A Study On Management System Of Foreign Envoys In Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a special time in the Chinese history. On one hand, there was consistent military confrontation around the northern border; on the other hand, many foreign countries came to China and contacted actively with China. Under this background, more and more envoys arrived in China with different ambitions. In order to effectively manage foreign envoys and maintain positive foreign relations, the Song government built a legal system and set up special mechanism to manage foreign diplomats, which formed a comparatively complete envoys management system. This management system played important roles in smoothly developing the Song government’s diplomatic efforts. Through studying the management system of foreign envoys in the Song Dynasty, we can gain considerable insights of the ruling class’s legal view and a grasp of the operation of laws concerning foreign affairs at that time. This paper studied and analyzed the envoys management system of the Song Dynasty in the following four areas:The first part of the paper provided an overview of the Song Dynasty’s envoy management system. Firstly, the Song Dynasty’s open external environment and pragmatic foreign policy provided premises for the foreign envoy management system. Secondly, Song’s rich foreign legislations and practical legal principles safeguarded the smooth operation of the management system of foreign envoys. Finally, I discussed the characteristics of Song’s envoys management system.The second part of the paper mainly discussed the administrations for foreign envoys in Song dynasty. To fulfill the needs of foreign exchange, the Song government set up administrations for envoys at both the central and local levels. It also developed a relatively complete management system in order to strengthen the management of foreign envoys. Cooperating closely, these agencies formed a complete management system so as to ensure the smooth development of the country’s foreign activities. Among this part, I focused on functions of Hong Lu Temple, the Central Accommodation for Guests and Shi Bo Si. The third part of the paper emphasized the management of foreign envoys in the Song Dynasty, which is the focal point of this paper. From privileges the foreign envoys enjoyed, management of visiting trip, management of foreign envoys’tributary activities as well as their personal trading practices, it detailed the Song government’s foreign envoy management system and systematically analyzed the development and changes of the Song Tributary System. Contents of the Song foreign envoy management legislation were complete. The structure was logical. It enabled the foreign exchange activities to flourish.The forth part is the conclusion. Through analysis and discussions in the first three chapters, it drew the following conclusion. Although the Song foreign envoys management system was just a legal tool for ruling class to maintain the imperial power and its political need, the Song ruling class strengthened their legislation and applied the law where it was feasible, which in turn was a progress in history and made significant impact on how later generations approached legislation about foreign affairs. In addition, it also summarized the research conditions and areas for further research.The Song foreign envoys management system is a milestone in the history of ancient laws concerning foreign affairs. Today, in a world where there is continuous integration and deepening exchanges, the ability to learn from our history and grasp the essence of legal traditions will promote the development of our current foreign legislations.