Tribute and the rites for guests
朝貢與賓禮
The rites and institutions with which the Qing court received foreign envoys: other states sent missions with formal letters and local products, and the emperor answered with gifts and titles.
01About
Binli, the rites for guests, was one of the five classical categories of ritual, the one that governed how envoys from abroad were received. Under the Qing, a bureau of the Ministry of Rites was in charge of these rites, and a hostel in Beijing received the tribute envoys of vassal and foreign states and provided interpreters. The affairs of Mongolia, Tibet, and Russia went instead to the Lifan Yuan, renamed in 1638 from the Mongol office set up under Hong Taiji. In 1861 the Zongli Yamen was founded to handle foreign affairs, taking over the dealings with Russia as well, and in 1901 it became the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
02In the gallery
Look at which scripts a document uses (Chinese, Manchu, or a foreign language), and whether the emperor or a country's name is raised above the other lines.
Wall label terms in Chinese
- 賓禮
- Rites for guests (binli)
- 藩屬國
- Vassal state
- 表文
- Memorial (formal letter to the emperor)
- 方物
- Local products offered as tribute
- 理藩院
- Lifan Yuan (Court of Colonial Affairs)
- 總理各國事務衙門
- Zongli Yamen (foreign affairs office)
03Notes
Who wrote this document, and to whom? Can you tell from its layout which side stood higher?