introduction 5Introduction
This work is a sequel to the chapter on EMBASSIES in my The Six
Dynasties, vol.II (Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, vol.
69, 1996). It is chiefly a study of the exchange of missions and the
goods they brought. Government trade is therefore a major theme of
this work. Military conflicts are mentioned only in passing, whenever
they help to elucidate diplomatic reactions.
I am not concerned with the theory of foreign policy, with Chinese
diplomacy in a broad, international context, or how the imperial courts
perceived foreign ethnic groups. High-level debates and decisions at the
court on how to cope with powerful foreign peoples, and the strategies
of diplomatic specialists such as a P’ei Chü (d. ca.630) are beyond the
scope of this work. So are diplomatic correspondences, or the reminis-
cences of envoys. An exhaustive study of such matters would require
several books in their own right. Neither do I discuss private, foreign
travellers such as Buddhist monks. They did not represent their coun-
tries. I deal with the actual technique of foreign relations, i.e. chiefly
with the exchange of missions and the goods they brought.
Obviously, China and its immediate neighbours had other rela-
tions than mere trade. Borders had to be delineated, peace had to be
concluded, technology and books were exchanged, and so on. Where
the sources dwell on these matters, I have given them full attention.
For countries which were situated more distantly from China, trade
became the exclusive purpose of the missions. The states in Afghanistan,
the Middle East, India, and on the islands to the south did not have
to reckon with China as a great power, and they did not have to pay
homage to the Son of Heaven. All they wanted was Chinese goods.
If their envoys went through motions which signified submission, this
was no more than smart business practice.
The Chinese saw it differently and liked to believe that the emperor
or Son of Heaven was destined to govern the world. This concept of
a universal ruler was hard to maintain in times of internal division or
strong foreign neighbours, when emperors had to accomodate them-
selves to the existance of other emperors, and rival courts had to
devise means of coexistance. It was nevertheless shared by all, whether
Chinese or aliens. It meant that foreign kings and chiefs were con-