East Asia Before the West - Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute

Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-0-231-15318-8
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 240 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 460 g

Reihe: Contemporary Asia in the World

From the founding of the Ming dynasty in 1368 to the start of the Opium Wars in 1841, China has engaged in only two large-scale conflicts with its principal neighbors, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. These four territorial and centralized states have otherwise fostered peaceful and long-lasting relationships with one another, and as they have grown more powerful, the atmosphere around them has stabilized.

Focusing on the role of the "tribute system" in maintaining stability in East Asia and in fostering diplomatic and commercial exchange, Kang contrasts this history against the example of Europe and the East Asian states' skirmishes with nomadic peoples to the north and west. Although China has been the unquestioned hegemon in the region, with other political units always considered secondary, the tributary order entailed military, cultural, and economic dimensions that afforded its participants immense latitude. Europe's "Westphalian" system, on the other hand, was based on formal equality among states and balance-of-power politics, resulting in incessant interstate conflict.

Scholars tend to view Europe's experience as universal, but Kang upends this tradition, emphasizing East Asia's formal hierarchy as an international system with its own history and character. This approach not only recasts our understanding of East Asian relations but also defines a model that applies to other hegemonies outside the European order.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kang, David C.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations and TablesPreface1. The Puzzle: War and Peace in East Asian History2. Ideas: Hierarchy, Status, and Hegemony3. States: The Confucian Society4. Diplomacy: The Tribute System5. War: The Longer Peace6. Trade: International Economic Relations7. Frontiers: Nomads and Islands8. Lessons: History Forward and BackwardNotesBibliographyIndex

Über Autor(innen)

David C. Kang is professor of international relations and business and director of the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California. A regular consultant for both multinational corporations and U.S. government agencies, his books include China Rising, Crony Capitalism, and Nuclear North Korea: A Debate in Engagement Strategies.