"Legitimacy and Hegemony in Late Imperial China" - by CWP alum Austin Strange

Canonical international relations research treats international orders as systemic, long-term projects of hegemons. However, orders can also provide valuable domestic political capital for leaders. Hegemonic leaders have stronger incentives to invest in hegemony when doing so potentially enhances their political legitimacy. Using a new dataset of over 8,000 Ming and Qing dynasty tribute exchanges between 1368 and 1895, I assess whether emperor legitimacy needs help explain China’s engagement in tribute diplomacy, a central institution of Chinese hegemony. The findings show that new emperors, particularly those following “irregular” entry into power, invested heavily in tribute to pursue legitimacy among internal and external audiences. This behavior was most common with “high-value” counterparts. An illustrative case documents how the Yongle Emperor deployed tribute to legitimize his right to rule. The findings demonstrate the importance of domestic politics and leader legitimacy for understanding the nature and persistence of hegemonic order in early modern Asia.

Published online: 17 Sep 2024 - https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2024.2382292

Austin Strange is Associate Professor of International Relations in the Department of Politics and Public Administration. He researches and teaches Chinese foreign policy, international political economy, and international development. Austin’s current research focuses on China’s historical and contemporary roles in the world economy.

Currently Austin is a Public Intellectuals Program Fellow with the National Committee on US-China Relations. In 2021-2022 he was a Wilson China Fellow at the Wilson Center and was previously a fellow with the Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program. He received a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University, M.A. from Zhejiang University, and B.A. from the College of William & Mary.

Austin received HKU’s Early Career Teaching Award in 2022.

Photo Credit: https://pixabay.com/users/jplenio-7645255/