tributary trade system is a unique system for the exchange and trade between the ancient dynasties of our country and foreign countries. Its emergence and development conform to the trend of China’s historical development. It is a trade exchange method that China has naturally evolved based on its own national conditions. It reflects the ancient times of our country. The dynasty's inclusiveness when facing the neighbors of foreign countries, the peaceful development of a country of friendly etiquette, is the ancient version of the "Belt and Road".
"All nations come to pay tribute, honour the Lord of the Holy Ming, and unify Huayi. The whole world is in all directions, the whole world, north and south, east and west." "Taiqing Song" in the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty once had such a description of tribute from overseas countries. Although we can't go through history and see this magnificent and heroic scene with our own eyes, we can still imagine the prosperity and prosperity of the Ming dynasty built at that time from the poems left over from the Ming Dynasty.
一What is the tributary system? The concept of
tributary has long been formed in ancient Chinese history. It means that one party dedicates goods and wealth to the other party.
"Yugong" has such a record: "The tribute is the title offered from below, it is called the tribute to the valley that is born, the foreign body born on its land, and the sacrifice of all of it."
As an important article in Shangshu, the book “tribute” is an important book about how to govern the country after the reunification of the Warring States period. In this passage, the author first gave us the tribute The meaning of is explained in detail and comprehensively, so that we understand that the concept of tribute was formed more than two thousand years ago.
China’s tributary system was also established very early. began in the third century BC and lasted until the end of the 19th century in modern times. is a kind of gradual expansion with East Asian China as the core in political and economic trade. system. It is an important contribution of the ancient people of our country to the development of international relations. It is a very important invention and has an important impact on the historical development of China and the entire East Asia region.
2 What exactly are the two parties doing?
First, the two parties involved in the tribute relationship were the Ming Dynasty and the diplomatic countries that paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty. For the tribute country, accepting the tributary as a member of the tribute system is equivalent to recognizing the center of the Ming Dynasty and integrating into the entire political system of the Ming Dynasty. The monarch of a small country must accept the canonization of the Ming Dynasty and be recognized by the Ming Dynasty. As the suzerain state, the Ming Dynasty was obliged to ensure the peace and security of small countries, which was a mutually beneficial system.
In terms of trade, the goods brought by small countries are divided into two different categories: "tribute" and "incidental goods." The "incidental goods" accounted for almost all of the tribute goods from the tribute country, some of which were purchased at high prices by the Ming Dynasty. In the other part, tribute nations traded with Chinese merchants in areas designated by the Ming Dynasty government. Since
came to tribute to many countries and at the same time distributed widely, their goods were also very important to the Ming Dynasty. Purchasing a series of materials such as spices and medicinal materials from the tributary countries enabled the Ming Dynasty government to obtain huge benefits.
For example, firearms were very popular in the early Ming Dynasty. As we all know, the most important raw material for firearms is sulfur . However, the sulfur produced by the Ming Dynasty at that time could not meet its own firearm manufacturing needs. At this time, Ryukyu, Japan and other countries would bring tens of thousands of kilograms of sulfur as goods for the tribute transaction every time they paid tribute, which to a certain extent made up for the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty itself.
In addition, countries such as North Korea were forced to pay tribute horses to meet the needs of the Ming Dynasty because of the shortage of military horses in the Ming Dynasty. The above-mentioned things are to break the stereotype that the tribute is unilaterally concessionary by the Ming Dynasty.
The second is that the Ming Dynasty was a tribute country. After these countries paid tribute, they were obliged to give them back, such as giving them various silks, gold and silver, almanacs and other things that small countries loved. This reward from the Ming dynasty to the tributary countries enabled the tributary countries to gain benefits, which made more countries willing to become tribute states, helped the two sides maintain a stable tributary relationship for a long time, and also made the Ming Dynasty’s tributary system more and more Bigger.
Three Why the Ming DynastyChoosing the tributary policy as a foreign policy
The tributary policy is essentially a peaceful and active foreign exchange and integration policy, that is, a foreign policy. For the ancient dynasty, there were many types of foreign policies. For example, the Yuan dynasty before the Ming dynasty used expansion and conquest as the basic policy of foreign policy. At this time, choosing a correct foreign policy for the newly established Ming dynasty was A very important thing.
The external crisis is still very huge. . In the late fourteenth century AD, due to the incompetence and decay of the ruling group of the Yuan Dynasty, the land of China was littered with smoke. The founder of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, defeated the powerful enemy and established the Hongwu regime in Nanjing in this environment. .
However, the Ming Dynasty of Zhu Yuanzhang did not wipe out the remaining forces of the Yuan Dynasty. They fled to the remote northern grasslands to re-establish power. At the same time, the newly established Ming Dynasty also faced considerable challenges on the sea. Dominating the sea for many years posed a huge threat to the vast seas of the Ming Dynasty.
At the same time, Japan was in turmoil. The long-term Civil War caused countless ronins to flee the mainland and rule over the sea. Even during the Hongwu dynasty, these ronins attacked Suzhou, Shandong and other wealthy coastal areas in the Ming Dynasty. The complex maritime threats made Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming Dynasty faced many challenges.
Internal crises followed one . At that time, China was sparsely populated and social order was urgently needed due to the long-term war in the late Yuan Dynasty, which made the Ming Dynasty adopt a foreign policy most suitable for itself to stabilize its external environment. At the same time, perhaps Zhu Yuanzhang learned from the lessons of the rapid collapse of its own rule caused by the Yuan Dynasty’s unpredictable convergence and long-term expansion, and the peaceful tributary system was finally chosen.
"All the barbarians in the four directions are secluded in one corner, all limited to mountains and seas,...I am afraid of future generations, relying on China's prosperity, greedy for a moment of military exploits, rebuilding the army for no reason, and hurting lives, remember not." From the revised "Huangming" hosted by Zhu Yuanzhang From Zhu Yuanzhang's discourse on foreign policy recorded in Zu Xun, we can see that his policy towards other countries at the time was peaceful exchanges and friendly relations.
The newly established Ming Dynasty politically needed these countries to strengthen the legitimacy of Ming Dynasty rule. Since ancient times, China has had records of coming from all nations, , the famous Tang Dynasty poet He Zhizhang once described the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty in his poem "Taihe" . "There is a Tang, and the heavens are worthy of all nations. The ancestors should be ordered, and the four schools follow the rules. Shenxi has no borders, and I have the same virtue. Great-grandsons follow the order and enjoy the perfection of God." A symbol of the prosperity and prosperity of a dynasty can be said to be of great help to the legitimacy of the ruler.
In short, the tributary policy enabled the Ming Dynasty to establish stable relations with neighboring countries, helped the Ming Dynasty gradually expand its influence under peaceful conditions, and promoted the long-term peace and prosperity of East Asia and other large regions. It is a kind of era. select.
Four The rise, prosperity and decline of the tributary trade in Ming Dynasty
The rise of the tributary trade, the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang. Since Zhu Yuanzhang analyzed the internal and external environment, he decided to adopt the foreign policy of tribute to encourage small countries to establish stable diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty did not conquer these countries. "Imperial Ancestral Instructions" recorded that Zhu Yuanzhang listed Korea, Japan, Champa, Ryukyu, Chenla, Annan and other fifteen non-expropriated countries. On the other hand, Zhu Yuanzhang took severe crackdowns on countries that endangered the maritime safety of the Ming Dynasty. The differentiation strategy of greatly eased the severe maritime situation in the early Ming Dynasty, and also promoted the prosperity and growth of the tributary trade.
Prosperous development, Zheng He's voyages supported by Zhu Di. wants to explain that the most famous event in the dynasty is the story of Zheng He's voyages to the West in the period of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di. Although many unofficial histories record that Zhu Di ordered Zheng He to go to the West several times in search of Zhu Yunzhen, the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but such a statement is too absurd. It is not Zhu Di's style to waste so much manpower and material resources for a missing emperor.
Many people are more inclined to Zhu Di’s motivation to send Zheng He to the WestIt is somewhat similar to Zhu Yuanzhang. For example, through Zheng He's fleet to open up ties with overseas countries, they became part of the tributary system, which expanded the tributary trade system and at the same time promoted the growth of trade, which strengthened the legitimacy of Zhu Di’s rule. In addition, Zhu Di may More than that, I want to use this to leave a record of the emperor who has worked hard and made great achievements in the history books.
Zhu Di may have various reasons for sending Zheng He to the West. However, Zheng He’s voyage to the West objectively promoted economic and trade exchanges in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Africa and other places, and it was of great importance to the development and prosperity of the tributary system. influences.
Five Can't play anymore! The tributary trade fell into a period of decline
The rise of the Ming tributary trade was in the period of Zhu Yuanzhang, and its peak was in the period of Yongle and Xuande. In the middle and late Ming dynasty, the tributary trade gradually fell into a state of decline. What caused this?
Since the change of Tumubao, the national power of the entire Ming Dynasty has been greatly weakened. Z1z, especially as the rulers were unwilling to send people to the Western Oceans, the development of the tributary trade was gradually affected by the rising private trade. Z2z private trade refers to the private trade activities organized by the people to bypass the official tributary. It arises because the tributary trade often limits the number of transactions. For , such as once every two or three years, the volume of such transactions is far Can not meet the needs of traders, so the emergence and development of private trade is an unavoidable historical trend. The development of
private trade has also gone through a long period of time. First of all, following the gradual relaxation of the imperial army during the orthodox years and the gradual relaxation of maritime control, a number of illegal private ports such as Yue Port and Shuangyu Port have gradually prospered. Prosperous. The private trade of at this time is still not officially recognized. Although it is beneficial to certain development, it is still subject to many restrictions.
In the Zhengde period, due to the further weakening of the imperial power, the tributary trade continued to languish, and the government reluctantly relaxed restrictions on private trade. For example, during the Zhengde period, the government’s "point system" made private trade legally recognized. During the Jiajing period, Japanese pirates and other great pirates occupied the sea and monopolized private trade. However, was unable to eliminate these pirates for a long time. This made the court’s tributary trade security not protected, and the development of the tributary trade was further affected. Hinder. After the Longqing switch, 's private trade was completely free of restraints and restrictions, and the tributary trade was completely incapable of parrying it, and it finally existed in name only.
6 The impact of tributary trade
The first is that tributary trade has become the main means for the Ming government to control the domestic economy and ensure fiscal revenue. The Ming government monopolized overseas trade through tributary trade. Some special commodities such as pepper and spices were only available to the government. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty government could obtain huge financial income by selling these monopoly items at high prices.
Secondly, it had a huge impact on people's lifestyles. In the early days of the tributary trade, the tribute country specially selected countless weird things to please the rulers to gain the favor of the rulers of the Ming Dynasty. These special items, including spices and peppers, became part of the way of life of the people during the Ming Dynasty. The lifestyle and consumption patterns of the Korean era have undergone subtle changes, and these changes are even affecting us today.
The third reason is that the tributary trade in the early Ming Dynasty made people develop the habit of consuming overseas goods. After waited until the government weakened in the middle and late Ming Dynasty and was unable to maintain the large-scale tributary trade, the daily needs of ordinary people could not be met. indirectly stimulated the generation and development of private trade and promoted the prosperity of private commerce in the Ming Dynasty.
end
Tributary trade was a peaceful way of foreign trade in the Ming Dynasty. Its emergence and development promoted the exchange and development of commodities in East Asia and other places. At the same time, because of the tributary relations, the Ming Dynasty required the protection of tributary countries . For example, during the Wanli period, the war against Japanese aggression and aid to Korea enabled the tributary trade to maintain regional peace and stability to a certain extent. Looking back at history, we can find that the tributary trade system adopted during the MingThe exchange of humanities and customs between families and the integration of culture and history have an important influence.
In the thirteenth century, as a unified dynasty with prosperous national power and strong military power, the Ming Dynasty just established by was not affected by the ideas of conquering the previous dynasty. Instead, chose to choose this peaceful, friendly, mutually beneficial and win-win approach. The development of reflects the peace and cultural thoughts that has preserved since ancient times. Understanding this history of tributary trade can make us better carry out peaceful and friendly economic development today.
1, "Taiqing Song"
2, "Yugong"
3, "Huangming Zuxun"
4, "Taihe"
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