A Study Of "Tributary System" From The Perspective Of The Other(1990-2020)

The term of “tribute system” was coined by Sinologists,represented by J.K.Fairbank,in East Asian studies to facilitate the description of the concept of traditional East Asian international order.This paper explores the dynamics of foreign academic research on the “tribute system” in the post-Cold War period.Based on the main results of foreign academic research on the “tribute system” in the past 30 years after the Cold War,this paper classifies,summarizes,and concludes the literature.This paper will try to trace the academic history of the “tribute system” from its conceptual development process,extract the path and paradigm of the study of the“tribute system”,and seek the development and reality of the study of the “tribute system”.Chapter 1 explores the background of “tribute system” research.Under the ideological confrontation of the Cold War,the U.S.political and academic communities shaped the study of the “non-Western world” with economic and political power from “regional studies”.In the post-Cold War international context,China Studies has developed as a sub-project of Asian Studies.Along with the series of achievements of China’s reform and opening up,Western academics have turned more attention to China.Chapter 2 starts from the etymology of the concept of “Tribute System”,clarifies the origin of the concept of “Tribute System”,then sorts out its conceptual development,grasps the evolution of the terminology in the English and Japanese worlds,and reflects on Fairbank’s.The course also reflects on the “Sinocentrism” and the defects of the single motive and purpose of Fairbank’s “Tribute System” theory.Chapter 3 is about the involvement of international relations theory in the study of the “tribute system” and the shift from European to non-European experience.The major mechanisms of international relations theory that have been relatively successful in the study of the “tribute system” are mainly the international social mechanisms of the English school,including other international relations theories such as hegemonic hierarchy.The encounter between international relations theory and the “tribute system” has not only revised the narrow “tribute system” but also developed its own explanatory power in the study of the “tribute system”.Chapter 4 returns to the historiographical path of the “tribute system”.The connotations and extensions of the “tribute system” are enriched in both time(from Han and Tang dynasties to Ming and Qing dynasties)and space(from East Asia to Inner Asia,Eastern Eurasia and Maritime East Asia).In addition,a peripheral perspective is added to the global history perspective,which transcends the traditional narrative of a country-centered history and places the “tribute system” in a broader scope and more diverse connections,critiquing and revising the “tribute system”.Chapter 5 explores the significance of studying the “tribute system” in the post-Cold War era.The historical “tribute system” will not return to reality,but it can provide China with wisdom from the past on how to develop international norms in the face of the dilemma of its rise,and provide insights for China to build its own doctrine.