The vassal state in Chinese history is a complex and unique historical concept, which is essentially a political form in which a centralized state rules a small peripheral state.
1. The nature and formation of the vassal state.
There are many words that have similar meanings to vassal states, such as vassal states, vassal states, tributary states, protectorates, colonies, autonomous republics under modern federal systems (unions of states), member groups of the United Kingdom, semi-independent states, etc.
In fact, vassal states are not exactly the same as these concepts.
The vassal states were indiscriminately subordinated to the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty, and all vassal states at that time were equivalent to vassal states. The Qin Dynasty annexed the Six Kingdoms, China was unified, Qin Shi Huang established the first centralized power, and the county system replaced the feudal system. The vassal state became a state outside of China that recognized China as a suzerainty and called a tributary.
In the Tang Dynasty, the vassal states came to the dynasty to paint the scene.
The vassal state ended with the founding of New China, and it was impossible for this product of feudal society to exist under the socialist system. Kanjuti was the last vassal state of China, and the exact date when it ended its vassal relations with China was 1947.
2. The development and scale of the vassal state.
As a symbol of the strength of the Central Plains Dynasty, the vassal state had the most prominent position in the Han and Tang dynasties.
During the Han Dynasty, China once had more than 50 vassal states, including the Xiongnu, Wuhuan, Wusun, Dayue, and so on. In 60 B.C., the Western Han Dynasty even set up a special administrative body for a vassal state, the Western Regions Protectorate.
Map of the northwest territory of the Han Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty was the most powerful dynasty with the strictest management of vassal states, and the sum of the area under the jurisdiction of each vassal state not only far exceeded that of the Han Dynasty, but also exceeded the area of land under the direct jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty.
In the Tang Dynasty, the obligations of the vassal state to the suzerainty were in addition to meeting the Son of Heaven, obeying orders, paying taxes and tribute, guarding the territory, and sending troops to participate in war. Its formulation of relevant economic, political, cultural, and foreign policies must also be subject to the approval and supervision of the ** dynasty. During the reign of Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, there were more than 70 vassal states.
Distribution map of the northwestern vassal states of the Tang Dynasty.
In Chinese history, the Ming Dynasty had the largest number of vassal states, with more than 140, and its radiation range far exceeded that of the Central Plains and was widely involved overseas. As far as South Asia and Africa, such as Suma in eastern Africa and Humata in southern India, most vassal states were in fact pilgrimage states, nominally submissive, and only tributary.
Zheng He went to the West and collected many vassal states.
It was the Qing Dynasty that classified the vassal states. "The Unification Chronicles of the Great Qing Dynasty" said: "Foreign vassal states, seven out of fifty." A tributary country, there is one in thirty. ”
According to the "Qing Historical Manuscript", in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, China still had 19 vassal states under its direct jurisdiction, and 3 vassal states under the jurisdiction of **, including Goryeo (present-day Korea and Korea) in the east, Ryukyu (today's Okinawa Prefecture, etc.);Located on the Indochina Peninsula were Annam (present-day Vietnam), Nam Cheong (present-day Laos), Siam (present-day Thailand), and BurmaSulu (present-day Philippines), located in the South Sea Islands;To the southwest, there were Gurkha (present-day Nepal), Jemangxiong (present-day Sikkim), Bhutan (present-day Bhutan), and Ladakh (present-day India).In Central and West Asia, there were Kokand (present-day Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan), Kazakh (present-day Kazakhstan), Burut and Bukhar (both countries in present-day Kyrgyzstan), Badashank, Margalang, Namgan and Tashkent (all four of which were part of present-day Uzbekistan), Borol (present-day Afghanistan), Kanjuti (present-day Pakistan), and Aiwuhan (present-day Afghanistan).
Map of the distribution of vassal states in China during the Qing Dynasty.
There was also a state that had applied for, but was not accepted by the Qianlong Emperor, but in fact had vassal status, the Republic of Lanfang (present-day Indonesia).
The theoretical basis for the emergence of vassal states is "under the Putian, it is not the king's land" in the "Book of Songs: Beishan".The shore of the land is not the land concept of the king's minister. There are three of them:
Several major vassal states in the northwest of our country.
The first is that it originally belonged to an independent country or region, and the ** dynasty was formed through military conquest and subjugation, which was the main body of the vassal state.
The second is that it is an independent country, and they took the initiative to come to annex it out of the needs of their own security precautions and economic development, and many overseas vassal states of the Ming Dynasty were in this category.
The third is that it was originally a local administrative division directly under China, which was independent without authorization, and was established after being conquered and then submitted to obedience again, and finally changed its attributes.
Map of China's western territory at the end of the Qing Dynasty.
3. The role and status of the vassal states.
The reason why China is called China is that it thinks of itself as the center of the world. The emperors of the past dynasties especially enjoyed the feeling of "coming from all directions" and "coming from all directions", so the vassal states only enjoyed a nominal rule for the suzerain, which had no practical significance, let alone obtained resources, wealth and other economic benefits from it. Even when drawing up ancient maps, vassal states were not usually included.
In fact, vassal states can act as economic interactions and security barriers to the overlord. It's a pity that the emperors of the past dynasties, especially the Ming and Qing dynasties, did not make good use of this.
Map of the territory and ethnic distribution of the Qing Dynasty.
Some people say that vassal states are only controlled and managed to a certain extent, and do not actually belong to Chinese territory. Not really.
There are many types of vassal states in Chinese history, and the status of vassal states varies from one to another, and there are roughly three categories:
First, they have full sovereignty, have a sound ** institution or independent management system, only nominally recognize the status of the suzerain, and the leader and the way of governing the country are determined by themselves, and the leader is called the king (Khan) can not be called the emperor, and must accept the canonization of the ** dynasty, and the obligation is only to pay tribute and promise not to deviate from the will of the ** dynasty in the general direction of diplomacy.
Map of the territory of the Yuan Dynasty.
Second, the political status and sovereignty are subordinate to the suzerain, maintain a certain degree of independence, and have their own foreign and defense policies, but they are controlled by the suzerain, and the ** dynasty gives them political recognition, military protection, and economic, trade and cultural exchanges. The obligation is to provide taxes and tribute to the suzerain, send troops to assist in the war when the security of the suzerainty is seriously threatened, and regularly send envoys to China to report to the emperor of the ** dynasty.
Map of the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
The third is to enjoy a high degree of autonomy, ** dynasty generally does not interfere in its internal affairs, but the leader must be appointed by the Chinese emperor, ** dynasty to be stationed in the management ** and garrison, such as the end of the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai was a representative of the Qing Dynasty, as the governor of Korea.
Map of the territory of the Qing Dynasty.
4. The demise of the vassal states.
The vassal state was a specific product of China's feudal era, and with the collapse of feudal society, it had long ceased to exist.
The disappearance of vassal states also took various forms.
First, it was revoked of its independent status, conquered by force and changed the land, and brought it under the direct control of the ** dynasty. These vassal states are basically within the territory of present-day China, and most of the northwest, northeast, and southwest regions of China are the original vassal states.
Map of the western territory in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.
The second is complete independence. After China became poor and weak, especially with the intensification of China's internal and external troubles after the Opium War, many countries were successively occupied or controlled by foreign powers, broke away from the vassal relationship with China, and finally established the country independently, causing the entire vassal system to collapse.
In the Forbidden City of the Qing Dynasty, envoys from various countries were gathered.
Today, the countries of Central, West Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, as well as North and South Korea, all belong to this category.
Third, it has been incorporated into other neighboring countries, which is divided into two types:
First, it was annexed by other countries, such as the above-mentioned Ryukyu into Japan, Sulu into the Philippines, Je Mengxiong and Ladakh into India, Kokand into Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan respectively, Brut and Bukhar into Kyrgyzstan, Badashank, Margalang, Namgan and Tashkent into Uzbekistan, Borol into Afghanistan, and the Republic of Lanfang into Indonesia.
Second, China voluntarily renounced it and was incorporated into other countries' territories, such as in 1947, when China abandoned Kandjuti's suzerainty relationship, which was annexed to Pakistan's Kashmir in 1974. The treaty also stipulates that if Kashmir falls to India in the dispute between India and Pakistan, China has the right to recover Kandjuti.
*The vassal states are clearly marked on the map of the early years.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that after the establishment of China, China also had two vassal states, namely Gurkha (Nepal) and Kanjuti.
It should be emphasized that among the lost territories of our country during the ** period, Outer Mongolia and Tangnu Ulianghai were not vassal states, although they declared independence at that time (Tangnu Ulianghai was later annexed by **), but these two regions have never achieved the status of vassal states in the past, but they are local autonomous regions directly under the control of China.
*Territory map. Vassal states are the product of a specific historical period, most of them cannot be counted as China's territory, but there are also a small number of very close relations with China, which can be regarded as part of the big family of the Chinese nation.
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