U.S.-China Mutual Trust Committee
China’s Tributary System
From the time that China was first unified by the Qin Dynasty Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (221 B.C), its borders have remained basically the same to this day. Every Emperor in all succeeding dynasties had perpetuated the thinking of China as the Middle Kingdom (Zhongquo 中国) around which all its neighboring countries revolved, that China was the source and center of civilization, and that he ruled with the “Mandate of Heaven.” Envoys from these neighboring countries would come, kowtow to the Emperor in obeisance, and offer gifts as tributes. The Emperor would in turn bestow upon these tributary countries lavish gifts, border protection and stability, and grant economic / trade benefits. Participating countries included not only those that shared a border with China such as Thailand and Vietnam, but also those across the East China Sea such as Korea and, for a time, Japan. During the height of the Ming Dynasty envoys were arriving from thirty or more countries in South and Southeast Asia as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tributary_system_of_China
https://olemiss.edu/courses/pol337/tributar.pdf
https://www.britannica.com/topic/tributary-system
In many respects, the tributary system was the medium for the Chinese Emperor to conduct foreign relations and trade. The tributary missions often included private merchants who could conduct trade under favorable terms.
By the Ming Dynasty, founded in 1368, tribute trade had become the primary form of foreign trade. The Emperor also sent his envoys to visit his tributary countries. The high point came when Admiral Zheng He was dispatched on a total of seven large expeditions to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean (1400-1434.) His countries of call included the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Ceylon and the southern coast of India, Arabia and the Persian Gulf, and the Somali coast of Africa, all the way to Africa’s east coast. Admiral He bestowed upon these host countries lavish gifts, and, in all, some 40 countries sent envoys back with He to China to offer their tribute.
The Ming Dynasty then turned inward, and the tributary system went gradually into decline, partly due to the increasing expenses incurred in maintaining such a system. But trade did not stop. Instead, privately owned Chinese junks ferrying Chinese goods throughout Southeast Asia increased. When the Portuguese and Spanish explorers first arrived in the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines, they found Chinese traders flourishing in all the main ports of call and began trading with them. By the time of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) the tributary system had become mainly for diplomatic purposes. In the 1840s the weak government could not withstand the combined armed forces of the Western trading countries and lost both two Opium Wars initiated by British forces. The Chinese government was forced to sign the Treaties of Nanjing (1842) and Tianjin (1858) respectively. In these treaties, known as the unequal treaties, China agreed to the legalization of opium and ceded Chinese land to foreign powers. The tributary system, known as the most consistent world-system in human history and having lasted close to two millennia, collapsed altogether.