Tributary system

A political arrangement in which subordinate rulers send tribute and acknowledge a superior power while retaining local authority. It links unequal states without necessarily annexing them.

Tribute: A payment or transfer made by one political community to another, often as a sign of submission or allegiance. It supplied the material payment through which subordinate rulers acknowledged superior power.
Ming dynasty: A Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 1368 to 1644. Its court organized extensive diplomatic exchanges through a formal tribute framework.
Zhou dynasty: A Chinese dynasty that ruled from about 1046 to 256 BCE. Its feudal order linked the central royal house to regional rulers through rank and obligation.
Westphalian sovereignty: A principle of international order in which states exercise authority within their territories without external subordination. Its ideal of formally equal sovereign states differs from tributary hierarchy.
Canton System: A Qing-era arrangement that restricted much of European trade with China to Guangzhou and licensed merchants. Trade restrictions emerged within an order that treated foreign commerce as part of imperial diplomacy.
Investiture: The formal granting of an office, title, or authority by a higher power. Superior rulers could confirm subordinate rulers’ legitimacy by granting titles or seals.
Joseon: A Korean kingdom that ruled from 1392 to 1897. Its rulers maintained a tributary relationship with Ming and Qing China while governing Korea.
Mandate of Heaven: A doctrine that a ruler’s legitimacy depends on Heaven’s approval, which can be withdrawn for misrule. It provided a Chinese political framework for interpreting authority and dynastic legitimacy.
Colonialism: The control of one people or territory by another power, often through settlement, extraction, or administration. Colonial rule commonly imposed direct control beyond the obligations characteristic of tributary ties.
Kowtow: A ceremonial act of kneeling and touching the forehead to the ground before a superior. Disputes over this gesture exposed conflicting expectations about diplomatic rank.

Linked from 19 pages