In ancient Chinese history, powerful dynasties, in addition to constantly expanding their territory, would also conquer other countries everywhere and make them their own vassal states.
These countries were often in remote locations, but they had to travel thousands of miles to the imperial palace every year to pay tribute to the current emperors, and there were many vassal states in history, and their purposes of tribute were mostly to maintain peace, seek asylum and maintain trade.
The Qing Dynasty also had 20 vassal states in its power, but at the time of its decline, the fate of these countries was also affected by the Qing Dynasty, of which 10 small countries went into decline, and one of them insisted on paying tribute until it was annexed by other countries in 1935, and then cut off contact with the Qing government.
Loyal followers
World War II swept countless countries into the war, the land of the Qing Dynasty was ruthlessly occupied by the great powers, and the decline of the Qing government also caused its former vassal states to lose their refuge. The former vassal states were either mired in war or annexed by other countries, and only one country was still faithfully paying tribute every year, and that was the state of Kanguti.
The Kanjuti region is mainly inhabited by the Buru and Wahan peoples, and as early as the Tang Dynasty, it became a territory for which the Tang and Tubo competed.
After the Qianlong Emperor quelled the Rebellion of Great and Small, a series of small states in Kashmir began to establish contact with the Qing government, and the region officially began to intersect with the Qing government.
In 1761, the Kanjuti chieftain saw the strength of the Qing government, so he sent his son to the Shache area of Xinjiang to pay tribute, and the Kanjuti tubang officially became a vassal state of the Qing government.
The Qing government and the Kanjuti Tubang agreed that the Kanjuti Tubang would need to pay tribute to the Qing government every three years, and the tribute items would be divided into fifteen bags of Shajin one or two five dollars, and each tribute would be sent to the Kashgar region by the chief's son.
Of course, the Kanjuti Tubang did not pay tribute to the Qing government for no reason, and after each tribute, the Qing officials stationed in Kashgar would reward the Kanjuti Tubang with a certain amount of satin and grain as agreed.
Later, the Kashmiri state was controlled by the British, and the Kanjuti tubang, as a supporter of the Qing government, naturally confronted it, and after many battles, Kashmir was defeated and paid tribute to the Kanjuti tubang.
In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, as the strength of the Qing government continued to decline, the Kanjuti Tubang, which was once dependent on the Qing Dynasty, also became a piece of fat in the eyes of the great powers, and the Kanjuti Tubang also began to oscillate between many countries.
From 1888 to 1889, Russian emissaries and British Indian emissaries visited the Kanjuti region, and the Qing government had no time to take care of these at this time.
Although the United Kingdom is strong, it also maintains a cautious attitude until it understands the attitude of the government.
In 1891, the British army launched the Gangza-Nagar War, taking kanjuti and its surrounding tribes for themselves, and the chieftain of Kanjuti fled to China and was arranged by the Qing government to move to Urumqi.
The vassal state he was sheltering was invaded, and the Qing government naturally could no longer sit idly by, and the Qing government sent Xue Fucheng to negotiate with the British, and the British side said that the British did not want Kan Juti to destroy the country, but only because the country had been rude to British officials, so it wanted to punish them in turn.
In 1892, China and Britain reached an agreement, the Qing government recognized that Kanjuti was no longer just a vassal of the Qing government, but made it a vassal state of China and Britain, and the British regarded Kanjuti as a native state under its jurisdiction, and the Qing government could still collect Kanjuti's tribute.
After this, the British repeatedly negotiated with China in order to completely occupy this land, persuading the Qing government to give up its sovereignty, and the Kanjuti Tu state did not stop paying tribute to the Qing government until after the establishment of the National Government.
Small states that have perished and been annexed
In addition to the Kanjuti state, there are 9 other small vassal states that did not survive World War II and usher in independence, while 4 countries were annexed by other countries and became the bubble of history.
Ryukyu state was once one of the sub-vassal states of the Qing government, although this country is not large, but the geographical location is very special, historically it is located between China's Taiwan Province and Japan's Kyushu, is an important transit point for northeast Asia and Southeast Asia trade, due to the large number of ships, naturally its own trade is also more developed, once known as "Wanguo Jinliang".
In 1654, the King of Ryukyu decided to defect to the Qing government, so he sent envoys to the Qing Dynasty to request canonization, but later, with the weakening of the Qing government, Ryukyu also fell into the hands of Japanese invaders.
In 1871, Japan abolished the prefecture of Ryukyu and became part of Okinawa and Kagoshima.
The Kingdom of Sulu has had close ties with China since ancient times, and during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the relationship between the Sulu Kingdom and China continued to be close, and in 1713, at the request of the descendants of the Eastern King, they were naturalized in China with the surnames of Wen and An.
In 1851, the state of Sulu was seized by Spain, and then failed to fight for independence again, and was finally annexed by the Philippines.
The Khanate of Kokand is actually today's Uzbekistan, and unlike other countries, this country has been strong in history and is the only country in Central Asia that invaded the Qing Dynasty.
In 1760, the Kokand Khanate submitted to the Qing government, but the country was not loyal to the Qing government, nor did it feel at ease to be a vassal state, during the Xinjiang turmoil, the Kokand Khanate once sent troops to try to divide the territory of Xinjiang, and was finally defeated by the troops led by Zuo Zongtang.
After the decline of the Qing government, the Kokand Khanate was also invaded by other countries and was eventually annexed by Tsarist Russia.
The Kingdom of Sikkim was also one of the vassal states of the Qing government, annexed by India in 1975, and then there was a debate about whether it still existed internationally, until 2005, when our country gave up its recognition of its sovereign state status, and no country in the world recognized it as an independent state.
In addition to these countries that were annexed as a whole, there were also some countries that were lost in the war, the mountains and rivers were broken, and eventually they were divided.
Luang Prabang was a small state that had once been dependent on the Qing government, and it was itself a country that split off from the Nanzhao Kingdom, and in the war, the weak Luang Prabang quickly fell into the hands of the Great Powers without the protection of the Qing government, and now became a land under the jurisdiction of Vietnam.
The Burut Khanate was a vassal state conquered by the Qing government during the quelling of the Great and Small Rebellion, and soon after the decline of the Qing government, it disappeared under the iron hooves of Tsarist Russia.
In addition, the four kingdoms that had paid tribute to the Qing government at the same time, Anjiyan, Malgarang, Namgun, and Tashkent Khanate, were also attacked by Tsarist Russia and became the dust of history.
The Sak Khanate paid tribute to the Qing government in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, and then was also destroyed by Tsarist Russia, and split again when the Soviet Union collapsed, becoming today's Kazakhstan. The Borol and Badakshan states also paid tribute to the Qing government during the Qianlong period, and after the Qing government was unable to protect itself, the two countries were annexed and controlled by Afghanistan.
Survive independently
In addition to these annexed or destroyed countries, there are also some countries that have struggled to survive the war without the support of the Qing government, and eventually continue to independence to this day.
The Joseon Dynasty had a profound relationship with China, and the entire Joseon Dynasty was established in dependence on Confucianism, and after the founding of the Joseon Dynasty, it paid tribute to China and became a vassal, and the Chinese dynasties would also crown their kings.
By the end of the 16th century, the invaders opened the door to Korea, causing serious social unrest, and after the Sino-Japanese War, Korea completely severed relations with the Qing government and no longer claimed to it.
Vietnam, which borders China, was once one of the qing vassals, and in 1804 the Qing dynasty sent officials to Vietnam for a canonization ceremony, which was warmly received by local officials.
After the outbreak of war, Vietnam was invaded by France, but Vietnam still insisted on attacking the Qing Dynasty, silent about the signing of unequal treaties, and the Qing government naturally turned a blind eye.
Until 1883, France signed the "Franco-Vietnamese New Treaty" with Vietnam, and demanded that Vietnam destroy the seal of the King of Vietnam issued by the Qing government that year, and since then, Vietnam has no longer been under the jurisdiction of the Qing government.
In 1646, the Kingdom of Siam established relations with the Qing government, but as the Qing government continued to weaken, the King of Siam realized that he could no longer rely on the country blindly, and in 1855, the King of Siam followed the Western system and carried out a series of reforms and abolished the vassal relationship with the Qing government.
Burma was also one of the vassal states of the Qing government, and in 1769, Burma was defeated in the war with the Qing government, became a vassal state, and was controlled by the British in 1886, and finally moved to independence under the unremitting efforts of the Burmese people.
In 1736, the Kingdom of Bhutan became a vassal state of the Qing government, and by the 19th century it had fallen by the British. The Gurkha Kingdom invaded Tibet in 1788, but did not want to be hit by the counterattacking Qing soldiers to the capital, and eventually became a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, and in 1908 became a vassal state of the British.
brief summary:
The 20 vassal states under the jurisdiction of the Qing government were voluntarily subservient, and some were defeated under the attack of the Qing government, and when the Qing government was strong, they would naturally provide protection and assistance to these countries, but when the Qing government itself was difficult to protect, the countries that lost their asylum became the objects of division among the great powers.
Among them, there are only six countries that can really survive and continue to this day, and the rest of the countries have been annexed or destroyed because they are too weak, which also warns us that relying on the strong cannot really protect themselves, and if they want to be invincible, they can only work hard through their own continuous efforts.
True strength is not having allies that your opponent fears, but being the object of fear for your opponent.