MASTERARBEIT / MASTER’S THESIS Titel der Masterarbeit / Title of the Master‘s Thesis „Interpretations and evaluations of China’s imperial tradition in recent global historiography. A discourse analysis of historiography on the Sinocentric tributary system of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1912 CE)” verfasst von / submitted by Sebestyen Hompot angestrebter akademischer Grad / in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master (MA) Wien, 2019 / Vienna, 2019 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt / A 067 805 degree programme code as it appears on the student record sheet: Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt / Individuelles Masterstudium: degree programme as it appears on Global Studies – a European Perspective the student record sheet: Betreut von / Supervisor: Univ. Prof. Mag. Dr. Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik MASTERARBEIT / MASTER THESIS Titel der Masterarbeit /Title of the Master Thesis Interpretations and evaluations of China’s imperial tradition in recent global historiography. A discourse analysis of historiography on the Sinocentric tributary system of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1912 CE) Verfasser /Author Sebestyen Hompot angestrebter akademischer Grad / academic degree aspired Master (MA) Wien, 2019 / Vienna, 2019 Studienkennzahl / degree programme code: A 067 805 Studienrichtung / degree programme: Individuelles Masterstudium: Global Studies – a European Perspective Betreuer/Supervisor: Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Prof. Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik for her frequent feedbacks and valuable theoretical and methodological advice throughout the compilation of the thesis. I would like to thank the student community and teachers of the Erasmus Mundus Global Studies program for the discussions we had both in and outside of classes, all greatly contributing to broadening my horizon and progressing in my academic career in the last two years. I would also like to thank my former teachers at the ELTE and Xiamen Universities, especially my former supervisor in Xiamen, Ms. Jin Mei, who all greatly contributed to my progress in the field of Sinology in the recent years. Abstract The present thesis investigates the current mainland Chinese academic discourse on the early modern (Ming-Qing dynasties, 1368-1912 CE) Sinocentric tributary system of Asia. The thesis is based on the Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA) of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and focuses on the identification of ‘ideology’, ‘power’, ‘intertextuality’ and ‘interdiscursivity’ in the discourse, situating it in the broader mainland Chinese discourse on global history. The thesis argues that the discourse on the tributary system is still considerably influenced by the modern-era tradition of seeing the nation-state as the primary unit of world/global historical analysis. Furthermore, it is characterized by Eurocentrism at the level of teleological approaches and conceptual frameworks, Sinocentrism at the level of narratives and is primarily based on comparative evaluations of the Sinocentric tributary system vis-à-vis the Eurocentric Westphalian and colonial orders. The thesis also argues that at the same time due to changing regional and global power relations and China’s self-perception as a reemerging global power, the discourse also increasingly concerns the evaluation of the tributary order as potentially having referential value for the construction of the present and future Sinocentric regional order, increasingly revolving around its supposed pacifism and stability in the early modern period. Keywords: tributary system, imperial China, global history i Abstrakt Die vorliegende Thesis untersucht den aktuellen akademischen Diskurs in Festlandchina über das sinozentrische Tributsystem Asiens in der Frühen Neuzeit (Ming-Qing-Dynastien, 1368-1912 u. Z.). Die Dissertation basiert auf dem Diskurs-Historischen Ansatz (DHA) der Kritischen Diskursanalyse (CDA) und konzentriert sich auf die Identifizierung von Ideologie, Macht, Intertextualität und Interdiskursivität im Diskurs. Die Arbeit versucht den Diskurs über das Tributsystem im weiteren festlandchinesischen Diskurs über Globalgeschichte zu positionieren. Die Thesis argumentiert, dass der Diskurs über das Tributsystem maßgeblich von der modernen Tradition beeinflusst wird, den Nationalstaat als primäre Einheit der welt-/globalgeschichtlichen Analyse zu betrachten. Darüber hinaus zeichnet es sich durch Eurozentrismus auf der Ebene teleologischer Ansätze und konzeptioneller Rahmenbedingungen, Sinozentrismus auf der Ebene der Narrativen aus und basiert in erster Linie auf vergleichenden Bewertungen des sinozentrischen Tributsystems gegenüber den eurozentrischen westfälischen und kolonialen Ordnungen. In der Thesis wird auch argumentiert, dass gleichzeitig aufgrund der sich ändernden regionalen und globalen Machtverhältnisse und Chinas Selbstwahrnehmung als wieder aufkommende Weltmacht, der Diskurs zunehmend auch die Einschätzung des Tributsystems als potenziell referentiell wertvoll für die Konstruktion der gegenwärtigen und zukünftigen regionalen Ordnung betrifft und dreht zunehmend über den vermeintlichen Pazifismus und Stabilität des Systems während der frühen Neuzeit. Schlüsselwörter: Tributsystem, imperiales China, Globalgeschichte 抽象 本论文的题目是当前中国大陆学界关于明清时代（公元 1368-1912 年）以中国为中心的 亚洲朝圣体系的学术话语。本论文以批评性话语分析（Critical Discourse Analysis, CDA） 的话语-历史方法（Discourse-Historical Approach, DHA）为基础，侧重于话语中“意识 形态”(ideology)，“权力”(power)，“互文性”(intertextuality) 和“话语间性” (interdiscursivity) 的识别，并将其置于中国大陆学界关于世界/全球历史的学术话语的视 野中。论文认为，关于朝贡体系的学术话语仍然受到现代中国的传统历史观的影响， 即将民族国家视为世界/全球历史分析的主要单位。此外，它的特点包括在目的论方法 和概念框架层面上的欧洲中心主义，在叙事层面上的中国中心主义，并且主要基于对 朝贡体系与欧洲中心的威斯特伐利亚和殖民地秩序的比较评价。论文还认为，同时由 于地区和全球权力关系的变化以及中国作为一个重新崛起的全球大国的自我认知，话 语也越来越多地将朝贡体系的评价视为可能对现在和未来的，以中国为中心的东亚地 区秩序有借鉴意义，而且越来越围绕其在明清时代所谓的和平主义和稳定性。 关键词：朝贡体系，明清时代中国，全球史 ii Table of contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................................... i Table of contents .................................................................................................................................................... iii List of figures ......................................................................................................................................................... iv 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research question and structure .................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The conceptualization of the tributary system and its critics ........................................................................ 5 2. Theory ............................................................................................................................................................... 14 3. Methodology and operationalization ................................................................................................................. 17 3.1 ‘Critique’, ‘ideology’ and ‘power’ .............................................................................................................. 17 3.2 Intertextuality .............................................................................................................................................. 25 3.3 Interdiscursivity........................................................................................................................................... 27 4. State of the Art .................................................................................................................................................. 34 5. The discourse on the tributary system ............................................................................................................... 37 5.1 The cultural roots of the tributary system.................................................................................................... 39 5.1.1 The discussion on Confucianism and the tributary system .................................................................. 39 5.1.2 Tianxia-worldview and Sino-‘barbarian’ division (hua-yi zhi bian) in pre-modern Chinese thought . 41 5.1.3 The debate on the alleged pro-agricultural/anti-trade attitude of pre-modern Chinese elites (zhong nong yi shang) ............................................................................................................................................... 46 5.2 The socio-economic aspects of the tributary system ................................................................................... 48 5.2.1 The debate on the economic wastefulness of the tributary system (hou wang bo lai) ......................... 50 5.2.2 The debate on the impacts of Ming-Qing maritime bans (haijin) ........................................................ 54 5.2.3 The tributary system and the overseas Chinese diaspora ..................................................................... 58 5.3 The tributary system as a regional political order ....................................................................................... 60 5.3.1 The debate on China’s supposed pacifism, non-expansionism and non-interference under the tributary order .............................................................................................................................................................