the Taishang Huang ('grand imperial sire'). The practice

8064-467: Was almost universally referred to as Shang ( 上 ). Generally, emperors also ruled with an era name ( 年号 ; 年號 ). Since the adoption of era names by Emperor Wu of Han and up until the Ming dynasty , the sovereign conventionally changed the era name semi-regularly during his reign. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, emperors simply chose one era name for their entire reign, and people often referred to past emperors with that title. In earlier dynasties,

8160-518: Was always elevated above all others despite any chronological or generational superiority. Recent scholarship is wary of applying present-day ethnic categories to historical situations. Most Chinese emperors have been considered members of the Han ethnicity , but there were also many Chinese emperors who were of non-Han ethnic origins. The most successful of these were the Khitans of the Liao dynasty ,

8256-553: Was always hereditary, usually by agnatic primogeniture . As a result, many emperors ascended the throne while still children. During minority reigns , the Empress Dowager , the emperor's mother, would usually possess significant political power, along with the male members of her birth family . In fact, the vast majority of female rulers throughout Chinese Imperial history came to power by ruling as regents on behalf of their sons; prominent examples include Empress Lü Zhi of

8352-455: Was commonly used during the Qing period, most notably in the western maps and international treaties . The Tsardom of Russia began official communications with the Qing dynasty in the 1650s, and Russian documents from that period referred to Qing China as "Empire of China", "Chinese state" or the state of Bogda . In the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk , the authoritative Latin text used the name "Imperii Sinici" (meaning "Chinese Empire") to refer to

8448-454: Was developed and became influential after 1968, when Fairbank edited and published a conference volume, The Chinese World Order , with fourteen essays on China's pre-modern relations with Vietnam, Korea, Inner Asia and Tibet, Southeast Asia and the Ryukyus, as well as an Introduction and essays describing Chinese views of the world order. The model presents the tribute system as an extension of

8544-469: Was in control of Champa and that the Vietnamese sought to conquer Malacca, but the Malaccans did not fight back because of a lack of permission from the Chinese to engage in war. Malacca avoided reciprocating hostilities until they received a letter from the Ming dynasty, in which the Ming emperor scolded them, ordering the Malaccans to raise soldiers and retaliate if the Vietnamese attacked. According to

8640-433: Was initiated by Qin Shi Huang, who gave the title as a posthumous name to his own father, as was already common for monarchs of any stratum of power. Liu Bang , who established the Han dynasty , was the first to become emperor while his father yet lived. It was said he granted the title during his father's life because he would not be done obeisance to by his own father, a commoner. Owing to political fragmentation, over

8736-474: Was justified. This important concept legitimized the dynastic cycle or the change of dynasties. This principle made it possible even for peasants to found new dynasties, as happened with the Han and Ming dynasties, and for the establishment of conquest dynasties such as the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty and Manchu-led Qing dynasty. It was moral integrity and benevolent leadership that determined the holder of

8832-608: Was most commonly seen as a reverential epithet for a deceased ancestor, and Di ( 帝 , OC : * ‍ tˤeks ) was an apical ancestor, originally referring to the deified ancestors of the Shang kings. In the 3rd century BC, the two titles had not previously been used together. The emperor of China, like the Zhou kings before him, and the Shang kings before them, was most commonly referred to as Tianzi ( 天子 'Son of Heaven'), who

8928-495: Was not included in this list, and sent 57 tribute missions from 1372 to 1398, an average of two tribute missions per year. Since geographical density and proximity was not an issue, regions with multiple kings such as the Sultanate of Sulu benefited immensely from this exchange. After 1435, the Ming dynasty urged foreign delegations to leave and stopped offering transport assistance for visiting missions. The size of delegations

9024-624: Was restricted from hundreds of people to less than a dozen and the frequency of tributary missions was also reduced. The practice of giving gifts of greater value than the tribute itself was not practiced by the Mongol -led Yuan dynasty court with Goryeo . Gifts conferred by the Yuan were worth a fraction of the tribute offered by Goryeo. Participation in a tributary relationship with a Chinese dynasty could also be predicated on cultural or civilizational motivations rather than material and monetary benefits. The Korean kingdom of Joseon did not treat

9120-400: Was the superlative title held by the monarchs who ruled various imperial dynasties or Chinese empires . In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was the " Son of Heaven ", an autocrat with the divine mandate right to rule all under Heaven . Emperors were worshiped posthumously under an imperial cult . The lineage of emperors descended from a paternal family line constituted

9216-483: Was unified under an emperor for the first time, and various dynasties or empires founded by hereditary monarchs ruled China for a total of two millennia since then, including the Qin , Han , Jin , Sui , Tang , Song , Yuan , Ming , and Qing . The word "China" has been used in English since the 16th century. China was previously known to Europeans as Cathay , as used in Marco Polo 's book on his travels in

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