Sinocentrism
Sinocentrism refers to a worldview that China is the cultural, political, or economic center of the world. Sinocentrism was a core concept in various Chinese dynasties. The Chinese considered themselves to be "all-under-Heaven", ruled by the emperor, known as Son of Heaven. Those that lived outside of the Huaxia were regarded as "barbarians". In addition, states outside of China, such as Vietnam, Japan or Korea, were considered to be vassals of China.
Overview and context
Depending on the historical context, Sinocentrism can refer to either the ethnocentrism of the Han society and culture, or the modern concept of zhonghua minzu, popular among the Korean elites up to the final demise of the Qing dynasty. The concept came to an end in the 19th century and suffered several more blows in the 20th century, and as a result is not as widely popular among Chinese people in the present day.In pre-modern times, it often took the form of viewing China as the most advanced civilization in the world, and external ethnic groups or foreign nations as being uncivilized to various degrees, a distinction known in Chinese as the Hua–Yi distinction.
Sinocentric system
The Sinocentric system was a hierarchical system of international relations that prevailed in East Asia before the adoption of the Westphalian system in modern times. Surrounding states such as Japan, Korea, the Ryukyu Kingdom, and Vietnam were regarded as vassals of China. Relations between the Chinese Empire and these peoples were interpreted as tributary relationships under which these countries offered tributes to the Emperor of China. Areas not under Sinocentric influence were called Huawai zhi di.At the center of the system stood China, ruled by a dynasty that had gained the Mandate of Heaven. This "Celestial Dynasty", distinguished by its Confucian codes of morality and propriety, regarded itself as the most prominent civilization in the world; the Emperor of China was considered the only legitimate emperor of the entire world.
Under this scheme of international relations, only China could use the title of emperor whereas other states were ruled by kings. Chinese emperors were considered the Son of Heaven. The Japanese use of the term Tennō for the rulers of Japan was a subversion of this principle. Throughout history, Koreans have sometimes referred to their rulers as king, conforming with traditional Korean belief of the Posterity of Heaven.
Identification of the heartland and the legitimacy of dynastic succession were both essential aspects of the system. Originally the center was synonymous with the Zhongyuan, an area that was expanded through invasion and conquest over many centuries. The dynastic succession was at times subject to radical changes in interpretation, such as the period of the Southern Song when the ruling dynasty lost the traditional heartland to the northern barbarians. Outside the center were several concentric circles. Local ethnic minorities were not regarded as "foreign countries". However, they were governed by their native leaders called tusi, subject to recognition by the Chinese court, and were exempt from the Chinese bureaucratic system.
Outside this circle were the tributary states which offered tributes to the Chinese emperor and over which China exercised suzerainty. Under the Ming dynasty, when the tribute system entered its peak, these states were classified into a number of groups. The southeastern barbarians included some of the major states of East Asia and Southeast Asia, such as Korea, Japan, the Ryukyu Kingdom, Vietnam, Thailand, Champa, and Java. A second group of southeastern barbarians covered countries like Sulu, Malacca, and Sri Lanka. Many of these are independent states in modern times.
The situation was complicated by the fact that some tributary states had their own tributaries. Laos was a tributary of Vietnam while the Ryukyu Kingdom paid tribute to both China and Japan. Tsushima Island was also a tributary of the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties of Korea.
Beyond the circle of tributary states were countries in a trading relationship with China. The Portuguese, for instance, were allowed to trade with China from leased territory in Macau but did not officially enter the tributary system. During the Qing dynasty's rule of Taiwan, some Qing officials have used the term Huawai zhi di to refer to Taiwan, specifically to areas in Taiwan that have yet to be fully cultivated, developed and under the control of the Qing government.
While Sinocentrism tends to be identified as a politically inspired system of international relations, in fact it possessed an important economic aspect. The Sinocentric tribute and trade system provided Northeast and Southeast Asia with a political and economic framework for international trade. Countries wishing to trade with China were required to submit to a suzerain-vassal relationship with the Chinese sovereign. After investiture of the ruler in question, the missions were allowed to come to China to pay tribute to the Chinese emperor. In exchange, tributary missions were presented with return bestowals. Special licences were issued to merchants accompanying these missions to carry out trade. Trade was also permitted at land frontiers and specified ports. This Sinocentric trade zone was based on the use of silver as a currency with prices set by reference to Chinese prices.
The Sinocentric model was not seriously challenged until contact with the European powers in the 18th and 19th century, in particular after the First Opium War. This was partly due to the fact that sustained contact between the Chinese Empire and other empires of the pre-modern period was limited. By the mid 19th century, imperial China was well past its peak and was on the verge of collapse.
In the late 19th century, the Sinocentric tributary state system in East Asia was superseded by the Westphalian multi-state system.
Responses of other countries
Within Asia, the cultural and economic centrality of China was recognized, and most countries submitted to the Sinocentric model, if only to enjoy the benefits of a trading relationship. However, clear differences of nuance can be discerned in the responses of different countries.Korea
Until the era of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, Southern Korean states had been protected from Chinese invasions by militarily powerful Northern Korean states such as Goguryeo which ruled the northern region of Korean peninsula and Manchuria. Goguryeo considered itself as an equally supreme state as China and adopted its own centric system to adjacent countries as shown through its Korean imperial titles. Refusing to pay any tributes and continuing to conquer eastern territories of China altogether incurred a series of massive Chinese invasions of Goguryeo from 598 to 614, which ended disastrously, and they mainly contributed to the fall of Chinese Sui dynasty in 618. Such numerous defeats of the Chinese raised the sense of ethnic superiority in Goguryeo and further expansions into the Chinese territories continued.After Goguryeo was collapsed by the allied forces of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and the Tang dynasty in 668, Silla, now being the sole ruler of Korean peninsula, more readily started the tribute system between Silla and Tang. However, such ties between two countries were weakened after Silla's submission to Goryeo who claimed to succeed Goguryeo.
In the mid-Goryeo period, Korea idealized the Song dynasty and actively sought cultural assimilation into the Sinosphere. The relationship continued until the Mongol invasions of Korea and the Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty where the two kingdoms fell, leading to the rise of the Yuan dynasty. After 30 years of fierce resistance, both Goryeo and Mongols finally sued for peace and Goryeo became a dependency of the Yuan dynasty. Soon after the weakening of Yuan dynasty, Goryeo retook their lost territories from the Yuan dynasty by military campaigns and regained her sovereign rights.
The Joseon dynasty encouraged the entrenchment of Korean Confucian ideals and doctrines in Korean society and again willingly entered into the Sinocentric system. After the Ming dynasty, which regarded itself as huá, cultured civilization was considered to have collapsed under the invasion of the Qing, where the dominant Manchus were considered barbarian by Koreans. The Ming was thought of as the last true Sino culture.
Sinocentrism waned further after Britain militarily defeated Qing China in the Second Opium War, creating an influx of Western culture with the decline of the Qing dynasty. Some Koreans especially those who studied abroad saw a need for reforms and associated Western civilization with modernization.
Vietnam
had an intimate but not always peaceful relationship with China. Vietnam, originally independent, was part of various Chinese dynasties and kingdoms for approximately 900 years before gaining independence in the 10th century. In subsequent centuries the Vietnamese drove out Chinese invaders on a number of occasions, to the extent that conflict with China may be seen as one of the main themes of Vietnamese history.However, Vietnam was also heavily Sinicized, adopting most aspects of Chinese culture, including the administrative system, architecture, philosophy, religion, literature of China, and even a general cultural outlook. Classical Chinese was adopted as national writing system since the Triệu dynasty. Vietnamese merchants along with Chinese merchants had the important roles in spreading of Hanzi and Confucianism to the world. First Vietnamese reached the Persian shores in the late 1st century. Vietnam persistently identified itself in relation to China, regarding itself as the kingdom of the south as against China in the north, as seen in this line from a poem by General Lý Thường Kiệt : Nam Quốc sơn hà Nam Đế cư., which means "Over mountains and rivers of the South reigns the Emperor of the South".
In adopting Chinese customs, the Vietnamese court also began to adopt Sinocentric world view during the expanding Later Lê and Nguyễn dynasties. "Trung Quốc" 中國 was used as a name for Vietnam by Emperor Gia Long in 1805. It was said "Hán di hữu hạn" 漢夷有限 by the Gia Long Emperor when differentiating between Khmer and Vietnamese. Minh Mang implemented an acculturation integration policy directed at minority non-Vietnamese peoples. Thanh nhân 清人 was used to refer to ethnic Chinese by the Vietnamese while Vietnamese called themselves as Hán nhân 漢人 in Vietnam during the 1800s under Nguyễn rule. Cambodia was regularly called Cao Man Quốc, the country of "upper barbarians". In 1815, Gia Long claimed 13 countries as Vietnamese vassals, including Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Burma, Tran Ninh in eastern Laos, and two countries called "Thủy Xá Quốc" and "Hỏa Xá Quốc", which were actually Malayo-Polynesian Jarai tribes living between Vietnam and Cambodia. Mirroring the Chinese model, the Vietnamese court attempted to regulate the presentation of tribute to the Vietnamese court, participation in New Year and emperor's birthday ceremonies, as well as the travel routes and size of tributary missions.
Vietnamese Nguyen Emperor Minh Mạng sinicized ethnic minorities such as Khmer and Cham, claimed the legacy of Confucianism and China's Han dynasty for Vietnam, and used the term Han people 漢人 to refer to the Vietnamese. Minh Mang declared that "We must hope that their barbarian habits will be subconsciously dissipated, and that they will daily become more infected by Han customs." These policies were directed at the Khmer and hill tribes. The Nguyen lord Nguyen Phuc Chu had referred to Vietnamese as "Han people" in 1712 when differentiating between Vietnamese and Chams. The Nguyen Lords established đồn điền after 1790. It was said "Hán di hữu hạn" 漢夷有限 by the Gia Long Emperor when differentiating between Khmer and Vietnamese. Minh Mang implemented an acculturation integration policy directed at minority non-Vietnamese peoples. Thanh nhân 清人 or Đường nhân 唐人 were used to refer to ethnic Chinese by the Vietnamese while Vietnamese called themselves as Hán dân 漢民 and Hán nhân 漢人 in Vietnam during the 1800s under Nguyễn rule.
Chinese style clothing was forced on Vietnamese people by the Nguyễn. Trousers have been adopted by White H'mong. The trousers replaced the traditional skirts of the females of the White Hmong. The tunics and trouser clothing of the Han Chinese on the Ming tradition was worn by the Vietnamese. The Áo dài was created when tucks which were close fitting and compact were added in the 1920s to this Chinese style. Trousers and tunics on the Chinese pattern in 1774 were ordered by the Nguyễn Phúc Khoát to replace the sarong type Vietnamese clothing. The Chinese clothing in the form of trousers and tunic were mandated by the Vietnamese Nguyen government. It was up to the 1920s in Vietnam's north area in isolated hamlets wear skirts were worn. The Chinese Qin and Han dynasty state clothing was ordered to be adopted by Vietnamese military and bureaucrats since Vietnam under Triệu rule Triệu Đà.
Chinese influence waned as French influence rose in the 19th century, and Vietnam eventually abolished the Imperial examinations and stopped using Chữ Hán and the related Chữ Nôm script in the 20th century in official.