From the 14th to the 19th century, the world of East Asia witnessed a series of major successions in rulership that inaugurated its entry into early modern history. In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) in China, which along with the following Qing dynasty (1644-1911), led the country to become the center of international order in East Asia. In 1392, Yi Sǒnggye (1335-1408) established the long-lasting Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) on the Korean Peninsula. In the same year, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408) ended the Nanboku-chō period of competing imperial courts and unified Japan. A few years later, the Ryukyu Islands also transitioned from three lines of kings in the Sanzan period to the unified First Sho dynasty in 1429. In this era of new and evolving political landscapes, the alliances, competition, and confrontations between Ming and Qing China, Korea, Ryukyu, and Japan (from the Muromachi to the Meiji periods) shaped the international order of the early modern world in East Asia.

The geography of East Asia comprises the East Asian mainland, the East Asian island arc, and the seas around them, with China, Korea, Japan, Ryukyu, and Taiwan all situated within this region. Culturally, they belong to the “Sinosphere,” sharing similar cultural commonalities based on Chinese writing while also retaining their own unique characteristics. Before the “treaty system” brought the Westphalian notion of sovereignty to East Asia in the 19th century as the underlying principle for a new international order, the so-called “tribute system” (also known as the “tributary system,” “investiture,” or “tributary vassalage”) was the diplomatic model for international relations in the region.

This thematic exhibition focuses on changes in international politics in East Asia during its early modern era, first exploring the identity, alliances, and challenges of China upon expanding outward and constructing an international order based on its own tribute system. Through a review of material culture, this exhibit examines a 500-year span of East Asian international relations, from the founding of the Ming dynasty (1368) to the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895), which brought this system to an end. However, whether the tribute system actually centered solely on China during this period deserves reconsideration and should be readdressed.

In the East Asian landscape of this era, Japan, situated at its easternmost edge, borrowed from Chinese culture. Politically, though, it also sought to establish an international order with itself at the center, eventually vying with China for the status of suzerain in East Asia. Japan dispatched envoys to persuade various states to submit and pay tribute to it, launched the Imjin War (1592-1598) to try and conquer China via Korea, and used the Satsuma Domain to force Ryukyu into submission. In this struggle for power in East Asia, the Ryukyu Kingdom skillfully navigated between China and Japan through a policy of flexible diplomacy, striving for maximum economic benefit via its position along maritime trade routes. Meanwhile, the Korean court of the Joseon dynasty, with its rational and pragmatic foreign policy, insisted on sending envoys to Japan on a principle of equality. And before the Satsuma Domain's invasion of Ryukyu in 1609, Joseon Korea and Ryukyu maintained relations based on the notion of “neighborly relations.” Although the relationship between these East Asian states differed on a fundamental level, it generally operated on the mechanisms of the tribute system, allowing for rescuing those stranded by storms, negotiations, and engaging in political, economic, and cultural exchanges. And when national security was threatened, these states resorted to diplomatic maneuvering, alliances, and confrontation.

The exhibit also reflects on the construction of an East Asian cultural order. As Chinese writing formed the common language of the East Asian cultural sphere, educated envoys often communicated and exchanged ideas through Chinese characters. Furthermore, the itineraries of diplomatic envoys not only became arteries for politics and the economy, but also channels for disseminating knowledge and developing a cultural order, presenting a cultural autonomy lying beyond the political sphere.

This special exhibition begins with images that represent the awareness of and diplomacy in foreign affairs among these East Asian countries, offering a retrospective on their complex international relationship at the time. In the process, we can consider these two questions: What was the role of these visual materials, and what kind of historical traces did they leave behind? And Taiwan today, as a hub for East Asia and the seas around it, can contemplate on the contemporary East Asian context from a historical perspective to examine its position and role in responding to future changes within the larger global landscape.



*The Tradition and Imagery of the Chinese Tribute System

The tribute system in China originated from the vassalage order of its pre-Qin period, which regulated how the Zhou dynasty ruled over feudal lords and border peoples. This system evolved in Chinese history to become a model for handling international as well as ethnic relations. However, the unequal relationships and Sinocentric ideology deeply rooted within the Western Zhou system continued to influence the operation of foreign affairs in subsequent dynasties. In this Sinocentric world order, vassal states sent missions and paid tribute to China as their suzerain, which in turn granted an audience, investiture, and reward for their submission, forming a strict hierarchical order.

Depictions of “tribute bearers” became important symbols throughout Chinese history that materialized the concept of universal submission to the suzerain. They represented in visual form China's hierarchical relationship with other peoples and states, the distinction between Chinese and “foreigners,” their center-periphery sense of order, and the worldview of universal submission inherent in the tribute system. Because of their propaganda function in demonstrating national power, images of tribute bearers were thus highly regarded by rulers throughout China's dynastic history.

Tribute Bearers
Khitan Envoys Visit the Court



*The World of East Asia from the 14th to the 19th Century

The geography of East Asia consists of the East Asian continent, its island arc off the coast, and the seas around them. This section first employs maps as a visual representation of the geographic space in East Asia to show the relative positions of early modern China, Korea, Japan, and Ryukyu. It reveals how their territories and surrounding seas constituted the basic conditions for their geopolitical operation and shaped their construct of state strategy, diplomatic orientation, and external order.

The people active in the world of East Asia transformed the natural geographic space into fluid international relations through the use of political systems, economic networks, and cross-regional exchanges. International politics, therefore, became a historical and dynamic process of human interaction in the natural environment within a geopolitical structure.

China
Official Tribute (I) ， Xie Sui (fl. 18th c.)



*“China” at the Center of the Tribute System: International Awareness and Missions to China

 Emperor Taizu (Zhu Yuanzhang) was the founder of the Ming dynasty, and he also established a tribute system centered on China, shaping the international order of early modern East Asia. After the Qing dynasty took over China by replacing the Ming dynasty, it largely inherited the Ming system to consolidate its status as the suzerain of East Asia. Both Ming and Qing China required neighboring states and peoples to follow the norm of “the lesser serving the greater” and adopted a foreign policy of “pacifying distant peoples and showing favor to foreign officials,” which also served as the mechanism for conducting tributary trade.

 Under the Ming and Qing tribute system in China, Korea and Ryukyu became important vassal states in East Asia. The envoys they sent to China were mostly outstanding figures well-versed in Chinese studies and knowledgeable in various fields. The works of painting and calligraphy they left behind are the cultural legacy of their diplomatic exchanges, and, as rare surviving traces from history, reflect the cross-regional interactions of their age.

Seated Portrait of Ming Taizu
Plaque Title



*The Emerging Challenge of “Japan” as the Center: Recruitment, Military Force, and Diplomacy

After unifying Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was eager to establish a tribute system centered on Japan. Diplomatically, he sent embassies to persuade other states and peoples to submit to Japan. Militarily, he launched the Imjin War (1592-1598), intending to replace China as the center of power in East Asia. The Toyotomi strategy of “plotting against Korea while eyeing China” would have a lasting impact on the early modern world of East Asia.

Building upon the legacy of the Toyotomi clan, the Tokugawa in the Edo period targeted China's tributary states for expansion, such as restoring diplomatic relations with Joseon Korea by resuming the exchange of embassies. It also used Satsuma Domai to force Ryukyu to submit and offer tribute, establishing the latter's unique status as having “dual subordinate status to China and Japan.” This “Japan-centric world order” not only challenged the existing tribute system based on China but also triggered a multilateral diplomatic struggle within East Asia.

Six-Panel Screen of the Joseon Korean Embassy on an Official Riverboat
Illustrated Handscroll of the Procession of Ryukyuan Ambassadors to the Capital



*Terminating the Tribute System: The First Sino-Japanese War and the Treaty of Shimonoseki

In the late 19th century, the conflict between Japan and the Qing dynasty in China regarding suzerainty over the Korean Peninsula intensified, culminating in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894. Japan, with its modern army and advanced weaponry, achieved an overwhelming victory. In the following year, the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed, which affirmed Korea's “independence and autonomy” while abolishing the tributary relationship between China and Korea. This treaty not only terminated the tribute system centered on China but also established a new institutional order in East Asia based on “Western international law” and the principle of a “sovereign state.” Japan completed a power shift through wars and treaties, rising to become the regional hegemon dominating the East Asian order in the late 19th and early 20th century. Taiwan was also ceded to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, leading to its political and cultural alienation and separation from China over the next few decades.

The Naval Battle of Pungdo, Korea
The First Sino-Japanese War
Treaty of Peace Between China and Japan (Treaty of Shimonoseki)