From the founding of the Ming dynasty in 1368 to the start of the Opium
Wars in 1841, China has engaged in only two large-scale conflicts with
its principal neighbors, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. These four
territorial and centralized states have otherwise fostered peaceful and
long-lasting relationships with one another, and as they have grown more
powerful, the atmosphere around them has stabilized.
Focusing on the role of the "tribute system" in maintaining stability in
East Asia and in fostering diplomatic and commercial exchange, Kang
contrasts this history against the example of Europe and the East Asian
states' skirmishes with nomadic peoples to the north and west. Although
China has been the unquestioned hegemon in the region, with other
political units always considered secondary, the tributary order
entailed military, cultural, and economic dimensions that afforded its
participants immense latitude. Europe's "Westphalian" system, on the
other hand, was based on formal equality among states and
balance-of-power politics, resulting in incessant interstate conflict.
Scholars tend to view Europe's experience as universal, but Kang upends
this tradition, emphasizing East Asia's formal hierarchy as an
international system with its own history and character. This approach
not only recasts our understanding of East Asian relations but also
defines a model that applies to other hegemonies outside the European
order.
