The ambiguous border : early modern Sino-Viet relations / Kathlene Baldanza.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Baldanza, Kathlene.

Contributor:

Mair, Victor H., 1943- advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Penn dissertations--East Asian languages and civilizations.

East Asian languages and civilizations--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--East Asian languages and civilizations.

East Asian languages and civilizations--Penn dissertations.

Physical Description:

viii, 190 pages ; 29 cm

Production:

2010.

Summary:

My dissertation uses Chinese relations with the Mac dynasty (1527-1677) of Vietnam as a window into the workings of the Chinese state, administration of the borderlands, and the interaction of foreign policy and cultural representation in late imperial China. During the sixteenth century, massive changes to Vietnamese government and society and the attendant upheaval forced the Chinese government to re-evaluate and re-formulate its relationship with its southern neighbor. Drawing on historical precedent and a body of ethnographic knowledge, officials of the Chinese Ming dynasty debated whether Vietnam was under Chinese jurisdiction or a foreign state beyond the pale. At stake in this debate was not only the fate of several border wards and the demarcation of a political and cultural border, but also the very definition of China and its role as a world power. To move beyond the familiar framework of "the tributary system," this project supplements the accounts of official histories and government documents from both China and Vietnam with unofficial histories, diaries, and gazetteers. My dissertation shows that there was ample room within the tributary framework for debate, negotiation and flexibility. In contrast to research that likens Chinese imperialism to Western imperialism, I argue that Chinese governments were less interested in converting or civilizing non-Chinese than they were in determining and classifying those who were already acculturated into the Chinese empire. This process was complicated by the existence of an extensive borderlands separating the two states. In the borderlands, imperial projections met local realities and fell apart. Ultimately, the Ming government reached a compromise with the Mac, leaving the Vietnam crisis for their successor state, the Qing, to resolve. Although the Qing reneged their support of the Mac, their Vietnam policy contains many unnoted continuities with that of the Ming. My dissertation recovers a neglected history of cross-border diplomacy, arguing for a less monolithic picture of Chinese imperial ambitions.

Notes:

Adviser: Victor H. Mair.

Thesis (Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations)-- University of Pennsylvania, 2010.

Includes bibliographic references and index.