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Author Kang, David C. (David Chan-oong), 1965-

Title East Asia before the West : five centuries of trade and tribute / David C. Kang
Published New York : Columbia University Press, [2010]
©2010

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Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 MELB  327.500903 Κan/Eab  AVAILABLE
 W'PONDS  327.500903 Kan/Eab  AVAILABLE
Description xiv, 221 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm
Series Contemporary Asia in the world
Contemporary Asia in the world.
Contents The puzzle : war and peace in East Asian history -- Ideas : hierarchy, status, and hegemony -- States : the Confucian society -- Diplomacy : the tribute system -- War : the longer peace -- Trade : international economic relations -- Frontiers : nomads and islands -- Lessons : history forward and backward
Summary "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."--pub. desc
Notes Formerly CIP. Uk
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
SUBJECT Far East -- Commerce http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008114871 -- History. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99005024
Far East -- Foreign relations. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008114875
Far East -- Politics and government. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2011005273
LC no. 2010008583
ISBN 9780231153188 (cloth : alk. paper)
9780231526746 (ebook)