From the 5th century onwards, a status hierarchy was an explicit element of the tributary system in whichKorea andVietnam were ranked higher than others, includingJapan, theRyukyus,Siam and others.[2] All diplomatic and trade missions were construed in the context of atributary relationship withChina,[3] including:
This is adynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help byediting the page to add missing items, with references toreliable sources.
Đại Việt (also Dai Co Viet, Dai Ngu, 大越, 大瞿越, 大虞) (Ngô Dynasty 吳朝, Đinh Dynasty 丁朝, Prior Lê Dynasty 前黎朝,Lý Dynasty 李朝,Trần Dynasty 陳朝, Hồ Dynasty 胡朝, Later Lê Dynasty 後黎朝, Mạc Dynasty 莫朝)[4]
Internal vassals (206 BC - ?) – Upon the founding of the dynasty, the first emperor awarded up to one-half of territory of Han as fiefdoms to various relatives, who ruled as princes. These fiefdoms collected their own taxes and established their own laws and were not directly administered by imperial government. Consolidation and centralization by succeeding emperors increased imperial controls, gradually dissolving the princedoms. During the period of Three kingdoms, Japan's king also sent tribute to Cao Rui stating about his status as a vassal to the Rui.
Dayuan (102 BC) – Kingdom located in theFergana Valley. Hearing tales of their high-quality horses, which would be of great utility in combatting the Xiongnu,Emperor Wu of Han dispatched an expedition to acquire their submission and the horses. The first expedition of 3,000 was woefully undermanned, but the second, numbering 100,000 besieged the capital, bringing them into submission after negotiations. The expedition returned with 10,000 horses along with a promise to pay an annual tribute in horses[citation needed].
Dian Kingdom (109 BC) – A kingdom located in modern-dayYunnan province. Brought into subjugation byEmperor Wu of Han, who annexed the kingdom into an imperial commandery but allowed local rulers to remain in power.
Jushi (108 BC) – City-state in modern-dayTurpan. Brought into submission by an imperial expedition dispatched byEmperor Wu of Han.[65]
Minyue (138 BC - ?) – ABaiyue people situated in modern-dayFujian province. After an attack by the Minyue people,Emperor Wu of Han launched a massive expedition, and forced their entire population to relocate within imperial borders.
Nanyue (211 BC - 111 BC) – A kingdom situated today's northernVietnam, and the provinces ofGuangdong andGuangxi founded by a formerChinese general,Zhao Tuo. Under Zhao Tuo it paid nominal tribute to Han but his successors lost more and more power. After a coup d'état against the king, Han directly conquered the kingdom and directly administered it from then on.[65]
Xiongnu (53 BC - 10) – A nomadic confederation/empire in Central Asia and modern day Mongolia and extending their control to territories as far asSiberia, westernManchuria, the areas along theCaspian Sea, and modern day Chinese provinces ofInner Mongolia,Gansu andXinjiang. They entered tributary relations with the Han after several defeats, territorial losses, and internal conflicts[citation needed]. Tributary relationships terminated as a result of diplomatic fumblings during the reign ofWang Mang. Xinjiang passed to Chinese control after their defeat.[65]
Wusun (105 BC - ?) – Central Asian people. Bitter enemies with the Xiongnu, they entered a military alliance with the Han. In 53 BC, the kingdom split into two following a succession dispute. Both continued to recognize Han sovereignty and remained faithful vassals[citation needed].
DuringWang Mang's reign, relations with many of the empire's allies and tributaries deteriorated, due in large part to Wang Mang's arrogance and inept diplomacy.
Khotan – King Guangde of Khotan submitted to theHan dynasty in 73 AD. In 129: Fangqian, the king of Khotan, sent an envoy to offer tribute to Han. The Emperor pardoned the crime of the king of Khotan, ordering him to hand back the kingdom of Keriya. Fangqian refused. Two years later Fangqian sent one of his sons to serve and offer tribute at the Chinese Imperial Palace.
Southern Xiongnu (50 - 220) – The Xiongnu split into northern and southern factions. The southern Xiongnu brought themselves into tributary relations with the Han. They were resettled along with large numbers of Chinese immigrants in frontier regions. Economically dependent on Han, they were obliged to provide military services under a tightened tributary system with greater direct imperial supervision.
In the 5th century theWa (Japan during theKofun period) sent five tributes to theJin and to theLiu Song dynasty and the emperors promoted thefive kings to the title likeSupreme Military Commander of the Six States of Wa, Silla, Mimana, Gaya, Jinhan and Mahan.
According to theXīn Táng shū the kingdom ofZhēnlà had conquered different principalities in Northwestern Cambodia after the end of the Yǒnghuī (永徽) era (i.e. after 31 January 656), which previously (in 638/39) paid tribute to China.[66]
The Chinese retaliated againstCham which was raiding the Rinan coast around 430s-440s by seizing Qusu, and then plundering the capital of the Cham aroundHuế. Around 100,000 jin in gold was the amount of plunder.Lin Yi then paid 10,000jin in gold, 100,000 jin in silver, and 300,000 jin in copper in 445 as tribute to China. The final tribute paid to China from Lin Yi was in 749, among the items were 100 strings of pearls, 30 jin gharuwood, baidi, and 20 elephants.[67]
Enslaved people from tributary countries were sent to Tang China by various groups, the Cambodians sent albinos, the Uyghurs sent TurkicKarluks, the Japanese sentAinu, andGöktürk (Tujue) and Tibetan girls were also sent to China.[68] Prisoners captured from Liaodong, Korea, and Japan were sent as tribute to China from Balhae.[69]Tang dynasty China received 11 Japanese girl dancers as tribute fromBalhae in 777.[70]
The Song dynasty received 302 tribute missions from other countries. Vietnamese missions consisted of 45 of them, another 56 were from Champa. More tribute was sent by Champa in order to curry favor from China against Vietnam.[71] Champa brought as tributeChampa rice, a fast-growing rice strain, to China, which massively increased Chinese yields of rice.[72][73]
In 969 the son of KingLi Shengtian named Zongchang sent a tribute mission to China. According to Chinese accounts, theKing of Khotan offered to send in tribute to the Chinese court a dancing elephant captured from Kashgar in 970.[74]
The Mongols extracted tribute from throughout their empire.[75] From Goryeo, they received gold, silver, cloth, grain, ginseng, and falcons.[76][77] The tribute payments were a burden on Goryeo and subjugated polities in the empire.[76][77][78] As with all parts of the Mongol Empire, Goryeo provided palace women, eunuchs, Buddhist monks, and other personnel to the Mongols.[79]
Just as Korean women entered the Yuan court, the Korean Koryo kingdom also saw the entry of Mongol women.[80] Great power was attained by some of the Korean women who entered the Yuan court.[81] One example is the Empress Ki (Qi) and her eunuch Bak Bulhwa when they attempted a major coup of Northern China and Koryo.[82]King Ch'ungson (1309–1313) married two Mongol women, Princess Botasirin and a non-royal woman named Yesujin. She gave birth to a son and had a posthumous title of "virtuous concubine". In addition 1324, the Yuan court sent a Mongol princess of Wei named Jintong to the Koryo King Ch'ungsug.[83]
The entry of Korean women into the Yuan court was reciprocated by the entry of Yuan princesses into the Goryeo court, and this affected relations between Korea and the Yuan. Marriages between the imperial family of Yuan existed between certain states. These included the Onggirat tribe, Idug-qut's Uighur tribe, the Oirat tribe, and the Koryo (Korean) royal family.[84][85]
AMing-era painting of a tribute giraffe from Bengal, which was thought to be aQilin by court officials
Under the Ming dynasty, countries that wanted to have any form of relationship with China, political, economic or otherwise, had to enter the tribute system. As a result, tribute was often paid for opportunistic reasons rather than as a serious gesture of allegiance to the Chinese emperor, and the mere fact that tribute was paid may not be understood in a way that China had political leverage over its tributary.[86] Also some tribute missions may just have been up by ingenious traders. A number of countries only paid tribute once, as a result ofZheng He's expeditions. As of 1587, in Chinese sources the following countries are listed to have paid tribute to the Ming emperors:[87]
TheHongwu Emperor started tributary relations in 1368, emissaries being sent to countries like Korea, Vietnam, Champa, Japan, of which Korea, Vietnam, and Champa sent back tribute in 1369. During Hongwu's rule, Liuch'iu sent 20, Korea sent 20, Champa sent 19, and Vietnam sent 14 tribute missions.[88] The tribute system was an economically profitable form of government trade, and Korea requested and successfully increased the number of tributes sent to Ming from once every three years to three times each year starting in 1400, and eventually four times each year starting in 1531.[89]
Tribute in the form of servants,eunuchs, and virgin girls came from: Ming's various ethnic-minority tribes, tribes on the Mongolian Plateau, Korea,[90] Vietnam,[91] Cambodia, Central Asia, Siam, Champa, and Okinawa.[92]
There were Korean, Jurchen, Mongol, Central Asian, and Vietnamese eunuchs under the Yongle Emperor,[93][94] including Mongol eunuchs who served him while he was the Prince of Yan.[95] In 1381, Muslim and Mongol eunuchs were captured fromYunnan, and possibly among them was the great Ming maritime explorerZheng He.[96] Vietnamese eunuchs like Ruan Lang, Ruan An, Fan Hong, Chen Wu, and Wang Jin were sent by Zhang Fu to the Ming.[97]
During Ming's early contentious relations with Joseon, when there were disputes such as competition for influence over the Jurchens in Manchuria, Korean officials were even flogged by Korean-born Ming eunuch ambassadors, when their demands were not met.[98] Some of the ambassadors were arrogant, such as Sin Kwi-saeng who, in 1398, got drunk and brandished a knife at a dinner in the presence of the king.[99][100] Sino-Korean relations later became amiable, and Korean envoys' seating arrangement in the Ming court was always the highest among the tributaries.[98] A total of 198 eunuchs were sent from Korea to Ming.[101]
On 30 Jan 1406, the MingYongle Emperor expressed horror when theRyukyuans castrated some of their own children to become eunuchs in order to give them to Yongle. Yongle said that the boys who were castrated were innocent and didn't deserve castration, and he returned the boys to Ryukyu and instructed them not to send eunuchs again.[102]
Joseon sent a total of 114 women to the Ming dynasty, consisting of 16 virgin girls, accompanied by 48 female servants, 42 cooks (執饌女), and 8 musical performers (歌舞女).[103][104] The women were sent to the Yongle and Xuande emperors in a total of 7 missions between 1408 and 1433.[104] Xuande was the last Ming emperor to receive human tribute from Korea.[98] with his death in 1435, 53 Korean women were repatriated.[105][106] There was much speculation that theYongle Emperor's real mother was a Korean[107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115] or Mongolian[116] concubine.[117][118][119] Relations between Ming China and Joseon Korea improved dramatically and became much more amicable and mutually profitable during Yongle's reign.[111] Yongle and Xuande were said to have a penchant for Korean cuisine and women.[111][120][121]
An anti pig slaughter edict led to speculation that theZhengde Emperor adopted Islam, due to his use of Muslim eunuchs who commissioned the production of porcelain with Persian and Arabic inscriptions in white and blue color.[122] Muslim eunuchs contributed money in 1496 to repairing Niujie Mosque. Central Asian women were provided to the Zhengde Emperor by a Muslim guard and Sayyid Hussein from Hami.[123] The guard was Yu Yung and the women were Uighur.[124]
It is unknown who really was behind the anti-pig slaughter edict.[125] The speculation of him becoming a Muslim is remembered alongside his excessive and debauched behavior along with his concubines of foreign origin.[126] Muslim Central Asian girls were favored by Zhengde, with Korean girls being favored by Xuande.[127] A Uighur concubine was kept by Zhengde.[128] Uighur and Mongol women were favored by the Zhengde emperor.[129]
"Moghul embassy", seen by the Dutch visitors in Beijing in 1656. According to Lach & Kley (1993), modern historians (namely,Luciano Petech) think that the emissaries portrayed had actually come from Turfan, and not all the way from the Moghul India.The Dutch embassy before the Court and theQianlong Emperor in 1795. The Dutch embassy was the last European embassy sent to China under the tributary system.
This list covers states that sent tribute between 1662 and 1875, and were not covered under theLifan Yuan. Therefore,Tibet or theKhalkha are not included, although they did send tribute in the period given:[130]
The tribute system did not dissolve in 1875, but tribute embassies became less frequent and regular: twelve more Korean embassies until 1894, one more (abortive) from Liuqiu in 1877, three more from Vietnam, and four from Nepal, the last one in 1908.[130]
In 1886, after Britain took over Burma, they maintained the sending of tribute to China, putting themselves in a lower status than in their previous relations.[9] It was agreed in the Burma convention in 1886 that China would recognize Britain's occupation of Upper Burma while Britain continued the Burmese payment of tribute every ten years to Peking.[10]
^abcdefghijktcafl (2010-09-26)."由钓鱼岛故事想到清代中国的藩属国" [Thinking about the vassal states of China in the Qing Dynasty from the story of Diaoyu Islands].city.udn.com (in Chinese). China. Retrieved2025-03-15.
^abAlfred Stead (1901).China and her mysteries. LONDON: Hood, Douglas, & Howard. p. 100. RetrievedFebruary 19, 2011.burma was a tributary state of china british forward tribute peking.(Original from the University of California)
^Momorki, Shiro (2011), ""Mandala Campa" Seen from Chinese Sources", in Lockhart, Bruce; Trần, Kỳ Phương (eds.),The Cham of Vietnam: History, Society and Art, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, pp. 122–123
^Yoda,p. 40., p. 40, atGoogle Books; excerpt, "... King Na was awarded the seal of the Monarch of the Kingdom of Wa during the Chinese Han dynasty, and Queen Himiko, who had sent a tribute mission to the Wei Dynasty (third century) was followed by the five kings of Wa who also offered tribute to the Wei. This evidence points to the fact that at this period Japan was inside the Chinese tribute system ...."
^Yoda,p. 40., p. 40, atGoogle Books; excerpt, "... Japanese missions to the Sui [Dynasty] (581–604) ... were recognized by the Chinese as bearers of imperial tribute ...."
^Yoda,p. 40., p. 40, atGoogle Books; excerpt, "Japanese missions to the ... Tang Dynasties were recognized by the Chinese as bearers of imperial tribute; however, in the middle of the ninth century -- the early Heian Period -- Japan rescinded he sending of missions to the Tang Empire. Subsequently Japan conducted a flourishing trade with China and for the next five hundred years also imported much of Chinese culture, while nevertheless remaining outside the tribute system."
^Edwin O. Reischauer (1955).Ennin's travels in T'ang China: Chapter III - Kentoshi.ISBN978-89-460-3814-1
^Fogel,p. 27., p. 27, atGoogle Books; Goodrich, Luther Carringtonet al. (1976).Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644, p. 1316., p. 1316, atGoogle Books; note: the economic benefit of theSinocentric tribute system was profitable trade. The tally trade (kangō bōeki orkanhe maoyi in Chinese) was a system devised and monitored by the Chinese -- see Nussbaum, Louis Frédéricet al. (2005).Japan Encyclopedia, p. 471.
^Seth, Michael J. (2006).A concise history of Korea, p. 64, p. 64, atGoogle Books; excerpt, "China found instead that its policy of using trade and cultural exchanges and offering legitimacy and prestige to the Silla monarchy was effective in keeping Silla safely in the tributary system. Indeed, the relationship that was worked out in the late seventh and early eighth centuries can be considered the beginning of the mature tributary relationship that would characterize Sino-Korean interchange most of the time until the late nineteenth century;"
^abKwak,p. 99., p. 99, atGoogle Books; excerpt, "Korea's tributary relations with China began as early as the fifth century, were regularized during theGoryeo dynasty (918–1392), and became fully institutionalized during the Yi dynasty (1392–1910)."
^435 special embassy missions between 1637 and 1881.
^Clark, Donald N. (1998)."The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644 Part 2".The Cambridge History of China.8: 280.ISBN0-521-24333-5.Archived from the original on 2021-09-26. Retrieved2020-10-18.Between 1392 and 1450, the Choson court dispatched 391 envoys to China: on average, seven each year.
^Coedès, George (1968). Walter F. Vella (ed.).The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Translated by Susan Brown Cowing. University of Hawaii Press.ISBN978-0-8248-0368-1.
^Lynda Noreen Shaffer,A Concrete Panoply of Intercultural Exchange: Asia in World History (1997) inAsia in Western and World History, edited byAinslie T. Embree andCarol Gluck (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe), p. 839-840.
^崔 CUI, 鲜香 Xian-xiang (2010)."高丽女性在高丽与蒙元关系中的作用".Pku Cssci (1). Tianjin: 天津师范大学性别与社会发展研究中心.Archived from the original on 2018-07-06. Retrieved2018-07-15.
^李, 鹏 (2006)."元代入华高丽女子探析". 广西师范大学.Archived from the original on 2018-07-06. Retrieved2018-07-15.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
^Kang, Jae-eun (2006).The Land of Scholars: Two Thousand Years of Korean Confucianism. Homa & Sekey Books. p. 179.ISBN9781931907309.Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved29 June 2016. "Reciprocating a tribute usually exceeded the tribute itself, which was a profitable government trade to the small nation but a big burden for China. Therefore, China requested for Joseon to send tribute only "once every three years," but in contrast, Joseon requested to send a tribute "thrice each year" or "four times per year" instead and achieved it."
^Association for Asian Studies. Ming Biographical History Project Committee, Luther Carrington Goodrich, Chao-ying Fang (1976).Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644. Columbia University Press. p. 1597.ISBN0-231-03833-X.Archived from the original on 2021-09-26. Retrieved2010-07-04.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Association for Asian Studies. Ming Biographical History Project Committee; Luther Carrington Goodrich; 房兆楹 (January 1976).Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368-1644. Columbia University Press. pp. 1363–.ISBN978-0-231-03833-1.Archived from the original on 2019-12-27. Retrieved2019-01-26.
^Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies (2011).조선 사람의 세계여행 (규장각 교양총서05) [World Travels of the Joseon People] (in Korean). 글항아리.ISBN9788967352790.Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved12 March 2019.
^"Arts of Asia". Arts of Asia Publications. 1 January 2008: 120.Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved13 September 2016.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
^He, Li; Knight, Michael; Vinograd, Richard Ellis; Bartholomew, Terese Tse; Chan, Dany; Culture, Asian Art Museum--Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and; Art, Indianapolis Museum of; Museum, St Louis Art (2008-07-22).Power and glory: court arts of China's Ming dynasty. Asian Art Museum--Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture. p. 153.ISBN9780939117420.Archived from the original on 2021-09-26. Retrieved13 September 2016.
^Association for Asian Studies. Ming Biographical History Project Committee; Luther Carrington Goodrich; 房兆楹 (1976).Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368-1644. Columbia University Press. pp. 309–.ISBN978-0-231-03801-0.Archived from the original on 2016-09-02. Retrieved2016-09-22.
^Robinson, Martin; Bender, Andrew; Whyte, Rob (2004).Korea. Lonely Planet. p. 22.ISBN1-74059-449-5.The tribute taken to Beijing three or four times a year during most of the Joseon period provides an interesting insight into Korean products at this time.
^Library of Congress. Orientalia Division (1943). Hummel, Arthur William (ed.).清代名人傳略: 1644-1912 (reprint ed.). 經文書局. p. 217.Archived from the original on 2016-10-22. Retrieved2016-05-02.
^Dawson, Raymond Stanley (1972).Imperial China (illustrated ed.). Hutchinson. p. 275.ISBN9780091084806.Archived from the original on 2016-10-22. Retrieved2016-05-02.
^Dawson, Raymond Stanley (1976).Imperial China (illustrated ed.). Penguin. p. 306.ISBN9780140218992.Archived from the original on 2021-07-31. Retrieved2016-05-02.
^梨大史學會 (Korea) (1968).梨大史苑, Volume 7. 梨大史學會. p. 105.Archived from the original on 2016-10-22. Retrieved2016-05-02.
^Kwan, Ling Li. Transl. by David (1995).Son of Heaven (1. ed.). Beijing: Chinese Literature Press. p. 217.ISBN9787507102888.Archived from the original on 2016-10-22. Retrieved2016-05-02.
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This article incorporates text fromChina and her mysteries, by Alfred Stead, a publication from 1901, now in thepublic domain in the United States.
This article incorporates text fromChina's intercourse with Korea from the XVth century to 1895, by William Woodville Rockhill, a publication from 1905, now in thepublic domain in the United States.
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