| ID | 114902 |
| Title Proper | Tributary from a multilateral and multilayered perspective |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Nianshen, Song |
| Publication | 2012. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Dr. Zhou Fangyin's 'Equilibrium Analysis of the Tributary System' enriches
the increasingly salient debate among Chinese International Relations (IR)
students on the so-called 'tributary system'
1
in three ways. First, it correctly
points out that China did not unilaterally create the mode of interstate
connections in pre-modern East Asia. Rather, the 'system', if there was
indeed such a thing, was an institutional mechanism mutually constructed
by both the central and peripheral regimes. This, in my opinion, is a crucial
clarification that revises the views of some of the Fairbankian School of
scholars, who insist that the tributary system was an institution enforced
by China on surrounding states that only passively accepted it.
2
Second, the
article differentiates between tributary discourse and practice, and emphasizes the system's internal logic in practical policy making. In another words,
by observing the tributary system as policy-oriented behaviour, the article
rejects the explanation of it as a (partially self-deceived) cultural phenomenon, instead emphasizing its realist significance as a rational political
arrangement. In so doing, it opens the way to further research on the
topic along the political science line. |
| `In' analytical Note | Chinese Journal of International Politics Vol. 5, No.2; Summer 2012: p.155-182 |
| Journal Source | Chinese Journal of International Politics Vol. 5, No.2; Summer 2012: p.155-182 |
| Key Words | East Asia ; China ; Chinese International Relations ; Sino - Korean Relations ; Roman Empire ; Sino – Korean Relations |