The Study Of Sino-foreign Border Affairs Negotiations In The 17-18th Century

The 17^th and 18^th centuries,which were considered an important turning point for the East Asia,witnessed new changes in the framework by which China negotiated with neighboring countries:not only did the traditional tributary system continue its role,treaties also played a part.That is an embodiment of the characteristics of the East Asia in that era.When China negotiated with different neighbors at different time,it employed different means,sought for different aims and thus produced different results.During the process of negotiation,there had also been marked awareness of national interests and of a nation as a whole.China’s land boundary was formed through the development and changes of Yuan,Ming and Qing dynasties.During the Ming and Qing Dynasties,China basically possessed the basic elements of a modern national state,with relatively fixed boundaries and border systems,and its consciousness of boundaries and boundaries was also significantly enhanced.The formation of modern national territory and territorial consciousness has a long historical process,which is not achieved overnight.The territorial problem of East Asian world has its unique historical origin.During this period,East Asian countries formed a cooperative mechanism of mutual compliance through interaction in border governance,border people management and bilateral trade.Moreover,under the cloak of traditional tributary system,there are implicit considerations of national interests and security.These problems are not only historical problems,but also closely related to reality.After all,the present East Asia is the evolution of the history of East Asia.With the help of Chinese and"foreign"historical materials,this paper explores the origin and development of Sino-foreign diplomatic negotiations from different perspectives,which is helpful for us to have a profound understanding of China’s role and status in the historical process of East Asia.This paper explores China’s negotiations with Russia,the Korea and Vietnam on issues related to border demarcation,to people living along the border,and to border trade.There is also a comparison among these three nations.As negotiations proceeded,China’s border with other countries had become clearer and clearer,with modern approaches having been applied in confirming the borders,such as signing pacts,setting up boundary monuments,and mapping.Meanwhile,not only China but also its neighbors had seen greater clearance in its previously vague concepts of borders and messy methods for managing borders.With the determination of the border,the border management institutions and systems had been improving.Although the competition of military forces was an important weight of border negotiation in East Asia during this period,the influence of suzerain morality and economic and trade profits on border negotiation should not be underestimated.During this period,due to the differences in historical and cultural origins,military forces,interests and demands between the two sides,the negotiation of Chinese and foreign borders often presented different results.In the process of negotiating with China,the means and purposes of different countries have changed in different periods,and their choices and emphases are also different.Negotiations over issues of border residents had become increasingly intense,so had the competition for people.Therefore,the system for managing border people which had used to be very loose had begun to grow strict and sound.Among all these issues related to border people,the most notable was the frequent occurrence of economic crimes with people trespassing over borders and criminal crimes,having attracted the attention of all countries concerned.As far as China-Russia negotiations over border people were concerned,most cases involve disputes over the ownership of the border people.At first Russia often did not respond to official requests by the Qing Dynasty of brushing back the border people,and often failed to strictly implement the border management terms as signed in the Sino-Russian border treaty.As large amounts of people returned to the territory of the Qing Dynasty due to tightened control of Mongolia by the Qing government,however,Russia demanded the Qing Dynasty to return those people in accordance with provisions concerned.While Russia vied for border people to gain more economic benefits,the Qing Dynasty did so on political grounds.The negotiation between China and Russia had gradually improved the institutions and mechanisms for managing border people.China’s negotiations over border inhabitants with Korea and Vietnam focused more on the right to manage these people.Stronger national awareness had given rise to sound management mechanisms in both Korea and Vietnam,which took full advantage of their status as China’s tributaries to get what was in the best interests for them in the course of negotiating with China.China’s negotiations with its neighbors over border trade involved both economic and political interests,embodying striking characteristics of that time.After military spat with the Qing Dynasty,Russia,in order to promote trade with the Qing Dynasty to gain commercial profits,completed delimitation of borders with the Qing Dynasty.The Korean Dynasty,in the early stage of trading with China over borders,was rather passive.But as its relations with China grew less tense,the Korean Dynasty had benefited a lot from its trade with China.What’s more,it made most of its own strengths and became a transfer station for China-Japan trade and an important participant in the China-Russia trade.The border trade between China and Vietnam was relatively stable.It was influenced only by the increase or the decrease of bilateral barriers;however,the overall scale of trade and the types of commodity remained unchanged.Vietnam’s participation in the Sino-Vietnamese border trade management had also increased with the improvement of border management institutions.Both Korea and Vietnam were restrained by their status as China’s tributaries when they traded with the China,who valued not economic benefits but political submission.In a word,the coexistence and even compatibility of the tributary system and the treaty system are reflected in the practice of Sino-foreign border affairs negotiation in this period,which is a rare phenomenon in the history of China before.In the meantime,there are not only war and negotiation,but also power and tenderness,as well as consultation and pacification.There is no doubt that border negotiations are an important part of the transition from self-reliance to disintegration in the East Asian world.If we blindly explain the evolution of the East Asian world in the modern discourse of the Western Center,it is easy to cover up the diversification process of its history.