Tributary System And Qing Relations With The Dutch During The Early Qing Dynasty

"Tributary system"was the traditional foreign policy in ancient China, which carried out the diplomatic strategy to build the mutual benefice and make friends with neighbor countries each other. In fact, it was the extension of the idea of the Confucianism in the diplomatic. Without no rulers in feudal society took granted the foreign counties as the"tributary country", so in the scope of the East Asia, China was taken as the center gradually, and then an order was built up. Therefore, in the history, the"Tributary system"had the important function on supporting the peace and promoting the economic and culture interaction between countries.The communication between Qing and the Dutch began in the end of Ming Dynasty. With the independence of the Dutch, more and more Dutchmen went to the Far East to seek huge trade gain. At that time, the traditional foreign policy was to combine"trade"with"tributary", and the external trade was also strictly forbidden. So the normal way of foreign trade was walled up. At first, in order to open the trade with China, The Dutchmen came to apply tribute, but they failed. After a series of setbacks, the Dutch decided to resort to force. They occupied Penghu and Taiwan in succession, which were then used as the bases for trading with China.The Dutchmen in Taiwan found quickly that they couldn't monopolize the external trade with China for the reasons of Chinese civil war and the Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong, who was the thalassocrat in the Chinese sea. In order to establish direct trade relations with China, the Dutch sent envoys to China via Canton again. The Qing Dynasty welcome the Ducth very well, for the Dutch came to tribute could show their amity to foreigners. The two sides chimed in easily, and the Ducth became one of the countries successfully which pay tribute to Qing imperial court.Little was, however, achieved owing to the severe obstruction by the Portuguese living in Macao as well as the Jesuits working at the Qing imperial court in Beijing, in addition, Taiwan was recaptured by Zheng Chenggong. Presenting tribute and negotiations were carried out during the time of K'angxi unifying Taiwan. Although they negotiated and cooperated each other, but the Dutch couldn't shake off the figure of tributary country.After the Qing government lifted the ban on maritime trade with foreign countries, the desire of trading with China directly was satisfied for a while. The Ducth hadn't presented tribute for over a century. Until 1795, facing with the strong competition from England, the minister of the Dutch appeared on the Qing imperial court again. They think it's a good chance to gain some favorable and peculiar rights after the failure of Macartney's embassy.Combining the basic theories of tributary with the every Dutch envoy to Beijing, the essay is divided into five parts:The first part introduces simply some of the origin, theories, and the function about"tributary system". At the same time, how the"tributary system"to operate in Qing dynasty, and what are the characteristics are analyzed.The second part begins with the failure of the Dutchmen in the late of the Ming dynasty, according with the background of that time, the reasons of the success in the early Qing dynasty is educed. Through the detail review of the process, we can see the characteristics and the basic ideas of the traditional foreign policy.The third part focus on the interaction and relations between the Qing and Dutch during the period of Kangxi reunifying Taiwan,which was an activity time in mutual exchange. Obviously, the Dutchmen didn't satisfy with the commercial profits that the"tributary country"can hold. They attempt to establish direct, free trade relations with Qing government through providing military assistance. However, regardless of any kind of the Dutch efforts, they could not succeed.The fourth part wants to tell us something about the last embassy to the Qing court to celebrate Emperor Qianlong who had ruled the country for sixty years. Through studying the motivation, process and the outcome of the Dutch embassy, the author wants to reflect the fact that Qing court didn't realize the impact and challenges what's they are facing on, and still stick to their way to foreigners.Part V the author tries to discuss the reasons which affect the further development of relations between China and the Dutch from the culture, concepts, psychological factors, as well as the requirements of the objective development etc.Finally, the author wants to convey the idea that the traditional"Tributary system"had come to be illusory and perished inevitably in the face of the aggressive expansion of the Western colonial forces.