in tribute.
Enforcement of a foreign sector
Upon overthrowing the Ming dynasty, the incoming Qing rulers inherited its system of tribute. The Qing court was punctilious about the rules attached to paying tribute. In common with its predecessors, the new government imposed specific regulations as to when and how foreign nations were permitted to pay tribute to the imperial court. In 1637, for example, the Qing government ruled, It is agreed that Korea may pay tribute once annually in addition to at the Holy and Pure Festival, New Year and the Winter Solstice. This rule remained in force until the outbreak of the Opium Wars in 1840. Another instance occurred in 1 829, when Vietnam moved its capital to Fuchun. The new capital was even more distant from Zhennanguan, the prescribed point of entry by inland water route from which the Vietnamese made their way to Peking. Vietnamese officials requested permission to travel by an alternative, maritime route from southern Canton. The emperor refused, on the grounds that it would violate convention. The rules applying to the number of foreign delegations coming to Peking by ship or road to give tribute were more or less the same as those of the preceding Ming Dynasty. In 1652, the Qing Dynasty ruled that, Representatives of all countries coming by land to pay tribute must not exceed 100. Twenty may enter the capital while the remainder stays on the outskirts and waits for their largess; those arriving by a maritime route must travel in no more than three ships and not exceed 100 person per ship. The remainder is not permitted to disembark. Another edict issued by the Qing government in 1644 states, Countries may pay tribute depending on their official documents and local produce. Tribute documents were based on Qin Dynasty memorials from vassal states entering the suzerain. They exemplified the underlying principal-subordinate relationship of the tribute system, their language based on imperial edicts and tribute ceremonials. China s rulers, however, had a clear and pragmatic approach to the tribute system. They were aware that the main objective of many tributary expeditions, superficial protestations of loyalty and obedient kowtows notwithstanding, was to carry on trade. The grandiose and chauvinistic language espoused by the Qing court, therefore, was largely symbolic. China s illusion of its superiority over its neighbours did not stem from a desire for global dominance. In reality, Qing leaders were content to seal themselves off from the outside world, having little interest in forging relationships with other nations.to the 19th century, China and the West conducted their international affairs on the basis of completely different norms. The setting of respective permanent missions in Italian city-states and their vassals, other than at times of war, became conventional practice in the early 15th century. The Italian practice gradually made its way to other European nations. By the end of the 16th century, the phenomenon whereby serious diplomatic relationships between monarchs, put in place during peacetime and maintained in the midst of European power struggles by means of reciprocally assigned permanent foreign envoys, had become relatively common. By the latter half of the 17th century, the exchange of permanent diplomatic missions among Western nations and their counterparts was also commonplace.
The Peace Treaty of Westphalia marked the formation of a set of Western norms that would shape the international system. In time, the canon of conventions governing international relations became increasingly complex. The +1815 Congress of Vienna, for example, sought to standardize norms applying to diplomacy and commerce and also to codify court protocol. The standard Western etiquette for greeting a foreign head of state stated that visiting emissaries should, upon presenting themselves to the monarch, bow three times before directly presenting diplomatic credentials. After a brief conversation, the emissary repeated the initial ritual before making his exit with a full bow, rather than getting down on one knee. 21 lt; # justify gt; McCartney Goes to China
In 1792 England assigned former diplomat and colonial governor George McCartney as head of a delegation to China, ostensibly to celebrate Emperor Qianlong s 83rd birthday. There was considerable confusion as to the real motivation for the visit. The English intended to conduct diplomatic discussions on an equal footing, while the Chinese assumed that the mission was a tribute pilgrimage. When McCartney arrived in Tianjin in August 1 793, Emperor Qianlong elected to follow the precedent set by Emperor Kangxi of not insisting on the English following Qing diplomatic protocol to the letter. During the time the mission spent in Tianjin, no disputes over protocol a...
