Sinocentrism

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Sinocentrism is any ethnocentric perspective that regards China to be central or unique relative to other countries. In pre-modern times, this took the form of viewing China as the only civilization in the world, and foreign nations or ethnic groups as barbarians. In modern times, this can take the form of according China unwarranted significance or supremacy at the cost of other nations in East Asia or elsewhere in the world.

Critics of this theory allege that "Sinocentrism" is a poorly construed portrayal of China designed to incite anti-Chinese sentiment. According to this view, China has been generally passive throughout its history: with rare exceptions, China is said never to have made any forceful attempts to invade or colonize other nations. China's territorial expansion is attributed to ethnic groups such as the Mongols and Manchus, not the Han Chinese. However, in modern times, such ethnic groups are now regarded as equally part of the Chinese nation in the People's Republic of China, under the pluralistic Zhonghua Minzu ideology.

Similarly, China is said not to have forced other civilizations to conform to its standards. Many of its neighbors - Korea and Japan included - willingly emulated China during these ancient times because they recognized elements of Chinese civilization as being worthy of emulation. Many foreign scholars - such as the Koreans who invented metal movable type - were given equal honors in Chinese courts. Marco Polo and the early Jesuits were treated with a great deal of respect and admiration for their skills despite having different personal beliefs.

Doubts have also been expressed about the use of "Sinocentrism" as a catch-all term for explaining China's interactions with the rest of the world. Subjective mentalities explain less than the realities of the Chinese strategic situation, in particular its need to control and defend its frontiers and deal with surrounding territories. What some have regarded as a sense of cultural and moral superiority was often merely an attempt to limit and control contact between foreigners and Chinese. For instance, the Qing Emperors tended to mistrust the loyalty of their Chinese subjects and their exclusionary policy against the Europeans was probably motivated by fear that the latter might cause problems among their subjects. As in any country, Chinese foreign policy should be seen within the context of domestic political imperatives.

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Related concepts

Sinocentrism, unlike Han chauvinism, does not necessarily have a racial basis in Han Chinese ethnicity. Successive peoples from the north, such as the Xianbei, Jurchens, or Manchus, were quite ready to place themselves at the center of the model, although they were not always successful. The Xianbei empires during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, for example, regarded the Han Chinese regimes of southern China as "barbarians" because they refused to submit to Xianbei rule. Similarly, the Manchu Qing Dynasty regarded the initial wave of European incursions during the mid-19th century as "barbarians".

Sinocentrism is also not synonymous with Chinese nationalism. The successive dynasties of China were Sinocentric in the sense that they regarded Chinese civilization to be universal in its reach and application. Nationalism, in contrast, is a more modern concept focused primarily on the idea of a unified, cohesive, and powerful Chinese nation, as one of the nations of the world. Inasmuch as Chinese nationalism involves heavy doses of 'ethnic pride', it may incorporate Sinocentric sentiments.

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The Sinocentric system

The Sinocentric system was a hierarchical system of international relations that prevailed in East Asia before the adoption of the Westphalian system in modern times.

At the center of the system stood China, ruled by the dynasty that had gained the Mandate of Heaven. This 'Celestial Empire' (神州 shénzhōu), distinguished by its Confucian codes of morality and propriety, regarded itself as the only civilization in the world; the Emperor of China (huangdi) was regarded as the only legitimate Emperor of the entire world (lands 'under heaven' or 天下 tianxia).

Identification of the heartland and the legitimacy of dynastic succession were both essential aspects of the system. Originally the center was synonymous with the Central Plain, an area that was expanded through invasion and conquest over many centuries. The dynastic succession was at times subject to radical changes in interpretation, such as the period of the Southern Song when the ruling dynasty lost the traditional heartland to the northern barbarians.

Outside the center were several concentric circles. Local ethnic minorities were not regarded as 'foreign countries' but were governed by their own leaders (土司 tusi), subject to recognition by the Emperor, and were exempt from the Chinese bureaucratic system.

Outside this circle were the tributary states which offered tribute (朝貢) to the Chinese Emperor and over which China exercised suzerainty. Under the Ming, when the tribute system entered its heyday, these states were classified into a number of groups. The southeastern barbarians (category one) included some of the major states of East and Southeast Asia, such as Korea, Japan, the Ryukyu Kingdom, Annam, Cambodia, Siam, Champa, and Java. A second group of southeastern barbarians covered countries like Sulu, Malacca, and Sri Lanka. Many of these are independent states in modern times. In addition, there were northern barbarians, northeastern barbarians, and two large categories of western barbarians (from Shanxi, west of Lanzhou, and modern-day Xinjiang), none of which have survived into modern times as separate states.

The system was complicated by the fact that some tributary states had their own tributaries. Laos was a tributary of Vietnam and the Ryukyu Kingdom paid tribute to both Japan and China.

Beyond the circle of tributary states were countries in a trading relationship with China. The Portuguese, for instance, were allowed to trade with China from leased territory in Macau but never entered the tributary system.

Under this scheme of international relations, only China had an Emperor or 'huangdi' (皇帝), who was the Son of Heaven; other countries only had Kings or 'wang' (王). (See Chinese sovereign). The Japanese use of the term Emperor or 'tennō' (天皇) for the ruler of Japan was a subversion of this principle. Significantly, the Koreans still refer to the Japanese Emperor as a King, conforming with the traditional Chinese usage.

While Sinocentrism tends to be identified as a politically inspired system of international relations, in fact it possessed an important economic aspect. The Sinocentric tribute and trade system provided Northeast and Southeast Asia with a political and economic framework for international trade. Under the tribute-trade system, articles of tribute (貢物) were presented to the Chinese emperor. In exchange, the emperor presented the tributary missions with return bestowals (回賜). Special licences were issued to merchants accompanying these missions to carry out trade. Trade was also permitted at land frontiers and specified ports. This sinocentric trade zone was based on the use of silver as a currency with prices set by reference to Chinese prices.

The political aspect of this system is that countries wishing to trade with China were required to submit to a suzerain-vassal relationship with the Chinese sovereign. After investiture (冊封) of the ruler, the emperor permitted missions to China to pay tribute.

The Sinocentric model was not seriously challenged until contact with the European powers in the 18th and 19th century, in particular the Opium War. This was mainly due to the fact that China did not come into direct contact with any of the major empires of the pre-modern period. For example, trade and diplomatic contact with the Roman Empire, and later, the Eastern Roman Empire, was usually via proxies in the form of Persians.

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Response of other countries

Within Asia, the cultural and economic centrality of China was recognized and most countries submitted to the sinocentric model, if only to enjoy the benefits of a trading relationship. However, clear differences of nuance can be discerned in the responses of different countries.

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Japan

In Japan, an ambivalent tone was set early in its relationship with China. Shotoku Taishi (574-622), Prince Regent of Japan, is famous for having sent a letter to the Emperor of China starting with the words: "The Emperor of the land where the sun rises sends a letter to the Emperor of the land where the sun sets to ask if you are healthy?" (日出處天子致書日沒處天子無恙云云). This is commonly believed as the origin of the name Nippon (source of the sun), although the actual characters for Nippon (日本) were not used. Not long after this, however, Japan remodeled its entire state and administrative apparatus on the Chinese system under the Taika Reforms, the beginning of a prolonged period of Chinese influence on all aspects of Japanese culture.

In 1401, during the Muromachi period (室町時代), the shogun Yoshimitsu (足利義満) restarted the lapsed tribute system, describing himself in a letter to the Chinese Emperor as "Your subject, the King of Japan". The benefit of the tribute system was a profitable trade in which Japanese products were traded for Chinese goods. However, the system lasted less than ten years.

Earlier in the same era, the Mongol invasions in the late thirteenth century had evoked a national consciousness of the role of the kamikaze (神風) in defeating the enemy. Less than fifty years later (1339-43), Kitabatake Chikafusa wrote the Jinnōshōtōki (神皇正統記, 'Chronicle of the Direct Descent of the Divine Sovereigns') emphasizing the divine descent of the imperial line. The Jinnōshōtōki provided a Shinto view of history stressing the divine nature of the Japan and its spiritual supremacy over China and India. In the Tokugawa era, the study of Kokugaku (国学) arose as an attempt to reconstruct and recover the authentic native roots of Japanese culture, particularly Shintoism, excluding later elements borrowed from China.

As a country that had much to gain by eclipsing Chinese power in East Asia, Japan has perhaps been most ardent in identifying and demolishing what it dismissively calls Chūka shisō (中華思想), loosely meaning 'Zhonghua ideology'. One manifestation of Japanese resistance to Sinocentrism was the insistence for many years in the early 20th century on using the name Shina (支那) for China, based on the Western word 'China', in preference to the name Chūgoku (中国 Central Country) advocated by the Chinese themselves.

One of the enduring perceptions among Chinese history buffs in Japan is that general depopulation and the incursion of races from the north during the period of the Three Kingdoms (三国) led to the virtual replacement of the original Chinese race by non-Chinese. Often the general thrust of this kind of claim is to deny the continuity of Chinese civilization and discredit modern Chinese pretensions to supremacy based on appeals to ancient history.

In a somewhat perverse affirmation of the spirit of sinocentrism, claims are sometimes heard that the Japanese, not the Chinese, are the legitimate heirs of ancient Chinese culture. For instance, in the early Edo period, neo-Confucianist Yamaga Soko asserted that Japan was superior to China in Confucian terms and more deserving of the name "Chūgoku". Other scholars picked this up, notably Aizawa Seishisai in his political tract Shinron (新論 New Theses) in 1825.

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Vietnam

Vietnam had a much more intimate relationship with China. Vietnam was under Chinese rule for approximately 1,000 years before gaining independence in the 10th century. In subsequent centuries the Vietnamese drove out Chinese invaders on a number of occasions, to the extent that conflict with China may be seen as one of the main themes of Vietnamese history.

However, Vietnam was also heavily Sinicized, using Classical Chinese as its official literary language and adopting most aspects of Chinese culture, including the administrative system, architecture, philosophy, religion, and literature of China.

Vietnam persistently identified itself in relation to China, regarding itself as the kingdom of the south as against China in the north, as seen in this line from a poem (in Chinese) by General Lý Thường Kiệt (1019-1105): 'Over mountains and rivers of the South reigns the Emperor of the South.'

The name 'Việt' itself is cognate with Yue (越), referring to peoples of Southern China who were largely conquered by the north under the Qin. The Vietnamese are considered as belonging to the Yue. The current name of the country, Vietnam, is derived from Nam Việt (南越), meaning 'Southern Yue', the name of a post-Qin kingdom covering southern China and northern Vietnam. The Chinese, who were unwilling to recognize Vietnam as a successor to the Southern Yue state, altered this to Việt Nam (越南 South of Yue).

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Myanmar

Myanmar (Burma) is an interesting case. Unlike East Asian states, which communicated in written Chinese, Myanmar used a different written language in its communications with China. While China consistently regarded Myanmar as a vassal, Myanma records indicate that Myanmar considered itself as China's equal. Under the Myanma interpretation, Myanmar was the "younger brother" and China was the "elder brother".

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Europe

The best-known official encounter between Chinese sinocentrism and the arrogance of Europeans was the celebrated Macartney mission of 1792-93, which sought to establish a permanent British presence in Peking and open up trade relations. The rebuff of the Chinese emperor to the British overtures has passed into legend: "We have never valued ingenuous articles nor do we have the slightest need of your country's manufactures, therefore O King, as regards to your request to send someone to remain at the capital, which it is not in harmony with the regulations of the Celestial Empire - we also feel very much that it is of no advantage to your country."

It was to be more than half a century before the European version of ethnocentrism gained the upper hand thanks to superior arms and a war (the Opium War). Led by the British, one Western power after another imposed "unequal treaties" on the Chinese, including provisions of extraterritoriality that excluded Europeans from the application of local laws.

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Today

The Sinocentric model of political relations came to an end in the 19th century when China was overwhelmed militarily by European nations. The ideology suffered a further blow when Japan, having undergone the Meiji Restoration, defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese War. As a result, China adopted the Westphalian system of equal independent states. In modern Chinese foreign policy, the PRC is associated with the Non-Aligned Movement, and has repeatedly stated that it will never seek hegemony (永不称霸).

Culturally, one of the most famous attacks on sinocentrism and its associated pretensions was made by the author Lu Xun in The True Story of Ah Q, satirizing the ridiculous way in which the protagonist claimed 'spiritual victories' despite being humiliated and defeated.

While China has renounced claims to superiority over other nations, some argue that China never really completely abandoned Sinocentrism. A sinocentric view of history lies behind many modern Chinese constructs of history and self-identity.

After its establishment, the People's Republic of China (PRC) moved quickly to incorporate previous subsidiary territories such as Tibet and Xinjiang into Chinese national territory, while Mongolia was excluded only because it was a Soviet ally. On the other hand, this is regarded in China as acts that any sovereign state in the world would take to defend its sovereignty and integrity, since Tibet and Xinjiang were internationally recognized as parts of China at that time; thus, this has nothing to do with Sinocentrism. Some of these territories have demonstrated the desire to be independent (for instance Tibet).

Elements of Sinocentrism have also been identified in China's recent relations with Korea and Japan. In 2004, Chinese scholars claimed that the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo, which included southern Manchuria and northern Korea, should be regarded as a part of the history of China when its capital was in modern-day Manchuria, and a part of the history of Korea when its capital was in modern-day Korea. This caused an outcry among Koreans who regarded Goguryeo as exclusively part of their history.

On a cultural level, some have noticed a partiality for Chinese people to claim that Western borrowings go back to Chinese antecedents rather than admit that they actually came from the West, or to claim that some aspects of Western culture were originally borrowed from China (spaghetti being a well-known example).

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See also

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External links

tl:Sinosentrismo zh:中国中心主义

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