چكيده لاتين :
Abstract:
The art of historiography in China, like any other country, is influenced by the country's culture. In China, at least from centuries before Confucius, the tradition was the basis of popular culture, which naturally influenced the thoughts of Chinese historians. One of the most important traditions influencing the minds of Chinese historians was the traditional Chinese worldview, which survived for centuries. While other countries took their name from the tribes that inhabited their land, the Chinese had called their country Zhongguo (Middle land) since the early centuries of the first millennium BC. The emergence of this idea, which was originated from the cosmopolitan philosophy of ancient China, led the Chinese emperors to claim to be ‘Son of God’ and to consider the surrounding countries as barbarians and tax collectors who should “come and develop”. For example, the narrations of ancient Chinese historians about the Arsacid and Sasanids kings of Iran and West Asia emphasized that the kings of Iran always offered gifts to the Chinese emperors and even asked the emperor for help and guidance in the affairs of their country. Considering the importance of this claim, the present study intends to study the nature of the Iranian kings’ interaction with Chinese emperors in Chinese texts by reading, comparing, and analyzing reports of Chinese texts and examining the nature of this claim. The author of the present study assumes that the idea of Zhongguo was used by Chinese historians in their work ‘to offer’ gifts to Chinese emperors only to emphasize the central position of their emperors. The author believes that, according to the idea of the Middle Kingdom, the phrase ‘to offer gifts’ was deliberately used by Chinese historians, merely, to emphasize ‘the central position of their emperors’.
Introduction:
The unique characteristics of Chinese culture made the Chinese people be aware of their past. These unique characteristics also helped them to get through periods of internal turmoil. Such historical awareness has also kept cultural, social, and political traditions alive. One of these traditions is the political worldview of this land, which has been passed down from generation to generation by China's political elite and has become a dominant belief in the political vision of Zhongguo. The preservation of these traditions by the government examinations based on Confucius’s teachings helped the Chinese to preserve the legacy of the Middle Kingdom. According to Confucius, the emperor was at the top of the world's political hierarchy, and Chinese rituals legitimized his rule by performing ceremonies or paying homage to the emperor. This hierarchy was also defined for China’s neighboring countries, and the presence of the emperor at the head of the affairs ensured great harmony for all beings, and his weakness or absence could destroy the harmony of the world. In this way, the unconditional obedience to the emperor was expected even from other nations, because the emperor in the Middle Kingdom preserved the great harmony of the world.
Emphasis on China’s centrality, the exceptionalism of China-specific values as well as the strict observance of imperial rites by those inside and outside the Middle Kingdom were among the most important concerns and points made in reports by Chinese historians. Chinese texts have repeatedly spoken of the quantity and quality of the gifts, emperors’ advice to the Persian kings, and the awarding of titles to the Persian kings and local rulers of Iran. The importance of such issues in Chinese texts has made it necessary to study them. In the present study, an attempt has been made to combine the relevant information in classical Chinese texts with modern studies in order to analyze the culture of Chinese self-centeredness and the approach of Chinese historians towards ancient Iran.
Materials and Methods:
Due to a lack of comprehensive studies on the political thought of ancient Chinese historians and their approach to the world around them, it is necessary to identify information on the culture of Chinese self-centeredness from a variety of primary sources, including Chinese classical texts and archaeological sources, integrating them with modern studies. The study follows a historical perspective with philological and historiographical tools. Comparative analysis was one of the important methods used in this research.
Discussion of Results and Conclusions:
The concepts of ‘Zhongguo’, ‘Son of God’, and ‘distant barbarians’ were the most important aspects of the political worldview of ancient China. The Chinese emperors believed that it was useless to try to subjugate countries that were located far away from China. This worldview brought them the exceptional culture of Zhongguo. In this exceptionalism, it was not Chinese ideas and values that were exported, but the task of the barbarians to travel to China and search for these ideas and values. As mentioned, the concept of the territory of Zhongguo and the surrounding barbarians was an emphasis on the centrality of Chinese civilization, which was also reflected in Chinese historical texts. Accordingly, such historians always speak of offering gifts to their emperors because they consider their land as the center of the world and the emperor as its axis. In fact, the flattery of the emperor, along with the strict observance of imperial rituals, were central to the political culture of China or the Middle land. The offering of gifts by the Parthian and Sassanid kings and the kings’ letters, including Ghobad I's letter to the Chinese emperor, was interpreted in this light. In fact, the ‘tribute system’ was often linked to the ‘Confucian world order’, under which neighboring countries offered ‘tribute’ to guarantee peace and trade. Neighboring tribes or kingdoms were forced to send an envoy to China to pay tribute to the Chinese emperor. In Chinese texts, this view was extended to distant lands to emphasize the pivotal role of the ‘Son of God’ in the world. Specifically, the report of Chinese historians on the emperor’s decree to King of Tabarestan is a clear example of their emphasis on the emperor’s godly domination in the world of that time, the centrality of the middle kingdom, and of course the efforts of distant lands to learn from the emperor.
