Sistema de comércio de dinastias tang

sistema de comércio de dinastias Tang
A parte inicial da Dinastia Tang viu um sistema econômico em ruína, após a queda da Dinastia Sui e do Imperador Yang. Algo tinha que ser feito e feito rapidamente ou toda a economia chinesa desmoronaria e inevitavelmente destruía o império. A parte inicial da economia da Dinastia Tang é muitas vezes caracterizada como um "processo de recuperação". No entanto, no geral, o período Tang experimentou grandes avanços em tantas áreas que sua economia atingiu níveis nunca sonhados pelas pessoas ou líderes políticos da época. Esta economia nacional prosperou verdadeiramente de cerca de 625 até a maior seca e a revolta Huang Chao nos anos 800. Durante o seu auge, sob o reinado Zhen Guan e o reinado de Kaiyuan, a economia Tang era muito exclusiva das economias das dinastias passadas e de qualquer coisa vista no oeste. Era mais do que apenas um conjunto de habilidades trabalhistas que realmente faziam prosperar a economia e com a introdução de novas formas de dinheiro; A Dinastia Tang foi marcada economicamente na história.
Durante o período da Dinastia Tang (618-907), a China foi considerada o centro comercial da Ásia. Uma das razões para isso foi devido à nova forma de moeda que está sendo introduzida aos comerciantes da China, bem como as pessoas ao longo das rotas comerciais da China (mencionado mais adiante). A moeda era chamada Kai Yuan Tong Bao; Kai Yuan significado, New Epoch e Tong Bao significado, Treasure in Circulation. Kai Yuan Tong Bao eram moedas pequenas de bronze e também apresentavam escritas sobre as moedas que poderiam ser lidas para dizer o quanto a moeda valia; também foram fundidos em diferentes pesos para ajudar a separar o valor. Agora algumas pessoas podem se perguntar por que essa moeda tão especial, o dinheiro já havia sido utilizado no passado, o que tornou isso diferente? Houve duas diferenças que realmente tornaram essa moeda única. O primeiro foi o fato de que o dinheiro não era mais nomeado de acordo com seu peso. Isso significava que as pessoas não poderiam aumentar o peso da moeda tornando-se mais valioso, como se viu na dinastia passada. Os personagens lançados sobre o valor identificado pelas moedas. O segundo diferente com esta moeda foi o fato de que o escritor dos personagens das moedas já estava sendo gravado em livros de história. Este "conhecer o nome do escritor" também deu valor à moeda porque as moedas não eram apenas vistas como dinheiro, mas também como peças de arte. Os primeiros pedaços de Kai Yuan Tong Bao foram escritos por Ouyang Xun, que era um dos melhores mestres de caligrafia da Dinastia Tang. Isso significava que as pessoas agora valiam essas moedas, não só pelo bronze que foram lançadas, mas também pelo artista que as projetou. Com essas mudanças aparentemente pequenas feitas na moeda da Dinastia Tang, as moedas foram altamente valorizadas e altamente apreciadas. Essas moedas podiam ser usadas sob cada imperador, em toda a dinastía Tang, o que era raro, já que as moedas e as moedas eram muitas vezes descontinuadas regularmente. Eles também foram muito usados ​​nas dinastias que se seguiram e foram finalmente descontinuados em 1916 por Hong Xian Bao.
Tang Banking e Mintage.
Com esta nova moeda agora se tornando a pedra angular da economia chinesa, ela deveria se espalhar pelas rotas comerciais da China. Isto é exatamente o que fez e as moedas viajaram para vários países; fora da China. Isso deixou a China em certa forma, uma vez que as moedas estavam sendo espalhadas por distâncias tão vastas que ficaram com muito poucas ainda na China. Algo tinha que ser feito e feito com pressa ou a economia na China, o lugar das origens das moedas, poderia vacilar por causa disso. Bem, o governo da China conseguiu encontrar duas soluções reais para esta questão e cada uma foi muito uma primeira na China.
A primeira coisa que fizeram para resolver esta questão foi derreter muitas das estátuas de Buda, que foram consideradas sagradas para o povo chinês. O primeiro imperador a fazer isso foi o Imperador Wu Zong da Dinastia Tang, durante a primeira falta de moedas. O imperador Zong enviou seus homens para os templos budistas para remover o status. A sua opinião era que milhares de quilos de bronze passaram a fazer essas estátuas, e com tantos lá fora, eles agora precisam ser sacrificados para cunhar moedas. Também Wu Zong não acreditava muito no budismo, o que lhe dava a capacidade de derreter as estátuas sem se preocupar. Finalmente, o Imperador conseguiu dar o pedido em 845 para derreter as estátuas para a divisão de moedas. Como esperado, muitas pessoas não acreditavam no que Zong estava fazendo e estavam descontentes com suas ações. No entanto, uma vez que a economia chinesa começou a florescer e correr sem problemas mais uma vez, os comerciantes ficaram felizes com sua decisão. A segunda ocorrência foi longa após a queda da dinastia Tang, e foi comandada pelo Imperador Shi Zong de Later Zhou. Seu império estava caindo nos mesmos momentos desesperados do que Zong, então ele também ordenou o derretimento das estátuas para uso em moeda.
O Trabalho e Comércio da Dinastia Tang.
Para compreender verdadeiramente o modo como a agricultura durante a Dinastia Tang funcionou, é preciso olhar para a Dinastia Sui (581-618). No início da dinastía Sui, a agricultura prosperou e foi o pilar da economia chinesa. No entanto, após o colapso amargo, a produtividade chegou quase a uma parada morta e ficou claro que algo tinha que ser feito para melhorar a forma como as pessoas, na Dinastia Tang, cultivadas ou a China permaneceriam em ruína. Uma vez que a reunificação da nação ocorreu, o imperador Kao Tsu sentiu que era com ele consertar as questões agrícolas. Ele começou a olhar de perto os desenvolvimentos agrícolas e começou a implementar sucessivamente uma nova série de reformas comerciais. Essas reformas incluíram o Ato Juntain Zhi, que também é conhecido como o Sistema de Equalização do Terra, onde atualmente o país é de propriedade do governo e foi distribuído uniformemente aos agricultores para que um homem não tivesse mais do que seu vizinho e as culturas cresciam em números pares ; e o Sistema Zuyongidao, que era um novo sistema de tributação que fazia com que as pessoas pagassem impostos sobre quantos membros da família tinham e não quanto de terra eles possuíam. Essas novas reformas diminuíram o estresse de pagar impostos sobre as culturas e possuíam terras suficientes, dando aos agricultores a capacidade de se concentrar apenas nas culturas em crescimento. Com estas novas reformas, a eficiência da agricultura aumentou consideravelmente. Novas ferramentas de fazenda foram rapidamente desenvolvidas e colocadas em uso, como o arado do manivela, e essas novas ferramentas ajudaram a aumentar a produtividade dez vezes. Para completar esta grande realização agrícola, os sistemas de irrigação logo foram concluídos e colocados no lugar. Isso ajudou a reduzir a água das áreas mais secas, tornando-as férteis para a agricultura. Isso ajudou a aumentar a produção das quatro maiores culturas da China:
Indústrias de artesanato e branqueamento.
Com a crescente economia agrícola, as pessoas da China agora podiam procurar em outros lugares dinheiro e começaram a aperfeiçoar artesanato e habilidades. A primeira foi uma habilidade praticada durante séculos e que era bronzeada. No entanto, no passado acabava de ser por mais ação militar e criação de armas ou armaduras. Agora estava sendo usado para lançar moeda e o elenco de status religioso. Isso deu às pessoas a capacidade de trabalhar com o bronze e novas idéias começaram a se desenvolver por causa disso.
Há também um grande crescimento na tecnologia têxtil e na fabricação de seda. O uso da seda tem sido em torno de dinastias anteriores, mas durante o Tang torna-se "refinado e delicado". Os comerciantes também começaram a trabalhar em novas formas de cerâmica, já que a porcelana branca e a cerâmica vitrificada de três cores já foram inventadas. Isso dá às pessoas um meio de trabalhar com as mãos e as grandes esculturas de cerâmica são criadas durante o período Tang. Essas peças foram usadas são "feiras comerciais" e vendidas às vezes preços muito altos.
A fabricação de bens diferentes também decolou durante a Dinastia Tang e ofereceu empregos a muitas pessoas que não queriam cultivar. A fabricação de papel tomou forma durante a Dinastia Tang e o papel foi amplamente utilizado em todo o império. Também houve algumas perseguições relatadas de papel sendo usadas como armaduras ou guerreiros, já que o papel não era o que experimentamos hoje, mas sim um papel acolchoado grosso, com fibras individuais. O processamento de folhas de chá também foi aperfeiçoado e esta indústria conseguiu realmente tirar graças aos re-cirurgiões da indústria agrícola. A construção de navios foi outra indústria prática que prosperou durante o período da espinha. A frota de navios da Marinha da China era enorme e serviu também propósitos, guerra e comércio. Isso significava que, à medida que os navios foram perdidos ou os reparos danificados eram necessários e isso deu às pessoas a chance de ganhar dinheiro trabalhando manualmente. Finalmente, a mineração de ouro, prata, ferro e cobre realmente ajudou a criar a nova economia Tang. Não só foi um trabalho para sair e encontrar esses metais significativos, mas uma vez recuperado criou empregos no negócio de trabalho de metal também.
O comércio que ocorreu durante a Dinastia Tang pode ser o mais conhecido e estudado de todas as outras dinastias na China. No entanto, seu comércio e comércio conseguiram aumentar tão rapidamente devido a sistemas e formas de comércio estabelecidos por dinastias anteriores. Com o crescimento agrícola da Tang, seria esperado que os maiores itens comerciais fossem relacionados com alimentos ou culturas. Muitas vezes foi, como muitos dos principais fornecimentos comercializados foram:
Por causa de todo este grande comércio em vastas áreas de terra, estabelecidas durante a Dinastia Han (206 aC - 220) e a Estrada da Seda (explicada mais tarde), as cidades começaram a aparecer nas principais rotas comerciais. Além disso, com o trabalho de construção naval florescente, a China também conseguiu se abrir para o comércio marítimo. Os navios da dinastia Tang conseguiram chegar a todos os lugares de outros países asiáticos, até o Oceano Índico e o Golfo Pérsico. Com todo esse comércio na China, novos itens foram trazidos de todo o mundo conhecido regularmente e novos desenvolvimentos foram feitos a partir desses negócios que não só fortaleceram a China fisicamente, mas também os estabilizaram economicamente.
A Dinastia Tang e a Estrada da Seda.
Acredita-se que a altura da Estrada da Seda cai bem no alto da economia Tang. Acredita-se que, embora a Estrada da Seda estivesse por perto há centenas de anos, não atingiu seu grande passo até a criação da Dinastia Tang. Este é o momento em que a maior quantidade de comércio ocorreu e a economia chinesa estava no auge. A China não era a única que estava exportando para o mundo e realmente importou inúmeros itens de outros países ao longo da Estrada da Seda.
Esses itens comerciais ajudam a trazer a economia Tang a novos níveis e também lhes deu a capacidade de obter coisas que, mais ou menos, nunca conheceriam de outras regiões do Oriente Médio e da Europa. No entanto, não foram apenas os itens que foram negociados afetaram a economia Tang, mas as idéias que vieram com esses itens também. Ser capaz de aprender um novo comércio bem vendendo um item e ganhar dinheiro era o caminho da Tang Silk Road. Foi assim que as novas formas de fazer cerâmica e aperfeiçoar têxteis de seda foram introduzidas na China e as novas idéias e sistemas foram realmente a frente do crescimento econômico de Tang.
A Queda da Economia Tang.
Para informações sobre o Outono da Economia, consulte a página inicial, The Decline of the Tang Dynasty.

sistema de comércio de dinastias Tang
A Dinastia Tang foi extraordinária na história do desenvolvimento econômico da China. O governo de Tang desenvolveu vários programas para reforçar a sobrevivência e a melhoria econômica, que cresceu mais forte com o passar do tempo.
No início da dinastia Tang, a produção agrícola diminuiu terrivelmente, afetando negativamente a economia nacional. Isso mudou depois, após a dinastía Tang foi reunificada sob a liderança do Imperador Gaozu (566-635), que governou como imperador de 618 a 626. O Imperador surgiu reformas na agricultura e implementou com sucesso Juntian Zhi, que era tudo sobre equalização da terra e a Sistema Zuyongdiao. Todos esses sistemas melhoraram a eficiência na produção e, finalmente, melhoraram a economia da China. Isso também foi atribuído a melhorias em técnicas e ferramentas agrícolas. A irrigação também foi usada para cultivar áreas em áreas áridas, mas eram muito férteis, pois isso melhorou a economia, que foi considerada como fonte de poder na Dinastia (os impostos provenientes da parcela de terras eram fonte importante de renda na Dinastia). Deve-se notar que esses desenvolvimentos foram mais concentrados para o sul do que o norte.
A indústria de artesanato também desempenhou um papel na economia da dinastia Tang enquanto pessoas envolvidas em tecnologia têxtil, especialmente a fabricação de seda. Eles também se envolveram na indústria de cerâmica, fabricação de papel, fabricação de porcelana, processamento de folhas de chá, metalúrgicas entre outras atividades que ajudaram a impulsionar sua economia.
As pessoas na dinastia Tang estavam envolvidas em atividades comerciais devido à agricultura desenvolvida e melhorada e à indústria de artesanato. Estes foram pavimentados para o comércio doméstico e internacional com outros países, por exemplo, com a Índia. Os produtos comerciais comuns incluem sal, alimentos, bebidas espirituosas, chá, remédios, ouro, prata e têxteis. As cidades foram estabelecidas onde quer que o comércio fosse forte, o que proporcionava mercado pronto para bens produzidos no setor de fazendas e artesanato. O desenvolvimento da Estrada da Seda levou ao comércio marinho também. Os navios Tang trocaram até o Golfo Pérsico.

A Dinastia Tang e # x2017; Idade de Ouro da Literatura e Arte.
A Dinastia Tang (618 & # x2018; 907) suplantou a industriosa mas brutal Dinastia Sui. Cresceu culturalmente durante mais de um século antes do desastre e o conflito lentamente diminuíram. Desintegrou-se no período sangrento de Cinco Dinastias e Dez Reinos (907 & # x2018; 960).
A dinastia Tang era uma das dinastias mais prósperas da história chinesa. Era a época de ouro da poesia e da pintura, e mais conhecida pela impressão tricolor de cerâmica glacé e impressão em madeira.
Fatos sobre a dinastia Tang.
O fundador da Tang, Li Yuan, tomou o trono ao depositar o imperador de Sui. A capital de Tang era Chang & apos; an (Xi & amp; dia moderno), enquanto Luoyang era a capital durante o reinado do imperador Wu Zetian. Tinha a única imperador na história chinesa & # x2017; Wu Zetian. A dinastia Tang tinha os melhores poetas da região. Seguiu-se o período das Cinco Dinastias e Dez Reinos depois que ele terminou em territórios em guerra.
A Era Pré-Tang: 581 & # x2018; 618.
O clã das Dinastia Tang, a família Li, era uma força militar importante durante o império de Sui. No último período de Sui, as pessoas odiaram a imposição da dinastia de altos impostos, trabalho forçado para os enormes projetos de construção e as guerras. A dinastía Sui estava à beira do colapso.
Em 618, o imperador Gong abdicou do seu trono e Li Yuan, que era o governador do que é agora o Shaanxi moderno, tomou o trono. A dinastia Tang foi então estabelecida.
Imperador Gaozu (Ruled 618 & # x2018; 626)
O imperador Gaozu, nascido como Li Yuan, foi o fundador da dinastia Tang. Antes do ano 618, Li Yuan serviu como governador da província de Shaanxi. Em 617, o governo de Sui estava caindo aos pedaços e todo o país estava em anarquia.
Li Yuan levantou-se em rebelião, encorajado por seu filho, Li Shimin, em Taiyuan. O exército conquistou a capital Chang & apos; an (Xi e hoje), e Li Yuan aclamou um imperador infantil, o Imperador Gong de Sui.
Mas em 618, o Imperador Gong de Sui abdicou do seu trono e Li Yuan tornou-se Imperador Gaozu de Tang.
Imperador Taizong (Governado 626 & # x2018; 649)
O imperador Taizong foi o segundo filho do imperador Taizu. Ele fez um grande contributo na rebelião contra Sui. Em 626, ele matou seus dois irmãos e depois tomou o trono depois que o imperador Taizu se aposentou. Isto era conhecido como o "incidente do portão Xuanwu".
Funcionários confucionistas.
Ele ordenou ao tribunal de Tang que usasse exames imperiais para nomear muitos estudiosos confucionistas na burocracia governante. Esses exames testaram os candidatos & apos; habilidades literárias e conhecimento de textos confucionistas.
Ascensão do budismo.
Ele promoveu o budismo na dinastia Tang. Ele também promoveu o cristianismo nestoriano. Durante o reinado, o império prosperou. O comércio da Estrada da Seda floresceu, e o Imperador Taizong recebeu emissários estrangeiros em Chang.
No início da era Tang, a propagação do budismo foi assistida com a invenção das técnicas de impressão em madeira. Os textos e os encantos budistas foram impressos e disseminados.
Política Diplomática.
O imperador Taizong também instituiu um código legal que serviu de modelo para as épocas seguintes e para os governos de outros países, como a Coréia e o Japão.
Em 635, um nestoriano chamado Alopun foi para Chang. O imperador Taizong aprovou a pregação da religião em todo o império e ordenou a construção de uma igreja em Chang. Muitas pessoas se tornaram cristãs nestorianas e as igrejas foram construídas em algumas cidades.
The Middle Tang Era: ataques externos e guerra civil.
O império prosperou sob um governo estável por um tempo e houve um período de relativa paz e prosperidade depois. Chang é uma das maiores cidades do mundo. Juntamente com o aumento da riqueza e da urbanização, a arte e a literatura floresceram.
Durante esses anos, a Dinastia Tang atingiu seu auge antes da Rebelião de Lushan em 756.
Imperador Gaozong (Ruined 649 & # x2018; 683)
Gaozong era o terceiro imperador na linha dinástica e Wu Zetian era sua segunda esposa. A partir de 660, Wu Zetian atendeu a assuntos estaduais devido à saúde de Gaozong.
Em 683, o príncipe Li Xian e Li Dan tomaram o trono temporariamente depois que o imperador Gaozong morreu. Eles eram conhecidos como o Imperador Zhongzong (governado em 684 e 705; x2018; 710) e o Imperador Ruizong (governado por 684; # x2018; 690 e 710 & # x2018; 712).
Imperador Wu Zetian (Ruled 690 & # x2018; 705)
Durante o reinado do imperador Taizong, Wu Zetian era um candidato comum para uma concubina, então ela se casou depois que Taizong morreu.
Em 690, Wu Zetian destronou o imperador e, eventualmente, se tornou o verdadeiro controlador da corte. Ela mudou o nome da dinastia para "Zhou", que era historicamente conhecido como "Wu Zhou". A capital foi movida para Luoyang.
Durante o reinado de Wu Zetian, ela realizou muitas reformas para tornar a Dinastia Tang mais forte do que antes. Em 705, Wu Zetian foi forçado a abdicar e o Imperador Zhongzong retomou o trono.
Imperador Xuanzong (Ruled 712 & # x2018; 762)
O imperador Xuanzong foi o sétimo imperador de Tang. No início do seu reinado, ele trouxe a dinastia Tang para uma idade dourada.
Pensa-se que era a era mais próspera da poesia chinesa. Li Bai e Du Fu são muitas vezes pensados ​​como os maiores poetas da China que viveram durante o início e os períodos médios da Dinastia Tang.
No final de seu reinado, no entanto, o imperador Xuanzong estava fraco quando se tratava de assuntos do Estado e era proibir seus cortesãos. O declínio da Tang começou com a Rebelião de An Lushan.
As últimas décadas da dinastia Tang (final 700s & # x2018; 907)
Ataque Externo.
Em 751, os árabes muçulmanos procuraram expandir seu império e atacaram do oeste. Na batalha de Talas em 751, eles derrotaram um exército Tang formado por tropas Tang e mercenários locais ao longo da fronteira ocidental.
Em 751 e 754, o império Nanzhao, que era um império rico e poderoso, centrado na atual Província de Yunnan, foi destruído duas vezes pelo exército Tang. Em 829, seu exército tomou a cidade de Chengdu, na Sichuan.
Em 755, a Rebelião de Lushan surgiu. Um Lushan era um general de um grande exército Tang. Ele era de descendência da Ásia Central. Ele se rebelou em 755 e capturou a principal cidade Tang de Luoyang. Então ele capturou Chang & apos. An. O imperador fugiu da cidade.
O exército Tang recuperou-o um ano depois. Pouco depois disso, um Lushan foi morto. A rebelião durou 8 anos e terminou em 763, mas enfraqueceu severamente o império.
Após as guerras do meio dos 700, o poder da dinastia Tang foi diminuído. Embora o clã dinástico tenha retomado Chang e os tibetanos foram remetidos, os governantes locais e os líderes do exército tiveram mais poder e várias regiões tornaram-se mais autônomas. O império terminou em desastres naturais, derrotas e rebeliões.
O ataque tibetano.
Em 763, aproveitando a Rebelião de An Lushan, o império tibetano atacou o império Tang e capturou uma grande parte da área terrestre do norte, incluindo Chang.
Desastres naturais.
Em 858, o Grande Canal inundou massivamente e inundou grande parte da terra na parte norte da China.
Em 873, uma horrível seca e fome varraram não só o império, mas toda a Eurásia, durante um período de climas frios e secos, semelhante à Pequena Idade do Gelo de 1600. A produção agrícola caiu em mais da metade e as pessoas e gado morrendo de fome.
Rebelião camponesa.
Em 874, uma grande rebelião camponesa chamada de Rebelião Huang Chao estourou. As pessoas que sobreviveram às inundações e à fome surgiram contra o governo. Ambos Chang & apos; an e Luoyang foram capturados, e a dinastia ficou muito enfraquecida.
Em 904, o imperador Ai foi escolhido para ser o governante de marionetes por um governador militar, Zhu Wen. Então, em 907, o Imperador Ai foi forçado a abdicar e Zhu tomou o trono. Zhu Wen mudou o império para a Dinastia Liang posterior.
Esse foi o fim da Dinastia Tang e o início das Cinco Dinastias e Dez Reinos.
Tang Dynasty Tours.
Tour Early Tang Era Sites em Xi & apos; an.
Xi & apos; tours: Você pode aprender sobre este período próspero da história do império Tang, visitando os mausoléus do clã imperial. Estes incluem o complexo do túmulo Qianling em Liangshan. Este grande complexo contém o túmulo do imperador Gaozong e Wu Zetian.
Veja a casa de Thatched de Dufu com a gente em um passeio de Chengdu, na província de Sichuan, no sudoeste da China. Visite os sites da Silk Road conosco. Oferecemos uma série de pacotes que trazem vida aos pontos turísticos ao longo da rota terrestre histórica de Xi a Turpan e Kashgar.
Se você não pode ver exatamente o que deseja, pode personalizar o seu passeio ou usar o nosso serviço sob medida.

The Tribute System por Yongjin Zhang.
Introdução.
O sistema tributo (chaogong tizhi 朝贡 体制) é um termo amplamente utilizado nos estudos das relações estrangeiras chinesas tradicionais. Geralmente, aceita-se que o sistema tributo incorporasse um conjunto de instituições e normas sociais e diplomáticas que dominavam as relações da China com o mundo não-chinês durante dois milênios, até o colapso do sistema no final do século XIX. As origens do sistema de tributo e as idéias, valores e crenças subjacentes à sua construção e operação são freqüentemente remontadas à antiga China como uma civilização da Era Axial. Existe também um amplo acordo de que um sistema de homenagem existiu e funcionou para regular o comércio e a diplomacia da China com seus vizinhos pelo menos até a dinastia Han (206 aC-220 CE). Há pouca disputa de que o desaparecimento do sistema de tributo foi provocado pela introdução do sistema de tratados nas relações internacionais da China após a Guerra do Ópio em 1840, com a conclusão do Tratado de Nanjing em 1842. É uma questão de intenso debate Quão estável e uniforme era o sistema tributo em toda a história dinástica tumultuada da China e se sua existência era altamente precária, com quebras ocasionais e reconfigurações constantes. Há contradições claras no discurso chinês persistente e práticas variadas do sistema tributo. O significado preciso do sistema tributo é igualmente muito contestado. Às vezes, é dito ter servido principalmente o propósito instrumental de administrar o comércio da China com seus vizinhos e de instigar a pacificação das fronteiras. Também se afirmou ter sido constitutivo de um pedido mundial sinocêntrico no histórico Ásia Oriental. Não é claro, no entanto, se aqueles que participam no pedido mundial chinês realmente aceitam os pressupostos civilizatórios incorporados no sistema tributo e a concepção sinocêntrica de superioridade e inferioridade em seu relacionamento. A centralidade e a utilidade do modelo do sistema tributo como um quadro analítico e explicativo abrangente na compreensão das relações estrangeiras da China tradicional foram, portanto, objeto de controvérsia. As contribuições mais recentes destacam a natureza historicamente e culturalmente contingente do sistema tributo. Embora a literatura existente tenha sido dominada até recentemente por contribuições dos historiadores, o interesse contemporâneo dos estudiosos das relações internacionais no assunto ampliou o campo de pesquisa e enriqueceu a bolsa de estudos relevante. Alguns trabalhos listados aqui refletem essa dimensão particular da bolsa de estudos recente.
Visão geral geral.
O número de trabalhos publicados que discutem o sistema de homenagem de forma geral é relativamente limitado. O mais influente é o Fairbank 1968, que contém catorze ensaios que discutem práticas variadas do sistema tributo na manipulação da China de suas relações com seus vizinhos. A visão geral mais sistemática e abrangente da evolução e operação do sistema tributo do período pré-Qin até o final da dinastia Qing é fornecida em Li 2004, que também delineia em algumas instituições centrais do sistema tributo, como a Investigações e rituais diplomáticos. Cohen 2000 é talvez a narrativa histórica mais lúcida e abrangente sobre a mudança da ordem internacional da Ásia Oriental por quatro milênios e também uma visão alternativa tanto para Fairbank quanto para Li. Chen 2007 contém ensaios que discutem uma gama diversificada de tópicos sobre ideias e instituições de relações estrangeiras chinesas tradicionais e é particularmente útil para obter um vislumbre da pesquisa atual sobre o sistema tributo na China. Ele 1998 é uma discussão breve, mas bem definida, da ordem mundial histórica chinesa como um sistema internacional no Leste Asiático. Kang 2018 centra-se no funcionamento do sistema tributo entre a China e três estados Sinic - o Japão, a Coréia e o Vietnã - e oferece uma perspectiva não sinocêntrica sobre o sistema tributo. Zhang 2009 contém críticas sobre a deficiência conceitual do sistema tributo em relação à compreensão das relações internacionais da China tradicional. Zhang e Buzan 2018 trata da integração de estudos históricos do sistema tributo na teorização das relações internacionais.
Chen Shangsheng 陈尚胜, ed. Zhongguo chuantong duiwai guanxi de sixiang zhidu yu zhengce (中国 传统 对外关系 的 思想 制度 与 政策). Jinan, China: Shandong daxue chubanshe, 2007.
Uma coleção de vinte e dois ensaios de apresentações de conferências. Os tópicos abrangidos variam desde a origem teórica do sistema tributo até a política externa do imperador Qianlong, e também às relações sino-vietnamitas.
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Cohen, Warren I. Ásia Oriental no Centro: Quatro mil anos de noivado com o mundo. Nova York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
Oferece uma perspectiva regional e não sincêntrica sobre a história das relações internacionais no Leste Asiático e pode ser usada como um livro de texto. Os primeiros nove capítulos cobrem o período da antiga China até o final da dinastia Qing.
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Fairbank, John King, ed. Ordem Mundial Chinesa: Relações Exteriores Tradicionais da China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968.
O trabalho pioneiro que define o campo, que conceitua o sistema de tributo como constituído por uma ordem mundial chinesa. Ele fornece um quadro analítico inovador e discussões substantivas de como o sistema tributo opera para regular o relacionamento da China com seus vizinhos e holandeses, principalmente no período Ming-Qing.
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Ele Fangchuan "Huayi zhixu lun" (华 夷 秩序 论). Beijing daxue xuebao: Zhexue shehui kexue ban 北京大学 学报 - 哲学 社会 科学 版 35.6 (1998): 30-45.
Olha "Pax Sinica" como um sistema internacional sinocêntrico único na história do Leste Asiático e traça a inclusão e a exclusividade deste sistema em todas as histórias dinásticas da China.
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Kang, David C. Ásia Oriental antes do Ocidente: cinco séculos de comércio e homenagem. Nova York: Columbia University Press, 2018.
Assenta uma abordagem explicitamente relacionada com as relações internacionais, centra-se nas intensas interações entre a China e os estados Sinic entre 1400 e 1900, e é rica em interpretação e não em detalhes históricos.
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Li Yunquan 李云泉. Chaogong zhidu shi lun: Zhongguo gudai duiwai guanxi tizhi yanjiu (朝贡 制度 史 论: 中国 古代 对外关系 体制 研究). Pequim: Xinhua chubanshe, 2004.
Seguem uma ordem cronológica, com exames metódicos da evolução do sistema de tributo nas histórias dinásticas da China e fornece uma comparação crítica das práticas institucionais do sistema tributo entre o Ming e o Qing.
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Oferece uma série de fortes críticas à concepção predominante do sistema tributo como inadequada e limitativa no estudo das relações internacionais tradicionais no Leste Asiático.
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Participa na análise social da construção e constituição do sistema tributário, quer como uma estrutura social histórica particular no Leste Asiático, quer como um conjunto particular de práticas institucionais e discursivas que definem, regem e regulam a chamada Pax Sinica.
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Fontes primárias.
As fontes primárias publicadas em inglês que se relacionam com o sistema tributo antes da Guerra do Ópio são muito limitadas. Morse 2007 é uma exceção rara; Ele fornece importantes documentos originais relacionados à operação comercial da British East India Company na China. Há também Macartney, 1962, que é uma versão editada do jornal que Lord Macartney manteve durante seu cargo de embaixada na China em 1793-1794. O Sudeste Asiático de Wade no Ming Shi-lu é uma fonte valiosa de todas as referências ao Sudeste Asiático contidas em Ming Shilu 明 实录 (Os verdadeiros registros da dinastia Ming), traduzida para o inglês. De fontes primárias em chinês, os mais utilizados são Ming Shilu, Da Qing lichao shilu, Da Qing (wuchao) huidian e Da Qing huidian shili. Chouban yiwu shimo é muito útil na pesquisa sobre o início da China com os poderes europeus, particularmente no surgimento do sistema de tratados na China.
Chouban yiwu shimo (筹办 夷 务 始末). 8 vols. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2008.
Uma coleção de documentos oficiais importantes durante 1836-1874 do início do Qing com poderes ocidentais, cobrindo a maioria dos eventos importantes nas relações bilaterais das duas Guerras do Ópio para a abertura e administração de portos de tratados e atividades missionárias.
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Da Ming huidian (大 明 会 典). Pequim: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 2009.
Uma coleção de estatutos, leis e regras da dinastia Ming oficialmente compilada durante o Ming.
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Da Qing huidian shili (大 清 会 典 事例). Pequim: Zhonghua shuju, 1991.
Um companheiro de Da Qing huidian, que registra precedentes na prática dos estatutos, leis e regras da dinastia Qing.
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Da Qing lichao shilu (大 清 历朝 实录). Pequim: Zhonghua shuju, 1986.
Official annals compiled during the Qing, which constitute one of the most important primary texts of the Qing dynasty and contain a wealth of materials unrecorded in other sources, concerning politics, economy, military, and foreign affairs.
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Da Qing (wuchao) huidian (大清（五朝）会典). Beijing: Xianzhuang shuju, 2006.
A collection of statutes, administrative laws, and rules of the Qing dynasty, compiled during the reigns of Kangxi, Qianlong, Yongzheng, Jiaqing, and Guangxu.
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Macartney, George. An Embassy to China: Being the Journal Kept by Lord Macartney during His Embassy to the Emperor Ch’ienlung, 1793–1794 . Edited by John L. Cranmer-Byng. London: Longmans, 1962.
An edited version of Lord Macartney’s journal about his embassy appointment to China during the reign of emperor Ch’ien Lung 弘曆, including preparations for it and his reflections.
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Ming shilu (明实录). Taipei: Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, 1962.
Official annals compiled during the Ming, which constitute one of the most important primary texts of the Ming dynasty and contain a wealth of materials unrecorded in other sources, concerning politics, economy, military, and foreign affairs.
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Morse, Hosea Ballou. The Chronicles of the East Asia Company Trading to China, 1635–1834 . 5 vols. Mansfield Center, CT: Martino, 2007.
An abstract of documentary and statistical information about the British East India Company’s activities in the China trade. More of a source book than a finished study of British trade with China. Originally published in 1926 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
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A valuable source that provides all the references to Southeast Asia contained within the Ming shilu (The veritable records of the Ming dynasty) in English-language translation, including a useful guide “Ming Shi-lu as a Source for Southeast Asian History” provided by Wade.
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Traditional Chinese Worldview.
As noted widely in the existing literature, both the ideational conception and institutional design of the tribute system were heavily influenced by the traditional Chinese worldview. Schwartz 1985 offers significant insight into the ancient Chinese philosophical discourse on the universal kingship and cosmological and moral order. Zhao 2009 is a modern reinterpretation of the ancient Chinese idea of Tianxia (All-under-Heaven). Poo 2005 is a comparative study of how three ancient civilizations—the Mesopotamian, the Egyptian, and the Chinese—each perceived the civilizational “other” in its own part of the world. Yan 2018 represents the most recent attempt to rediscover how ancient Chinese political philosophy speculates on interstate relations in the pre-Qin period and informs modern Chinese foreign-policy behavior. Zhang 2007 traces the evolution and mutation of the idea of Tianxia throughout China’s dynastic histories and the introduction of the idea of the territorial state as the Chinese Empire was confronted with relentless assault by imperial Russia in its border areas. Li 2002 provides a succinct synthesis of existing scholarship on the Chinese world order, while Cranmer-Byng 1973 offers a Fairbankian interpretation of traditional Chinese worldview as embodied in the tribute system.
Cranmer-Byng, John. “The Chinese View of Their Place in the World: An Historical Perspective.” China Quarterly 53 (January–March 1973): 67–79.
An effective summary of the Fairbankian conception of the tribute system and the traditional assumptions about the centrality and superiority of Chinese civilization associated with such a conception. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Li Zhaojie (James Li). “Traditional Chinese World Order.” Chinese Journal of International Law 1.1 (2002): 20–58.
Follows the analytical framework suggested by Fairbank, synthesizes various discussions of traditional Chinese worldview, and offers a critique of the idea of the tribute system.
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Poo, Mu-chou. Enemies of Civilization: Attitudes toward Foreigners in Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China . New York: State University of New York Press, 2005.
A comparative study of cultural consciousness and civilizational assumptions about the “other” in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China, arguing that in all three civilizations, “us” and “them” are distinguished not because of biophysical differences, but in civilizational terms.
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Schwartz, Benjamin I. The World of Thought in Ancient China . Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1985.
Arguably the best single volume available that offers both a comprehensive survey and the most authoritative account of ancient Chinese thought, particularly insightful regarding the ancient Chinese conception of Tianxia 天下 (All-under-Heaven) as an ideal political and moral order.
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Yan Xuetong. Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power . Edited by Daniel A. Bell and Sun Zhe. Translated by Edmund Ryden. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018.
An ambitious attempt to rediscover and reclaim international political and philosophical thinking of pre-Qin Chinese philosophers and to revive interest in the ancient Chinese philosophical discourse on how to handle relations between states.
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Zhang Wen 张文. “Lun gudai Zhongguo de guojiaguan yu Tianxiaguan” (论古代中国的国家观与天下观). Zhongguo bianjiang shidi yanjiu 中国边疆史地研究 17.3 (2007): 16–23.
Traces the dominance of the idea of Tianxia in the ancient Chinese conception of its relationship with the non-Chinese world and sees imperial China’s awareness and acceptance of the concept of territorially bounded state only in the 18th century, with imperial Russia’s relentless assault on Chinese territories.
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Zhao Tingyang 赵汀阳. Tianxia tixi: shijie zhidu zhexue daolun (天下体系：世界制度哲学导论). Nanjing, China: Jiangsu jiaoyu chubanshe, 2005.
English title: The Tianxia System: An Introduction to the Philosophy of a World Institution . Offers a fuller and extended statement of the ideas in Chinese elaborated in Zhao 2009.
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Zhao Tingyang 赵汀阳. “A Political World Philosophy in Terms of All-under-Heaven (Tian-xia).” Diogenes 56.1 (2009): 5–18.
Argues for a philosophical renewal of the idea of All-under-Heaven and presents a new framework for the philosophical analysis of political problems in world politics as internationality versus “worldness.” Available online by subscription or for purchase.
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Imperial China and the Non-Chinese World before 1500.
The tribute system is said to be a dominant institution that governed and regulated interactions between imperial China and the non-Chinese world before the European expansion into Asia around 1500. There was, however, neither a uniform configuration of the tribute system nor a set of consistently applicable principles over this historical period. The tribute system was fiercely contested in particular in China’s encounters with its northern nomadic neighbors, who challenged relentlessly the cultural, physical, and psychological frontiers of the Chinese Empire. Also intensely disputed was its underlying assumption of a superior sedentary and civilized heartland encountering inferior barbarian and nomadic peripheries, as can be found in Di Cosmo 2002 (cited under the Han-Tang Period), Rossabi 1983 (cited under From the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty), and Barfield 1989 (cited under Nomadic Encounters).
The Han-Tang Period.
The Han dynasty (206 BCE –220 CE ) is commonly regarded as the formative period of the tribute system. Di Cosmo 2002 is a definitive study of the early institutional practice of the tribute system from pre-Qin to the Han dynasty in ancient China’s relations with the nomadic powers to its north. Yu 1967 is a major contribution to the study of the tribute system as it operated in the Han dynasty. Between the Han dynasty and the Tang dynasty (618 CE –907 CE ), the Chinese Empire was more divided than united. Lewis 2009a provides an instructive example of how political chaos and internal division affected the conduct of China’s foreign relations during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period. Lewis 2009b records the rapid and aggressive expansion and institutionalization of the tribute system when imperial unity was reestablished during the Tang dynasty, which saw the participation of many non-Chinese states and polities in central, South, and Southeast Asia. Li 1998 traces the institutional evolution and diverse range of practices of the tribute system as a key institution in regulating China’s foreign relations between the Han and Tang dynasties. Moses 1976 focuses on China’s relations with the Turk and the Uighur Empires during the Tang, while Wang 2005 examines diplomacy between China and Japan within the tributary system in premodern Asia.
Di Cosmo, Nicola. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History . Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
A major contribution to the study of China’s early foreign relations, offering a nuanced chronicle of the turbulent interactions between China and its northern nomadic neighbors both within and beyond the tribute system, from the pre-Qin period to the end of the Han dynasty.
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Lewis, Mark Edward. China between Empires: The Northern and Southern Dynasties . Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 2009a.
See especially chapter 6, “China and the Outer World” (pp. 144–169). Fills a significant gap in the studies of traditional China’s foreign relations during a period of civil war and internal division during the 5th and 6th centuries.
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Lewis, Mark Edward. China’s Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty . Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 2009b.
See especially chapter 3, “Warlords and Monopolists” (pp. 58–84), and chapter 6, “The Outer World” (pp. 145–178). Provides an analytical summary account of the practice and expansion of the tribute system during the Tang dynasty.
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Li Hu 黎虎. Han-Tang waijiao zhidu shi ( 汉唐外交制度史). Lanzhou, China: Lanzhou daxue chubanshe 1998.
English title: An Institutional History of China’s Diplomatic System from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty . Outlines the institutional evolution and a diverse range of practices of the tribute system as a key institution in dealing with imperial China’s foreign relations from the Han to the Tang dynasties.
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Moses, Larry W. “T’ang Tribute Relations with the Inner Asian Barbarian.” In Essays on T’ang Society: The Interplay of Social, Political and Economic Forces . Edited by John C. Perry and Bardwell L. Smith, 61–89. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1976.
Focuses on China’s relations with the Turk and the Uighur Empires to the north. Despite its title, the essay discusses the relations between the Tang dynasty and its “barbarian” neighbors as equals.
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Wang Zhenping. Ambassadors from the Islands of Immortals: China-Japan Relations in the Han-Tang Period . Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2005.
Based on recent archaeological findings and archival materials, offers sophisticated analysis of diplomacy between China and Japan within the framework of the tribute system in premodern Asia.
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Yu Ying-shih Trade and Expansion in Han China: A Study in the Structure of Sino-barbarian Economic Relations . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.
An important early contribution to the study of the historically pervasive tribute system in traditional China’s trade and diplomacy during the Han dynasty, mostly with the Xiongnu.
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From the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty.
The tribute system had its most precarious existence during the Song dynasty. Rossabi 1983 highlights the argument that imperial China operated effectively in a multistate system among equals during this period. Franke and Twitchett 1994 is a discussion in some detail of the expansion and contraction of the Chinese world between the 10th and 14th centuries. Bielenstein 2005 documents China’s trade and diplomacy with its neighbors, near and far, including the Xi Xia, Liao, and Jin Dynasties. Twitchett and Mote 1998 contains four chapters on Ming foreign relations, which give a glimpse of the reinstatement of the tribute system and its operation and institutionalization during the Ming. Chen 2005 briefly explores Ming efforts to reestablish the tribute system in Southeast Asia, while Levathes 1996 is insightful about how the Ming, China’s most illustrious scientific and technological era, was perceived by other cultures.
Bielenstein, Hans. Diplomacy and Trade in the Chinese World, 589–1276 . Handbuch der Orientalistik: Vierte Abteilung, China 18. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2005.
From the Handbook of Oriental Studies series, perhaps the most comprehensive overview of China’s diplomatic and trade relations with its major and minor Asian neighbors, covering the period from the establishment of the Sui dynasty to the fall of the Southern Song dynasty.
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Chen Shangsheng 陈尚胜. “Zheng-He xia xiyang yu Dongnanya huayi zhixu de goujian: Jianlun mingchao shifou xiang Dongnanya kuozhang wenti” (郑和下西洋与东南亚华夷秩序的构建－兼论明朝是否向东南亚扩张问题). Shandong daxue xuebao: Zhexue shehui kexue ban 山东大学学报－哲学社会科学版 2005, 4: 63–72.
Explores the Ming efforts to reestablish the tribute system in Southeast Asia associated with Zhe He’s exploratory expeditions, countering the claim of the Ming as expansionist in Southeast Asia.
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Franke, Herbert, and Denis Twitchett, eds. The Cambridge History of China . Vol. 6, Alien Regimes and Border States, 907–1368 . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Traces the rise and fall of four non-Chinese regimes: the Qidan (Khitan) Liao dynasty, the Tangut state of Xi Xia, the Jurchen Empire of Jin, and the Mongolian Yuan dynasty. Treats the period not within the tribute system framework but against a broad background of international relations in northern and central Asia.
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Levathes, Louise. When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405–1433 . New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Sheds new light on the historical and cultural context in which the Ming thrived, as well as the perception of others of the Chinese Empire at the time.
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Rossabi, Morris, ed. China among Equals: The Middle Kingdom and Its Neighbors, 10th–14th Centuries . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
Makes a major claim against the conventional understanding of the tribute system as dominating traditional China’s foreign relations. Contributing chapters focus heavily on China’s trade and diplomacy during the Song dynasty.
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Twitchett, Denis, and Frederick W. Mote, eds. The Cambridge History of China . Vol. 8, The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 2 . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Contains four chapters on Ming foreign relations, which, taken together, provide historical insight into the reinstatement and operation of the tribute system during the Ming dynasty. These four chapters were written by Morris Rossabi (“The Ming and Inner Asia,” pp. 221–271), Donald Clark (“Sino-Korean Tributary Relations under the Ming,” pp. 272–300), Wang Gung-wu (“Ming Foreign Relations: South-East Asia,” pp. 301–332), and John Wills (“Relations with Maritime Europeans, 1514–1662,” pp. 333–375).
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Nomadic Encounters.
China’s encounters with its nomadic northern tribes and states posed perennial challenges to the tribute system both in theory and practice. Di Cosmo 1999 is most useful for such encounters in the pre-Qin period. Barfield 1989 covers almost the entire imperial period from the establishment of the Qin to high Qing in the 18th century. Perdue 2005 details the expansion of Qing imperialism to exercise direct rule in central Eurasia in the 18th and 19th centuries, while Di Cosmo 1998 presents a close examination of imperial domination of Inner Asia. Lattimore 1988 remains a classic, offering a general analytical account of China’s historical encounters with its central Asian neighbors from ancient times to the early 20th century. Serruys 1967 is unrivaled as a definitive study of China’s relations with Mongols during the Ming. Yu 1986 offers a concise but also comprehensive survey of Han China’s relationship with the Xiongnu, Qiang, Wuhuan, and Xianbi peoples.
Barfield, Thomas J. The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, 221 BC to AD 1757 . Oxford: Blackwell, 1989.
Offers a 2,000-year history of the nomadic tribes and states of Inner Asia: the Xiongnu, the Mongols, the Turks, the Uighurs, and others and their encounters with the Chinese Empire. Provides a non-Sinocentric view of their interactions.
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Di Cosmo, Nicola. “Qing Colonial Administration of Inner Asia.” International History Review 20.2 (1998): 287–309.
Looks at the Qing’s dominance and control of Inner Asia as its colonial empire building not extending the traditional tribute system. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Di Cosmo, Nicola. “The Northern Frontier in Pre-imperial China.” In The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 B. C. Edited by Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy, 885–909. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Traces the civilizational encounters between the Chinese world and the non-Chinese world to the pre-imperial period.
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Lattimore, Owen. Inner Asian Frontiers of China . New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
A classic in the studies of China’s encounters with its central Asian neighbors, from ancient times to the early 20th century. Features an introduction by Alastair Lamb. Originally published in 1940 (New York: American Geographical Society).
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Perdue, Peter C. China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia . Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 2005.
Chronicles imperial China’s aggressive expansion into the heart of central Eurasia during the Qing, which achieved lasting domination over the eastern half of the Eurasian continent. Offers valuable comparisons of the Qing imperialism to other colonial empires and discusses the legacy left by the Qing’s frontier expansion.
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Serruys, Henry. The Tribute System and Diplomatic Missions (1400–1600) . Mélanges chinois et bouddhiques 14. Brussels: Institut belge des hautes études chinoises, 1967.
A definitive study of the Ming’s relationship with the Mongols, on the basis of primary sources.
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Yu Ying-Shih. “Han Foreign Relations.” In The Cambridge History of China . Vol. 1, The Ch’in and Han Empires, 221 B. C.–A. D. 220 . Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe, 377–462. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Extensively discusses imperial China’s relations during the Han dynasty with the Xiongnu and Qiang in the West, but also with the so-called Eastern Barbarians, the Wuhuan, and the Xianbei.
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Southeast Asia.
In contrast to its nomadic encounters, the tribute system was less fiercely contested by China’s neighbors in East Asia and Southeast Asia, as Liu 2018 and Stuart-Fox 2003 show. It played a historically important role in facilitating China’s trade and diplomacy with Southeast Asia, as seen in two case studies provided in Heng 2009 and Viraphol 1977; this is supported in He 2003. The role of the tribute system in frontier pacification is illustrated in Dai 2004. Zhuang 2005 contests the pretensions of the tribute system in its application to Southeast Asia. Sen 2003 examines Sino-Indic encounters between the 7th and 15th centuries and offers a perspective on China’s foreign relations beyond the tribute system.
Dai, Yingcong. “A Disguised Defeat: The Myanmar Campaign of the Qing Dynasty.” Modern Asian Studies 38.1 (2004): 145–189.
An interesting case study instructive of the important role both of the tribute system and military campaign in frontier pacification during the Qing dynasty. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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He Hongyong 和洪勇. “Ming qianqi Zhongguo yu dongnanya guojia de chaogong maoyi” (明前期中国与东南亚国家的朝贡贸易). Yunnan shehui kexue 云南社会科学 2003, 1: 86–90.
A study of the expansion of the tribute system into Southeast Asia in early Ming and the importance of tributary trade in the Ming relationship with Southeast Asia.
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Heng, Derek. Sino-Malay Trade and Diplomacy from the Tenth through the Fourteenth Century . Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2009.
Provides a rich, multilayered picture of Sino–Southeast Asian relations in the precolonial era, addressing both the Chinese and Southeast Asian perspectives with rich archaeological and textual data.
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Liu Xinjun 刘信君. “Zhong Chao yu Zhong yue chaogong zhidu bijiao yanjiu” (中朝与中越朝贡制度比较研究). Jilin daxue shehui kexue xuebao 吉林大学社会科学学报 2018, 5: 78–87.
An analytical comparison of different institutions and practices governing the tributary relationship between China and Korea and China and Vietnam.
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Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400 . Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2003.
Examines the historical Sino-Indic encounter from the 7th to 15th centuries and the transformation in Sino-Indian relations from Buddhist-dominated to trade-centered exchanges. Provides an additional dimension and understanding of China’s traditional foreign relations beyond the tribute system.
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Stuart-Fox, Martin. A Short History of China and Southeast Asia: Tribute, Trade and Influence . Crows Nest, Australia: Allen & Unwin, 2003.
Helpful in gaining a broad view of how the tribute system operated in regulating relations between China and Southeast Asia, including a brief chapter discussing the traditional Chinese worldview, and the European encounter with the Chinese world order in Southeast Asia.
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Viraphol, Sarasin. Tribute and Profit: Sino-Siamese Trade, 1652–1853 . Harvard East Asian Monograph 76. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977.
Acknowledging the semblance of the tribute system in governing relations between China and Siam, focuses on the dynamic interactions between Siamese mercantilism and South Chinese commercial expansionism that clearly defy the ideological dogma of the tribute system.
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Zhuang Guotu 庄国土. “Lue lun chaogong zhidu de xuhuan: yi gudai zhongguo yu dongnanya guanxi weili” (略论朝贡制度的虚幻：以古代中国与东南亚关系为例). Nanyang wenti yanjiu 南洋问题研究 2005, 3: 1–8.
Acknowledging the importance of the tributary trade between China and Southeast Asia during the Ming and the Qing, nonetheless contends that neither the Ming nor the Qing attempted to use the tribute system to exert political influence on Southeast Asian tributary states.
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The Tribute System and European Expansion.
European expansion into Asia brought with it a number of challenges and assaults on the tribute system. Between 1500 and 1800, the tribute system prevailed as the key institutional complex that governed relations between China and Europe, particularly in conducting trade and diplomacy. In their own unique ways, Hudson 1961, Mungello 2009, and Tsiang 1936 provide instructive general background reading.
Hudson, Geoffrey Francis. Europe and China: A Survey of Their Relations from the Earliest Times to 1800 . Boston: Beacon, 1961.
A classic, originally published in 1931, that provides a broad survey of Europe’s historical relationship with China and situates European expansion between 1500 and 1800 in that context.
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Mungello, David E. The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800 . 3d ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.
Focuses on religious, cultural, and civilizational encounters between China and Europe from 1500 to 1800.
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Tsiang, Tingfu Fuller “China and European Expansion.” Politica 2.5 (March 1936): 1–18.
A short English-language essay published by a prominent Chinese scholar, discussing the early encounter between the tribute system and European expansion.
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European traders spearheaded European expansion into China after 1514. Their encounters with and contestations of the tribute system, which sought to accommodate them, are well documented. This can be seen in Zhang 1973, Tang 1999, and Fairbank 1942. The Canton System, as a contested institutional innovation within the tribute system, is discussed both in Perdue 2006 and Van Dyke 2005. Wills 1974 studies in meticulous detail the negotiations between the Qing rulers and the Dutch East India Company for the opening of China to Dutch trade. Chauduri 1978 provides a comprehensive history of the English East Asia Company from 1660 to 1760.
Chauduri, Kirti N. The Trading World of Asia and the English East India Company, 1660–1760 . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1978.
Offers a comprehensive history of the English East Asia Company from 1660 to 1760, on the basis of extensive research of the company’s archives, with an analytical discussion of the company’s trading system, its operation and policy (in chapter 4), and the company’s imports from China (in chapter 17).
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Fairbank, John King. “Tributary Trade and China’s Relations with the West.” Far Eastern Quarterly 1.2 (February 1942): 129–149.
A meticulous analysis of the origin and functions of the tribute system in facilitating frontier defense and trade for traditional China, with special attention to how tributary trade affected its relations with the West before the Opium War. Available online by subscription.
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Provides a brief but instructive discussion of the rise and fall of the Canton System, with good visual effect. Most useful for teaching purposes. Vol. 2, Macau and Whampoa Anchorage; Vol. 3, Canton and Hong Kong; and Vol. 4, Image Galleries.
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Tang Kaijian 汤开建. Aomen kaibu chuqishi yanjiu (澳门开埠初期史研究). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1999.
A definitive study of the opening of Macau as a trading port in the 16th and 17th centuries, on the basis of extensive research on Chinese sources.
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Van Dyke, Paul A. The Canton Trade: Life and Enterprise on the China Coast, 1700–1845 . Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2005.
Traces the evolution of the Canton System from its creation in the early 17th century to its collapse in 1842, focusing on the practices and procedures rather than protocols and official policies in evaluating the successes or failures of the Canton trade.
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Wills, John Elliot, Jr. Pepper, Guns and Parleys: The Dutch East India Company and China, 1662–1681 . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974.
On the basis of meticulous examination of Chinese and Dutch sources, this book traces in considerable detail the torturous course of negotiations between the Qing rulers and Dutch East India Company’s representatives to forge an alliance to fight the Ming loyalist force led by Zheng Chenggong 鄭成功, highlighting the two contrasting systems of world values, which eventually resulted in an abortive alliance.
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Zhang, Tianze. Sino-Portuguese Trade from 1514 to 1644: A Synthesis of Portuguese and Chinese Sources . New York: AMS Press, 1973.
A study of Portuguese traders’ encounters with the tribute system as it regulated Sino-Portuguese trading relations, rich in historical details based on primary sources. Chapter 1 traces the development of China’s maritime trade between the 4th century CE and 1513. Originally published in 1934 (Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill).
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Trade and diplomacy can hardly be separated in any discussion of early European expansion into China. Although no formal diplomatic relations were established between China and Europe until the second half of the 19th century, European diplomats and embassies were sent and treaties were negotiated and concluded. Boxer 1938 records early Portuguese attempts to win trade privileges by offering military aid to the Ming court. De Bruyn Kops 2002 and Wills 1984 study in some detail European embassies to China in the 17th century. Tang 2007 is a close examination of Dutch diplomatic interactions with the early Qing court during the reign of the Shunzhi emperor in the 17th century, by making good use of primary sources in Chinese. Mancall 1971 and Sebes 1961 examine negotiations and conclusions of treaties between China and Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries. While the tribute system prevailed, such diplomatic encounters were accompanied by systemic conflicts and compromises between European norms, rules, and institutions and those embodied in the tribute system. Such conflicts culminated in the Macartney mission (1792–1794), which is richly documented in Peyrefitte 1993 and is critically reinterpreted in Hevia 1995.
Boxer, Charles Ralph. “Portuguese Military Expeditions in Aid of the Mings against the Manchus, 1621–1647.” T’ien-Hsia Monthly 7.1 (1938): 24–50.
A discussion of Portuguese involvement in the Ming-Qing political and dynastic transition, through the offering of military aid to the Ming court as an attempt to win trade privileges. Similar attempts by the Dutch later in the 17th century are discussed in Wills 1984.
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de Bruyn Kops, Henriette Rahusen. “Not Such an ‘Unpromising Beginning’: The First Dutch Trade Embassy to China, 1655–1657.” Modern Asian Studies 36.3 (2002): 535–578.
A detailed investigation of the first embassy sent by the Dutch East India Company to Beijing, on the basis of extensive research on the Dutch original sources. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Hevia, James L. Cherishing Men from Afar: Qing Guest Ritual and the Macartney Embassy of 1793 . Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1995.
Offers a strong postmodern critique of the conventional view of the Macartney mission as embodying the conflict between tradition (the tribute system) and modernity (European diplomacy), and explores the Qing and British imperial formations in the late 18th century as the cultural production of two expansive imperialisms with equally universalist pretensions.
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Mancall, Mark. Russia and China: Their Diplomatic Relations to 1728 . Harvard East Asian Series 61. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971.
Discusses and evaluates the confrontations between the Chinese and Russian Empires and contends that a working compromise was reached between the tribute system and European norms of sovereignty and legitimacy of commerce, through the signing of the Nerchinsk Treaty (1689) and Kiaktha Treaty (1727) by China and Russia.
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Peyrefitte, Alain. The Collision of Two Civilisations: The British Expedition to China in 1792–4 . Translated by Jon Rothschild. London: Harvill, 1993.
Rich in historical details, including preparations for the Macartney mission and its daily activities in China, but short of critical interpretation compared with Hevia 1995.
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Sebes, Joseph, S. J. The Jesuits and the Sino-Russian Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689): The Diary of Thomas Pereira, S. J. Bibliotheca Instituti Historici S. I. 18. Rome: Institutum Historicum, 1961.
Consists of two parts, the first of which is a long introduction providing an account of early Russo-Chinese relations. The second part, the edited diary of Father Thomas Pereira, provides an eyewitness account of negotiations between the Manchus and Russians at Nerchinsk, which led to the signing of the first treaty between China and a Western power.
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Explores early Dutch diplomacy toward the newly established Qing court during the reign of the Shunzhi emperor in the 17th century, by making good use of primary sources in Chinese.
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Wills, John E., Jr. Embassies and Illusions: Dutch and Portuguese Envoys to K’ang-hsi, 1666–1687 . Harvard East Asian Monograph 113. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984.
Traces the long journeys and progress of four European embassies in the 17th century—two Dutch and two Portuguese—to the Qing capital Beijing during the reign of K’ang-hsi (Kangxidi) 康熙帝, by using multilingual archival and printed sources. Contends that the domestic political and strategic concerns of K’ang-hsi courts, rather than imperatives of the tribute system, better explain the success or failure of these embassies.
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Japan and the Tribute System.
Historically, Japan has occupied a special place in the China-centered tribute system. It is a Sinic state and had paid tribute to imperial China in sporadic fashion before the 15th century. In the Tokugawa period, it was formally outside the hierarchical Sinocentric world order in East Asia, since it maintained no official relations with China. This is discussed in Jansen 1992. Mizuno 2003 and Swope 2002 highlight the ambivalent and ambiguous attitudes on the part of Tokugawa Japan toward the Chinese tribute system. Tokugawa’s attempts to create a Japan-centered international order in East Asia, incorporating Korea, Ryukyu, and China, are studied in Toby 1984 and Sakai 1968. Suzuki 2009 gives emphasis to Japan’s role in dismantling the Chinese tribute system from within the East Asian region in its empire building, following the example of European imperialism.
Jansen, Marius B. China in the Tokugawa World . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992.
A short book that recounts the importance of China economically and culturally to Japan in the early modern era, when Tokugawa Japan was formally outside the China-centered tribute system in East Asia.
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Contains a brief summary of contentions in the existing literature on Tokugawa Bakufu’s perceptions of the tribute system during the Ming-Qing transition, arguing that while there was explicit Tokugawa rejection of becoming an inferior constituent of the Sinocentric world order, the Tokugawa attitudes remained ambiguous in terms of the status relationship between Japan and Qing China.
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Sakai, Robert K. “The Ryukyu (Liu-Ch’iu) Islands as a Fief of Satsuma.” In The Chinese World Order: Traditional China’s Foreign Relations . Edited by John King Fairbank, 112–134. Harvard East Asian Series 32. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968.
Explores how the Ryukyu became a vassal of Satsuma, while remaining a loyal tributary of China.
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Suzuki, Shogo. Civilization and Empire: China and Japan’s Encounter with European International Society . London and New York: Routledge, 2009.
A comparative study of how China and Japan responded to European expansion into Asia in the second half of the 19th century, offering compelling arguments about Japan’s role in dismantling the tribute system through empirical examinations of the 1874 Japanese expedition to Taiwan, the annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879, and Sino-Japanese rivalry over Korea leading to the Sino-Japanese War, 1894–1895.
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Swope, Kenneth M. “Deceit, Disguise, and Dependence: China, Japan, and the Future of the Tributary System, 1592–1596.” International History Review 24.4 (2002): 757–782.
Offers historical analysis of the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592 and the ensuing peace negotiations with Ming China, explaining why the failure of the Sino-Japanese peace talks represented the first serious challenge to China’s position as a preeminent power in East Asian world order. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Toby, Ronald P. State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the Development of the Tokugawa Bakufu . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984.
Provides a revisionist critique of traditional scholarship that separates the study of foreign relations from domestic developments in the Tokugawa era, arguing that the Tokugawa Bakufu pursued a dynamic foreign policy designed to legitimate the exercise of shogunal authority and to place Japan at the center of a self-determined international order, involving most importantly Korea, Ryukyu, China, and Holland.
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The Disintegration of the Tribute System.
The tribute system persisted, not without adaptation, as the dominant institution in governing China’s foreign relations during the Qing. Its disintegration started only in the mid-19th century with the Opium War, which introduced a treaty system in the Qing’s handling of its relations with European powers. Mancall 1968 discusses the ideational aspect of the tribute system as it prevailed during the Qing. Ning 1993 presents a study of Lifanyuan as a particular institutional innovation of the tribute system initiated by the Qing. Fairbank and Teng 1960 is a classic that reconstructs the tribute system as an institutional complex during the Qing. Kim 1980 develops a study of the gradual disintegration of the tribute system under the impact of European expansion. Hamashita 1990 is valuable in placing the tribute system in the analytical context of the emerging regional political economy of East Asia as it was increasingly incorporated into the global market. Qi 2006 critiques the existing literature, highlighting different institutional practices between the Ming and the Qing.
Fairbank, John King and Ssu-yü Teng. “On the Ch’ing Tributary System.” In Ch’ing Administration: Three Studies . By John King Fairbank, and Ssu-yü Teng, 107–218. Harvard-Yenching Institute Studies 19. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960.
Pathbreaking study that provides a comprehensive investigation of the tribute system as inherited from the Ming and institutionalized during the Qing dynasty, making extensive use of Chinese primary sources such as Collected Statutes of the Ming and the Qing . Originally published in 1941.
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Hamashita Takeshi 滨下武志. Kindai chugoku no kokusaiteki keiki: Chokō boeki shisutemu to kindai Ajia (近代中国の国際的契機: 朝貢貿易システムと近代アジア). Tokyo: Daigaku shuppankai, 1990.
Employing a combination of modernization, Marxist, and world-system approaches, the author examines many critical issues concerning the Chinese tributary trade system, in the context of East Asia’s historical incorporation into the world economy. A bold attempt to reconceptualize the position of imperial China in the East Asian regional order and in the emerging international/global trade and economic order. Chinese edition: Zhu Yingui 朱荫贵 and Ouyang Fei 欧阳菲, trans., Jindai Zhongguo de guoji qiji: Chaogong maoyi tixi yu jindai Yazhou jingjiquan (近代中国的国际契机 : 朝贡贸易体系与近代亚洲经济圈) (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1999).
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Kim, Key-Hiuk. The Last Phase of the East Asian World Order: Korea, Japan, and the Chinese Empire, 1860–1882 . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.
A synthesis of diplomatic and institutional history that examines the disintegration of the traditional world order of East Asia and the process by which China, Japan, and Korea gradually altered their traditional conduct of relations with one another in response to the intrusion of the West in East Asia.
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Mancall, Mark. “The Ch’ing Tribute System: An Interpretive Essay.” In The Chinese World Order: Traditional China’s Foreign Relations . Edited by John King Fairbank, 63–89. Harvard East Asian Series 32. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968.
Discusses the ideational aspect of the tribute system as it prevailed during the Qing, with emphasis on the relationship between tribute and trade.
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Ning Chia. “The Lifanyuan and the Inner Asian Rituals in the Early Qing (1644–1795).” Late Imperial China 14.1 (1993): 60–92.
Studies Lifanyuan 理藩院 (court of colonial affairs) as an institutional innovation of the Qing court in dealing with various groups of Inner Asian peoples, arguing that the unique Qing Inner Asian rituals provide symbolic instruments to recast relations between the Qing and its Inner Asian neighbors, from a problem of foreign policy to a matter of internal imperial administration. Available online by subscription.
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Qi Meiqin 祁美琴. “Dui Qingdai chaogong tizhi diwei de zai renshi” (对清代朝贡体制地位的再认识). Zhongguo bijiang shidi yanjiu 中国边疆史地研究16.1 (2006): 47–55.
A critical assessment of the Qing tribute system, with an instructive comparison of institutional practices between the Ming and the Qing.
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The Creation of the Treaty System.
The opening of treaty ports after the Opium War and the introduction of a treaty system between 1840 and 1860 governing China’s relations with the European powers are commonly regarded as spelling the end of the tribute system. Greenberg 2008 is a valuable study of British trading activities and conflicts in China in the early years of the 19th century, leading to the Opium War and the signing of the Nanjing Treaty. Fairbank 1953 remains authoritative in accounting for the establishment of the treaty port system in China in the wake of the Opium War. Both Fairbank 1968 and Fairbank 1978 note the parallel existence of the tribute system and the treaty system in China’s foreign relations in the second half of the 19th century. Morse 2008, clearly outdated, remains useful as a reference because it is rich in historical record. Mancall 1984 provides an analytical historical account of the collapse of the tribute system, complementary to Fairbank 1968 and Fairbank 1978.
Fairbank, John King. Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: The Opening of the Treaty Ports, 1842–1854 . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1953.
Offers a classic account of the emergence of the treaty port system in China in the mid-19th century, following the Opium War.
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Fairbank, John King. “The Early Treaty System in the Chinese World Order.” In The Chinese World Order: Traditional China’s Foreign Relations . Edited by John King Fairbank, 257–275. Harvard East Asian Series 32. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968.
Argues that the creation of the treaty system after the Opium War was not just the endeavor by Western powers to bring China into the world, but an attempt by the Qing to accommodate the Western presence in the Chinese world. It spelled not the end of the tribute system, but the beginning of its long twilight.
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Fairbank, John King. “The Creation of the Treaty System.” In The Cambridge History of China . Vol. 10, Late Ch’ing: 1800–1911, Part 1. Edited by John King Fairbank, 213–263. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1978.
Expands and elaborates the arguments made in Fairbank 1968.
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Greenberg, Michael. British Trade and the Opening of China, 1800–1842 . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Gives an analytical account of the activities of British merchants in the crucial years leading to the Opium War and the Treaty of Nanjing. Originally published in 1951.
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Mancall, Mark. China at the Center: 300 Years of Foreign Policy . New York: Free Press, 1984.
Provides an overview of the tribute system in institutional terms and as a mentality in dominating China’s foreign relations, as well as a historical account of its collapse under the assault of Western powers. The attempt to combine a historian’s insights with the systemic approach of an international-relations scholar is not particularly successful.
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Morse, Hosea Ballou. The International Relations of the Chinese Empire . 3 vols. Kent, UK: Global Oriental, 2008.
Digital versions for all three volumes are available in the Internet archive of the University of California’s California Digital Library: Vol. 1, The Period of Conflict, 1834–1860; Vol. 2, The Period of Submission, 1861–1893; and Vol. 3, The Period of Subjection, 1894–1911. Certainly dated, but contains some valuable historical records otherwise unavailable and provides a chronological account of some important events informative of historical perspectives at the time. Originally published 1910–1918 (London: Longmans, Green).
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Institutional Changes.
The disintegration of the tribute system was facilitated by a number of institutional changes that took place in the second half of the 19th century, as China moved slowly to adopt some institutions of the expanding European international society in conducting its foreign relations. Banno 1964 is a study of perhaps the most important institutional change in China’s handling of its relations with European powers: the establishment of the Zongli Yamen 總理衙門 (foreign office). Hsü 1960 is a detailed look at China’s gradual acceptance of three standard European diplomatic practices as the preconditions for China’s entry into the family of nations. Gong 1984 puts such acceptance into the context of China’s socialization into expanding European international society and its attempt to fulfill the standard of “civilization” in order to be accepted by that society. Svarverud 2007 is a more detailed and focused examination of the introduction of international law into China in late Qing. Teng and Fairbank 1982 largely provides a chronological discussion, supported by selected original-source documents, of how China responded to Western impact through a series of institutional changes.
Banno, Masataka. China and the West, 1858–1861: The Origins of the Tsungli Yamen . Harvard East Asian Series 15. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1964.
Remains a classic in tracing the establishment of the Zongli Yamen 總理衙門 (foreign office) as an institutional innovation of the Qing in dealing with its relations with expanding European powers, without totally abandoning the tribute system. Reprinted as recently as 1987.
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Gong, Gerrit W. The Standard of “Civilization” in International Society . Oxford: Clarendon, 1984.
A definitive study of how non-European countries tried to enter expanding European international society in the 19th century, by fulfilling the standard of “civilization” set by the European society of states. Individual chapters on Turkey, China, and Japan, as well as Siam entry, are instructive for comparative purposes.
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Hsü, Immanuel C. Y. China’s Entrance into the Family of Nations: The Diplomatic Phase, 1858–1880 . Harvard East Asian Series 5. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960.
A detailed examination of China’s acceptance and adoption of three important institutional practices in European diplomacy: a resident foreign embassy in the Chinese capital, Beijing; international law; and the establishment of Chinese diplomatic missions in European capitals.
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Svarverud, Rune. International Law as World Order in Late Imperial China: Translation, Reception and Discourse, 1847–1911 . Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
A systematic analysis of the introduction, translation, and discourse of international law in late Qing China as an important international institution in governing relations between states.
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Teng, Ssu-yü, and John King Fairbank, eds. China’s Response to the West: A Documentary Survey, 1839–1923 . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982.
Provides an excellent combination of commentary and documents in an analytical discussion, arranged chronologically, of Chinese elites’ understanding of the nature of the clash between China and the West in the second half of the 19th century and the attendant new ideas that led to institutional reform, political revolution, and ideological reconstruction in China. Originally published in 1954.

Tang dynasty trade system

Chinese History - Tang Period Economy.
Of major importance for the richness of the Tang upper class was of course the "international" trade between China and the Inner Asian countries, the Southeast Asian kingdoms (including India) and Korea and Japan. Chinese economic articles are found in the Near Orient, having passed the trading routes of the Indian and Arab merchants along the Indian Ocean.
Under Tang rule, the custom of tea drinking became widespread. It was introduced by monks that used tea as a stimulating drink during their night meditations. The first bills of exchange ( feiqian 飛錢) were used by the tea traders. Tea, rice and silk were all products of the lower Yangtze area, which had served as China's grainhouse from the time of Southern and Northern Dynasties ( Nanbeichao 南北朝, 420.
589) on. China opened to the ocean, because in Inner Asia nomadic tribes built up their own empires and controlled the trade routes to West Asia, a matter also influencing the decline of Buddhism.
The reconstruction of the economy during the previous Sui Dynasty had been effectively initiated. The task of the newly founded Tang Dynasty was to continue the measures to develop a strong and healthy economy. Especially the area of the lower Yellow River 黃河 had suffered badly during the last few centuries.
The Tang Dynasty inherited the equal-field system ( juntianfa 均田法) that had been introduced by the Northern Wei Dynasty 北魏 (386-534) in the 5th century. Every male adult person ( dingnan 丁男) was bestowed 80 "acres" ( mu 亩 or 畝) state fields ( koufentian 口分田; to be rendered back to the state after death) and 20 mu personal, inheritable fields (yongyetian 永業田). Old and sick people obtained 40 mu , widows 30 mu state fields, and as owner additionaly 20 mu inheritable fields. Buddhist priests or monks obtained 20 mu state fields, craftsmen and merchants 10 mu each. Additionally, for each three persons and five slaves in a household one mu of orchard ( yuanzhai 園宅) was given. The amount of lended field increased substantially depending on the rank of an official-aristocrat. An imperial prince for example obtained 100 "hectares" ( qing 頃) of inheritable fields, down to officials of ninth grade who only obtained 2.5 qing . State fields were not allowed to be sold, and inheritable fields only after the death of the owner, and the amount of acquired fields was restricted. Substantial changes to the older equal fields systems of Northern Wei was the allotment of fields to slaves, but not to women. The importance of monasteries in the economical sphere can be seen from the allotment of fields to monks and nuns.
The Tang period Ministry of Revenue ( hubu 戶部) had four sources of tax income in a system called "grain-labour-kind tax" ( zuyongdiaofa 租庸調法): In taxable households ( kehu 課戶) every adult person had to pay two shi of grain (“grain tax” zu 租), a certain amount of silk or other fabric measured in length or weight (“fabric tax” diao 調). Every year a male person had to serve two weeks for official labour (“labour service” yong 庸 or yi 役). Especially this kind of tax could be interchanged with additional or less tax grain. To prevent famine in years of drought or calamities, state granaries ( yicang 義倉) were established. People that were still wandering around after leaving their home because of famine were forced to return to their homelands, and people were encouraged to marry. Within a few decades, the population especially of northern China could be stablized. The political measures of Emperor Tang Taizong 唐太宗 (r. 626-649) contributed to the revitalization of the Chinese economy. Empress Wu Zetian 武則天 (r. 684/690-704) had effective agricultural work on the fields and in the mulberry gardens rewarded and ordered many waterways to be constructed for the irrigation of fields. At the begin of the 8th century, the situation concerning monasteries had already aggravated: Because monks were exempted labour service many people had escaped into monasteries. Emperor Tang Xuanzong 唐玄宗 (r. 712-755) forced clergymen into laity in order to tax them, and it was forbidden to found new Buddhist monasteries. Furthermore, the tax income of the fiefdoms was united with the state tax revenues. A fourth tax source were miscellaneous taxes ( zashui 雜稅) for salt, tea etc.
During the Tang period a new kind of plough with a curved shaft ( quyuan 曲轅) was invented that was able to tranmit a higher amount of animal power to the plough share, and iron harrows ( tieda 鐵搭, lizhai 礪礋, chao 耖). New tools for irrigation were invented or became more widespread like a TRET wheel ( lulu 轆轤).
Handicrafts and artisanry was in wide fields controlled by the state. The production of metal tools and objects, casting, shipbuilding, spinning and weaving, the fabrication of material and leather, lacquerware, the production of salt, tea, sugar, liquor, medicine, porcelain, paper and ink, as well as flour mills, stood under the direction of state officials. Nonetheless private managed crafts were well-developed and widespread, especially in southern China. The capital and the large cities in the different regions of Tang China were important trade centers with their markets. Chang’an, the capital, had city walls with a circumference of 36 kms, an eastern and a western market with more than 3000 stalls that were arranged in commercial branches along alleys ( hang 行). The markets did not only serve as distribution places for goods from the different regions within the vast Tang empire; foreign goods from Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan, the Middle and Near East could be found on the markets in Chang’an and Luoyang. Of course, seasonal markets in smaller towns and regional centers supplied the population of the different parts of Tang China. From the commercial alleys, merchant guilds and craftsmen guilds ( hanghui 行會) developed. In order to distribute goods to the different markets, a sophisticated traffic organisation was necessary. While in northern China roads were the main traffic routes, in southern China waterways served to transport goods from the countryside to the cities, and along the Imperial Canal ( dayunhe 大運河) and other canals (Bianqu 汴渠, Shanyang Canal 山陽瀆, Yongji Canal 永濟渠, Danba Canal 丹灞水道, Baoxie Canal 褒斜道) from the rich Yangtze delta to the north. The most important traffic roads lead from Chang’an to the east (modern Shandong), to Sichuan, to Guangzhou via Changsha, to the northeast (modern Beijing), to the west into Central Asia along the silkroad.
Very important steps to facilitate trade and taxes were the unification of weights and measures and the introduction of a standardized currency. The first Tang money were the Kaiyuan tongbao 開元通寶 and the Qianfeng yuanbao 乾封元寶 coins. In 99 mints every year 22 strings ( guan 貫) of copper cash coins ( qian 錢) were casted (not minted!). But although coins were very widespread in the Tang empire, silk and hemp cloth still served as currency unit.
Although in theory the equal field system was quite perfect it began to disintegrate since the 8th century. In theory it was forbidden to sell alloted state fields, but under certain conditions it was possible to personally acquire this kind of land and to convert it into personally owned, inheritable estate. Many large estate owners acquired more and more land, and the amount of state-owned territory decreased in favor to private-owned land. Large estate owners were not only aristocrats, high officials and rich merchants, but also Buddhist monasteries that possessed enough wealth to acquire estates. An additional factor that contributed to the aggravation of the fact that the amount of state-owned land per capita decreased more and more, was the population growth as consequence of the ameliorated economic situation in general. With more and more political obstacles there was also a higher need for the Tang government to rely on labour service of the free peasant population. As a consequence many peasants were eager to give up their status as free peasant and sold their land that they would hitherto till as tenant farmers that were tax-exempted. The direct impact of the decrease of free peasants was a sharp diminuation in the tax revenue.
In 780 Emperor Tang Dezong 唐德宗 (r. 779-804) decided to replace the equal field system by a double tax system ( liangshuifa 兩稅法). From the second half of the Tang period on manors or large estates ( zhuangtian 莊田, zhuangyuan 莊園) were a normal form of land ownership. A great part of the manors were owned by members of the imperial family, and by high officials, but also by monasteries. Manors did not only produce grain or lettuce but also every kind of fruits or animals, and mulberry trees and tea bushes could be found there, as well as oil mills, spinneries and breweries. The employees at these large estates ( zhuangke 莊客, zhuanghu 莊戶, or kehu 客戶) were slaves, craftsmen, and tenant farmers.
A main source of tax revenue for the Tang state was now salt production and sales. The salt distribution and disposition was rigidly controlled by special salt agents ( yanguan 鹽官) in 13 salt touring brokerages ( xunyuan 巡院) all over the country. Private vending of salt and disturbing the salt distribution were prohibited. Under the guidance of Liu Yuan 劉晏 not only fiscal reforms were conducted, but state granaries ( changpingcang 常平倉 "ever-normal granaries") were reestablished. But the most important fiscal reform was the introduction of the double-tax system, introduced in 780 by chancellor Yang Yan 楊炎, that was oriented towards the household ( hu 戶) income of the taxpayers, classified into nine tax brackets. The tax had to be paid in money, not in goods or labour, and higher social classes were not exempted. The second part of the double-tax system was the real property size ( di 地), and this land tax – collected twice a year in summer and in winter – had to be paid whether the farmer war the owner of the holding or not. Traders without stationary shop had to pay a certain amount of his capital. Miscellaneous taxes were also an important source of tax revenue, especially the taxes on salt, tea, and liquor, but also the tax on ores and metals, but also a market and traffic taxes on bridges and passes, tax on capital or non-tilled fields, and much more.
When the disturbances by the An Lushan rebellion were ended the economy was also ready to be refreshed. Once again, northern China was again the place that had suffered most during the internal war. In southern China, from the 9th century on tea production became one of the most important agricultural activities. Lu Yu 陸羽 even wrote a small encylopedia about tea called Chajing 茶經. White porcelain and blue-green porcelain with white glazing or yellow-brown glazing became more and more widespread. The most important kilns ( yao 窑) were that of Neiqiu 内邱 in Xingzhou 邢州, the kilns of Shanglin 上林湖 in Yuyao 余姚, and Wazha 瓦渣坪 near Changsha 長沙. The most important salt sources of the Tang period were the two salt lakes at Xie 解縣 and Anyi 安邑. Although there was a strict partition between dwelling quarters and markets, the difference between those parts of a city more and more vanished. Night markets appeared, and because trade and marchandise contributed to the wealth not only of the population but also to the tax revenue, the official side did not punish the disrespecting of the traditional market laws. With the growing economy moneylending became an important financial activity. Pawnbroking became a normal way to obtain credits or loans, and credit usury was often seen.
The burden of taxes on the population was quite high at the end of Tang, mainly because the central government had lost its grip on the different regions of the empire and because more and more land was purchased by large estate owners.