뉴스레터

Kim Taek-min Professor,
Korea University

Theoretically, a tribute is gifts given to the suzerain state by the vassal state. It is thus natural to assume that the process of making tribute would involve painstaking care and respect. However, if large amounts of goods were sometimes given to cajole a state to pay tribute, the tributary-investiture system may not be quite what its name implies, requiring a reassessment of the East Asian world order that had been founded on this system.

Emperor Ping, the last ruler of Western Han assumed the throne in the 1st century BCE at the age of nine. Wang Mang [王莽], who commanded dominant political power under the sponsorship of Grand Empress Dowager Wang, was making systematic preparations to usurp the throne. As a part of these efforts, Wang Mang wanted to recreate the rite "whereby Yüeh-shang tribe with an interpreter in tow, offered a white quail to the Duke of Zhou in admiration of the latter's virtues."

Wang Mang indirectly made his will known to the officials of prosperous towns. The officials got foreign states to present white quails as tribute. Wang Mang informed Grand Empress Dowager about this, and scarified the quails in a royal ancestral rite. The court retainers praised "Wang Mang's merit and virtue to be as great as those of the Duke of Zhou who served King Cheng [成王]," and recommended to Grand Empress Dowager that he be given the title Duke of Anhan [安漢公; literally, "Duke who made Han secure] for having brought peace to the Han dynasty.

The rite Wang Mang recreated is mentioned in Shang Shu Da Chuan [尙書大傳], Book 3, published in the early Western Han period.

There was a tribe named Yüeh-shang to the south of Zhou. It had been six years since the Duke of Zhou served as regent and carried out institutional reforms in Zhou. A delegation of Yüeh-shang including an interpreter came on three elephants and presented a white quail. Yüeh-shang tribe said, "As our languages are different due to long distance and treacherous mountains that separate our kingdoms, I bring a translator and offer you a tribute." When the Duke of Zhou said he could not accept it, Yüeh-shang tribe replied, "Our kingdom's elder said it has been a long time since the heavens sent us heavy rain and flood. This must be a sign that a man of exceptional virtue has emerged in China. You must pay him a visit." The Duke of Zhou sent the delegation of Yüeh-shang tribe to King Cheng, and their gift, and white quail, was served at the royal ancestral rite.

Wang Mang usurps the throne concocting the voluntary subordination of foreign states

This royal ancestral rite is mentioned in Book 5 of Han Shu Wai Zuan [韓詩外傳]. However, there is no mention of it in Shiji or Shang Shu, primary historical sources. The story is not coherent, so it may be a stretch to conclude that it had actually occurred. What probably happened was that this story about the Duke of Zhou was made up some time during the Warring States Period to add credibility to the ideal model for foreign relations set forth by the leadership. The story was set down as a historical record during the early Western Han era. During the time of Wang Mang, the most pressing issue was suppressing the Xiongnu, which cost a lot of money. Therefore, the voluntary subordination of foreign states in awe of the virtues of China's leader held great appeal. Wang Mang, aware of the social climate, decided to recreate the practice of voluntary tribute in order to justify his usurpation of power.

Five years had passed, and Wang Mang was finalizing his preparations to seize the throne. He again decided to buy tributes from foreign states to ensure support for his rise to power.

He sent out eight envoys in charge of surveying customs and manners. He then ordered them to make songs of praise for him. He lied that the songs had been created voluntarily by the peoples of the various regions of Zhou to honor his great virtues. The envoys were then sent beyond Zhou's borders to the Qiang. The Qiang were given with gold and silk and coaxed into pledging territorial submission to the Han dynasty.

Goguryeo refuses investiture of Southern Qi/Northern Wei

Upon their return, the envoys reported to the Grand Empress Dowager Wang concerning why the Qiang presented land to the Zhou dynasty: "The heavens have been pleased with the wisdom of the Grand Empress Dowager and the righteousness of Wang Mang that it has been four years since anyone has suffered from disease among the Qiang. That is why they are eager to submit to the Han dynasty." This wily maneuvering allowed Wang Mang to bring down the Western Han dynasty. He founded the Xin dynasty three years later. However, there must have been a limit to how his shifty schemes; there was a major revolt ten years later. Wang Mang was assassinated by rebel forces, and all his efforts came to naught.

The usurpation Wang Mang had staged ended in tragedy, but his scheme was used again and again by others usurpers, such as Cao Pi [曹丕], who brought down the Eastern Han dynasty and founded Cao Wei; Liu Yu [劉裕], who brought down the Jin dynasty and founded the (Liu) Song dynasty; and Xiao Daocheng [蕭道成], who brought down the (Liu) Song dynasty and founded the Qi dynasty. The usurpers claimed their rise to power was welcomed even by foreign states, which sent tributes via envoys who expressed their admiration for the new leaders' virtues through "nine interpretators." They thus attempted to legitimize their rule.

It cannot be ruled out that these usurpers, like Wang Mang, gave lots of money and goods to the rulers of foreign peoples to coax them into paying tribute. Moreover, they also bestowed high government titles to these foreign rulers. However, this was a unilateral act, irrespective of the will of the recipient. A document formalizing the investiture was either sent to the invested state or given to the envoys from the invested state when they came to visit. However, it is unclear whether the document was even processed by the invested state. According to the Book of Southern Qi [南齊書], Goguryeo had sent envoys to (Southern) Qi but Gorguyeo was "powerful and refused the investiture document (from Southern Qi/Northern Wei)."