Identity Assignment And Security Logic Under Level System

Looking back to the past 2000-year history of East Asia, there had indeed existed the alleged “Pax Sinica”. On this topic, a multitude of academic achievements have been made and are on the way. Most of them, nevertheless, treat identities and interests of states exogenous to international system, thereby neglecting the issue of construction of identity and interest in the level of system. As a result, this favoritism handicaps the insights into the puzzle that, with formidable material power and seemingly most advanced culture, hegemonic state can both self-constrain its impulse for expansion and proactively maintain the stability and peace of system.In order to figure out reasons leading to this thorny issue, by reference to Wendtian construction of identity and with location in the framework of symbolic interactionism,this thesis will utilize national culture as a crucial variable to theorize on the construction of identity underlying the hierarchic system. By virtue of material advantage, hegemonic state can interact with others according to the private knowledge about the order of international system, which is embedded within its national culture and, through sufficient repetition of interaction between states, becomes shared knowledge constructing the hierarchic system. According to dimensions characterized by the national cultures of hegemonic states, hierarchical systems can be categorized into two kinds, one of which is hierarchical system based on dominance featuring an imperial logic rooted in “Domination-Subordination” structure of role, and another one of which is hierarchical system based on authority reified as two tendency,self-constraint of hegemonic state on expansion and holistic inclination of systemtowards stability and peace, within the “Authority-Identification” structure of role. With deepening of socialization of shared knowledge, from instrumentalization to habituation to ultimately legitimization, states, residing in the hierarchical system, will become more reliant on their role identities for recognition of their interests, and their role identities are determined by the distribution of roles, which are their social positions in the system.Under the consideration of examination of this theoretical explanation, “Hua-Yi”system in ancient East Asia will be instantiated to illustrate both the process of evolution of private knowledge of hegemonic state into shared knowledge as a result of interactions between actors of system, and process of construction of role structure by this shared knowledge through continual practice of fundamental institutions. From this point on, “Hua-Yi” identities have evolved from subjectively individual identity into objectively social location. Furthermore, “Hua-Yi” system can plausibly manifest the security logic of hierarchical system based on authority as well. On one hand, stability and peace of system could be maintained, and restored under deviant situations, by virtue of fundamental institutions, such as tributary institution, investiture institution and expeditionary institution. On the other hand, by complying with two basic principles, unchangeableness of Hua and Yi and moderate but deliberate distance maintained by Hua from Yi, Chinese dynasties were able to check and constrain their intentions for expansion per se.