SMAJ BOOK CLUB: A brief history of China and Southeast Asia | #bookofthemonth

SEA POWER, TRIBUTE AND TRADE

In 1368 the Ming replaced the Yuan dynasty, thereby returning China to Han Chinese rule.

The new dynasty was very conscious of the need to expunge all barbarian influence, which it undertook to do in time-honoured Chinese fashion by seeking precedents in the past. Texts were combed, especially from the former great Chinese dynasties of the Han and Tang, in order to determine the proper way of conduct, in government and in foreign relations.

What resulted was a systematic restructuring of institutions based on traditions dating back to the Zhou dynasty (and projected back even further to legendary times), administered by a bureaucracy trained in neo-Confucian orthodoxy.

Scholar officials determined the elaborate formalities of state ceremonies whose purpose was to reassert the supremacy of the Son of Heaven and the Chinese world order. All aspects of foreign relations—exchange of envoys, the reception of diplomatic missions, regulation of trade, even extradition procedures—were systematised.

#SMAJbookclub #books #bibliophile #bookofthemonth #May2020

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