Rethinking the "tribute system": broadening the conceptual horizon of historical East Asian politics

Abstract

Among the notable features of the study of historical East Asian politics is the lack of rigorous systemic theories that can explain the working and nature of the relations between imperial China and its neighbors. What we have had for a long time is the idea of the "tribute system" and its central importance in organizing our thinking about historical East Asian politics. But what is the "tribute system" as it is used by various scholars? How useful are these tribute-system perspectives or models in shedding light on the nature of historical East Asian politics? Drawing on the wide-ranging and insightful scholarship of Wang Gungwu and a number of other historians and political scientists, I attempt to critically evaluate the venerable literature on the "tribute system" for some conceptual clarification and broadening of key themes of traditional China's foreign relations and the larger political dynamics between China and its neighbors. I write from a political science perspective, though I engage extensively with the predominantly historical scholarship on the subject. Show more