Preface
The Yuan Dynasty was established in the early 13th century and was ruled by descendants of Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire. In the process of its expansion, the Yuan Dynasty faced diplomatic exchanges and handling with neighboring countries and regions.
In order to maintain its rule and promote the prosperity of the country, the Yuan Dynasty formulated a unique foreign policy and formed a diplomatic model with the "Six Things" as the core.
And among these "six things", the most used is "marriage".
If you want to ask what it was like to be the son-in-law of the Yuan Dynasty, Goryeo knows best.
The "Six Things" Principle of Diplomacy
The so-called "six things" principle that the Yuan Dynasty repeatedly demanded from the surrounding regimes during the period of Kublai Khan is recorded in the September article of the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1267):
1. The edict is issued with six things: first, the monarch is pro-court; Second, the children are qualified; 3. The number of people; Fourth, out of military service; Fifth, the loss of taxes; Sixth, still put Daru Huachi to rule.
The full text of the edict is included in the "Annan Zhiluo Dayuan Edict":
2. Emperor Taizu's holy system; There are several countries that are attached, the monarch is pro-dynasty, the children are pledged, the number of people is compiled, the military service is released, the taxes are lost, and the Daru Huachi is still under the rule. In addition, at about the same time, the History of Goryeo also contained an edict from the Yuan Dynasty to Goryeo, which also mentioned the corresponding requirements:
3. However, my ancestor Genghis Emperor system, all the subordinate countries, accept quality, help the army, transport grain, set up posts, provide several households, and place Daru Huachi, which has tasted the clear edict.
These three historical materials are the clearest and most complete records of the "six things" of the Yuan Dynasty in the existing documents.
In contrast, 1 and 2 belong to the same record, and the content of the "six things" is completely the same, that is, the monarch is pro-court, the children are pledged, the people are compiled, the military service is assisted, the taxes are paid, and the Daru Huachi is placed. But compared to 3, the content is slightly different.
The "establishment of a post station" in 3 is different from the "establishment of a post station" in Goryeo and the "pro-dynasty of the king" in 1,2. As for the difference between the "monarch and the pro-dynasty", since the king of Goryeo Wang Sik (Wonjong) had already been in charge of Kublai Khan in the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (1264), the edict contained in the History of Goryeo did not mention this requirement. As detailed below, this is a key point that has a direct impact on the relations between the two sides.
Regarding the difference between "setting up a post station", although the existing historical materials do not show the previous request for the establishment of a post station on the Annam side, the "Yuan Shi Shizu Ji" in the twelfth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1275) when the envoys of Annam returned to the country, "the old system of households, the establishment of Daru Huachi, the signing of the army, the establishment of the station, the loss of rent, and the annual tribute and other matters".
There is no clear requirement here for Annan to "pro-court", but compared with before, there is obviously more "standing station", that is, the requirement to set up a post station. Combined with the record of the "Complete Book of Historical Records of Dayue" to the thirteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty, "in the fourth month of summer, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty leveled the south of the Yangtze River, sent San'er Hague to come, and sent six things such as mobilizing the people to help the army." The emperor did not listen".
It can be seen that the "six things" of Kublai Khan's edict to Annam this time mainly hoped that Annam could provide the most direct obligation to help the army for the Yuan Dynasty's conquest of the Southern Song Dynasty, and had a clearer military purpose, which was different from the usual requirements.
However, in any case, the requirements of the Yuan Dynasty for Goryeo and Annam were not only "six things", so some scholars believe that they should actually be "seven things", that is, the emperor and the pro-dynasty, the children of the hostages, the people, the military service, the payment of taxes, the establishment of posts, and the placement of Daru Huachi. However, since most of the relevant requirements of the Yuan Dynasty for the surrounding regimes in the literature appear as "six things", this article still follows the "six things" to refer to the basic principles of the Yuan Dynasty's foreign relations.
It is also worth noting that .2 and 3 explicitly mention that this principle of "six things" is actually a "holy system" established by Genghis Khan, and it is also "the old practice of the ancestors to appease the barbarians", and "it is not unique to the time of Kublai Khan."
That is to say, "Where all the new kingdoms are attached, my ancestors have established rules."
An early manifestation of this diplomatic strategy in the Great Mongol era was the return of Gaochang to the crane. Soon after Genghis Khan unified the Mongolian Plateau and established the Great Mongolian State, Gaochang Huique also protected the Ba and Shu Aert's Jin killed the Western Liao Shaojian and made an envoy to express his submission.
Genghis Khan's reply was, "If Yidu Hu sincerely swears allegiance [to us], let him personally pay tribute with something from his possessions and treasures."
Goryeo also began contact with the Great Mongol State during the reign of Genghis Khan, and in 1218 the two lords agreed to form a "brotherly" alliance after a joint campaign against the Khitan rebels.
Later, in 1219, when the two sides exchanged "knots and inscriptions", "Ha Zhen made Puli and other ten people came to ask for peace, and Wang Zao served the imperial Shi Pu Shi to welcome him." The military attache was ordered to wear a crown from Yiyi Gate to the cross street. Puli waited until the outside of the hall and no one said: "The king must come out to greet him."
So the translator was reprimanded." This was the first official contact between a Mongol general and the king of Goryeo, and the first condition was that "the king must come to greet him."
In addition, as we all know, when Tibet was annexed to Mongolia, Saban, the leader of the Sasgar faction, brought his nephew Ba Si Pa to Liangzhou to see the official people in Liangzhou to show his intention of annexation. Some scholars regard this as the "beginning of pro-dynasty and hostage" in Tibet. Subsequently, Pasipa "paid homage to the ancestors in the Qiandi, and said great joy and courtesy".
Behind the two cases of Goryeo and Tibet, it is more obvious that the Mongol rulers attached great importance to the internal power lord or his family to come to the court.
The situation in the time of Kublai Khan
First, let's look at the Yuan Dynasty's interactions with Burma. In the eighth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1271), Dali, Dushan and other Lu Yiwei Divisions had sent envoys to recruit Burma to annex it, but "they could not see their kings". Later, in the tenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1273), the official envoy issued an edict, and the edict clearly stated: "Cheng Neng is a great courtesy, and sends his sons and daughters to come if they are close to their ministers, so as to show the righteousness of the mainland family and use it forever." ”
After several years of war between the two sides, the Burmese State finally established the Fengbiao Dynasty of his son Xinheba twice in the first year of Dade (1297) and the third year of Dade (1299), and was awarded the title of the prince of the Yuan Dynasty.
This can also be said to be a continuation of the policies of the Kublai Khan era. Throughout the entire process of the Yuan Dynasty's exchanges with Burma, the Yuan Dynasty only required the Burmese prince or his relatives to be in the court, and there were no other "six things" requirements. Secondly, let's look at the exchanges between the Yuan Dynasty and Champa and Java.
In the sixteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1279), the Yuan Dynasty sent envoys to occupy the city, "telling its kings to the dynasty". Although the king of Zhancheng was not actually seen, because in the nineteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1282), Zhancheng was officially called a subordinate of the courtiers, and the Yuan Dynasty placed Zhancheng Province in Zhancheng. Subsequently, after the Yuan Dynasty sent troops to occupy the city, the two sides repeatedly negotiated around the king, relatives and pro-dynasty, but finally failed to meet the requirements of the Yuan Dynasty.
In particular, it is worth mentioning that the Yuan Dynasty also frequently sent envoys to Japan in the hope of "making good relations and making peace with each other", and at the same time, the King of Goryeo sent a letter to the King of Japan, repeatedly stating the meaning of "getting along with China". Although the content of the "six things" is not clear in the existing relevant documents, as detailed below, the internal concept of foreign relations is still consistent.
Therefore, looking at the exchanges between the Yuan Dynasty and Annam during the period of Kublai Khan, as mentioned above, the requirements of the "six things" were clearly put forward in the early days of the exchanges between the two sides. After the Yuan Dynasty sent troops to occupy the city, he asked Annan to help soldiers and food. But on the whole, it's like taking the city. The negotiations between the two sides around the king's pro-dynasty are still at the core.
For example, in the twelfth year of the Yuan Dynasty, in response to the request of Chen Guangyuan, the king of Annam, to remove Daru Huachi's upper table, "reinstate the edict" with six things, "still let the children into the service". In December of the twenty-fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1288), as soon as the two sides stopped their troops, the Yuan Dynasty's edict of "Yu Annan Shizi" clearly stated at the beginning: "I am the king of all states, and I use both virtue and power." How can it be that the country of Er, called Xianghua, has not yet created a dynasty. ”
It can be seen from this that the "sons and servants" here and the lord of the country "make a dynasty" are actually one on the outside and the inside. Even after the failure of the two expeditions to Annam, "the courtiers ended up with no one in the court, and discussed the conquest of it". It can be seen that the "six things" demanded by the Yuan Dynasty to Annam are extremely important to the Chinese lord's relatives and children hostages, even
It can be said that these two were the core of the exchanges between the two sides throughout the Kublai Khan period. Based on the above-mentioned contacts between the Yuan Dynasty and the surrounding regimes since the time of Genghis Khan, we can preliminarily conclude that the principle of "six things" is the basic strategy and core idea of the Yuan Dynasty's diplomacy. The series of diplomatic activities actively carried out by Kublai Khan during the period of Kublai Khan are basically the continuation of the principle of "six things" since the time of Genghis Khan.
However, it should be noted that the specific content of the "six things" is not fixed, and even the requirements for different regimes and countries are not always the same.
Comparatively speaking, regimes closely adjacent to the Yuan Dynasty, such as Tubo, Gaochang Huique, Goryeo, and Annam, were required to fulfill the "Six Things", while regimes such as Burma and Java were more required to be pro-dynasty or hostage-dependent.
But on the whole, the monarch's pro-dynasty and his children hostages are the core content of the "six things" principle, and they are also the most basic principle to ensure that the surrounding regimes are attached to the Yuan Dynasty, and for this reason, the Yuan Dynasty even did not hesitate to use force to achieve it.
On the surface, the principle of foreign relations of the Yuan Dynasty based on the "Six Things" had a strong coercive characteristic, and specifically required the neighboring regimes to fulfill their subordinate obligations to the Yuan Dynasty with the nature of "occupied countries". This is very different from the tributary relationship between the surrounding regimes and the Central Plains Dynasty for a long time, and it is unacceptable to many regimes.
As we all know, in the era of Genghis Khan, a group of heroes with a strong relationship of trust and loyalty gradually formed around the companion (npkr). At the same time, after Genghis Khan unified the Mongol tribes, he demanded that his children be selected from all the 10,000, 1,000, and 100 "Noyan" (officials) for daily guards, and gradually became the core of his cowardly group.
As Masaaki Sugiyama points out, this personal bond further deepened their loyalty to the Khan and the state as they engaged in various specific matters around the Great Khan on a daily basis, thus forming a strong sense of identity and community with the Mongol regime. Even after the occupation of North China, the Mongol regime indirectly maintained this relationship with the Han princes.
It was precisely by extending this bond between the Great Khan and the individual in the early Mongol Empire that it became the basic consideration and starting point for the Yuan Dynasty to deal with the relations with the surrounding powers.
In the early foreign relations of the Mengyuan regime, the annexation of the Hui Que and the protector was undoubtedly typical. After the protection of the capital was attached, Genghis Khan "waited for the son to be the fifth" and "made an appointment with the princes as brothers".
This is to subjugate inter-regime interactions into a relationship of a somewhat private nature. This relationship was strongly inherited until the time of Kublai Khan.
Regarding the history of Gaochang Yiduhu, the most detailed is the "Yidu Guardian Gaochang Wang Shixun Monument", and its inscription is written in both Chinese and Huique.
The Chinese part is included in Yuji's "Ancient Records of Daoyuan Studies" and "Literature of the National Dynasty", which are also well-known. Although some scholars have carried out special translation and research on the Huihe text, "it has not attracted enough attention, and its content is in some respects more detailed than the Chinese part written by Yu Ji."
The Mongol Yuan regime's concept of "family" in handling foreign relations with a private nature was also clearly reflected in the early relations with Goryeo, and the relationship between the Mongol regime and Goryeo during the Ögedai period was once deteriorated due to the envoy's ancient writing and killing, and then Ögedai sent Sarita to conquer Goryeo and force Goryeo to surrender.
epilogue
To sum up, this paper starts from the specific cases of the Yuan Dynasty's negotiations with the Annam and Goryeo regimes, and at the same time focuses on the overall foreign relations of the Yuan Dynasty, and examines the "Six Things" principle in the Yuan Dynasty's foreign relations, in order to re-explore the new foreign relations model of the Yuan Dynasty outside the traditional tributary system.
The principle of "six things", which had been used by the Mongol regime since the time of Genghis Khan, was more widely used in Kublai Khan's dealings with neighboring countries.