A Study On The Tribute System In The Perspective Of Information Politics

As a classic paradigm for analyzing the international order in historical East Asia,the tribute system has been hotly discussed.While some politicians in international public opinion have used the concept of the tribute system to attack and discredit China’s foreign policy,there are three sets of differences in the study of this topic in academic circles:the difference between value consideration and realistic measurement,the difference between Chinese and Western historical studies and international relations studies,and the difference between empirical studies and normative studies.In recent years,scholars of political science and international relations have called for a reinterpretation of the tribute system beyond the classic model to find a universal analytical framework,and to bridge the relevant research differences and contribute new academic wisdom.Some of these scholars have begun to rethink and reconstruct the tribute system by using the analytical perspective of information politics and other analytical frameworks such as game theory.Unfortunately,although the current studies have addressed the logic of information,they have not been able to clarify the role of information as a key element in the tribute system and how the participants in the tributary system manage information.By introducing Claude Elwood Shannon’s information theory,this study shows how the participants in the tribute system reduce information and combat noise through the tribute system and points out the underlying logic of communication in it.High information and noise create uncertainty and increase the risk of strategic miscalculation and rash action.The tribute system has a three-round communication model of "imperial decree-tribute-reward",which corresponds to the logical structure of "message sentresponse-reconfirmation".Countries used the tribute system as a communication platform to send messages to each other and show their real strength and intentions to other countries.Tributes and rewards reflect a country’s technological level,economic strength and cultural achievements,and serve as effective noise reduction scheme to dispel the doubts of the countries receiving the messages and ensure that they can correctly decode and receive the messages they choose to send.Through multiple rounds of communication,messages were successfully transmitted among the communicating countries,and each country became increasingly aware of the other’s true strength and intentions,with increased certainty and reduced information,thus avoiding misunderstandings and strategic miscalculations and promoting stability and prosperity in this region.The main part of this study is divided into four chapters.Chapter 1 introduces Shannon’s information theory,demonstrates the communication model utilized in this study and its elements,clarifies key concepts such as "communication" and "information content," and briefly discusses the political science applicability of the information framework.Chapter 2 points out the dilemmas of ancient inter-state interaction from an information perspective,including poor communication,high noise and information asymmetry,and points out that these disadvantages are prone to strategic miscalculation and lead to war conflicts.Chapter 3 provides a detailed analysis of the communication logic of the tribute system,showing how the three-round communication model works,the noise reduction mechanism of tribute and reward,and the two major information screening mechanisms:verification mechanism and incentive mechanism,promoting full disclosure of information and balance information asymmetry.Chapter 4 are case studies,taking the Yuan and Ming dynasties as examples,analyzing how each managed information in their communications with other countries,and comparing the effectiveness of information management in the two dynasties,pointing out problems such as the lack of noise-combating scheme in the Yuan dynasty.