From The Tributary System To The Treaty System:A Case Study Of Vietnam

In the 19th century,the conflicts between East Asian countries and Western powers was not only the conflict between agricultural civilization and industrial civilization,but also between capitalism and feudalism.It was also the conflict between the tributary system and the treaty system.The Western powers successively brought the success to capitalist revolution,marched toward the path of colonial expansion,and set off a wave of colonial expansion in East Asia.Countries under the tributary system had successively become protective countries or colonies because of the lure of the benedits of Western colonists,the deterrence of force,and even the threat of war,which had forced those countries under the tributary system to be included in the treaty system.This dissertation sorts out the landmark historical events of Vietnam from the tributary system to the transition of the treaty system.It analyses the reasons for the changes and the historical significance of Vietnam’s modernization;and help to understand the changes in the East Asian international order during this period.This article first elaborates the historical origin of the tributary system and figures out the evolution of the relationship between China and Vietnam,in order to clarify the relevant historical events in Vietnam under the tributary system.Secondly,based on Vietnam as the center,it discusses the process,motivation and influence of the tributary system to the transition of the treaty system.Combing the history of Vietnam in the 19th century,revealing the establishment of the Vietnam-France treaty relationship and the disintegration of the Sino-Vietnamese relationship between the tributary system and the transition of the treaty system;analyzing the transition on Vietnam from the tributary system to the treaty system from a subjective and objective perspective According to the previous combing and analysis,it summarizes the influence of the transition from the tributary system to the treaty system on Vietnam.The article uses the literature research method and the multi-disciplinary research method to sort out the history of Vietnam from the tributary system to the transition of the treaty system.And analyze it.This study finds that France has established a treaty relationship with Vietnam by signing a series of treaties,and formally grants Vietnam equally national sovereignty and detached it from its relationship with China.However,Vietnam turned to be a colony rather than essentially enjoyed the right to equality and independence.In June 1885,the Sino-French Association of Vietnam Treaty was signed in Tianjin.The Qing government acknowledged that Vietnam was no longer a vassal state of China.The Sino-Vietnamese relationship has been disintegrated,marking Vietnam’s transformation from a traditional tributary system to a Western-led modern treaty system.The prelude to the modernization of Vietnam was unveiled.At the same time,the East Asian international order has quietly changed,and the treaty system has replaced the tributary system to the center of the East Asian international order.