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{{Template:Daxian Tributary System}} | {{Template:Daxian Tributary System}} | ||
'''Good Barbarians '''or '''Guoyi''' was an official term used by successive [[Daxia]]n dynasties to refer to outside peoples who paid tribute but were considered to have no true civilization as the Daxians understood it. Classical studies of Imperial [[Daxia]] and its interactions with foreigners by western historians tended to think that [[Daxia]]n imperial authorities classified all outsiders under the same category of barbarians but more recently discovered imperial historical records and translations of scholarly texts from the Zhong dynasty onwards make clear the distinction of the Guoyi from other foreigners. Some recently recovered [[Imperial Tallies (Daxia)|imperial tallies]] include the term alongside the names of Kochok Khan and Desai Khan, the twelfth and sixteenth rulers respectivelly of the [[Degei Confederation]] who were known to be vassals of the Zhong dynasty. From this it can be concluded that [[Daxia]] not only used the term in its internal communications but also bestowed it as a title or reward to some of its tributaries. It could also be withdrawn during times of tumult, Li Xian's ''Chronicle of Hunyu'' recounts the history of the Degei after the death of Darukh Khan and notably in his successors titles, Guoyi is omitted and they are simply mentioned as uncultured barbarians outside of imperial munificence. [[ | '''Good Barbarians '''or '''Guoyi''' was an official term used by successive [[Daxia]]n dynasties to refer to outside peoples who paid tribute but were considered to have no true civilization as the Daxians understood it. Classical studies of Imperial [[Daxia]] and its interactions with foreigners by western historians tended to think that [[Daxia]]n imperial authorities classified all outsiders under the same category of barbarians but more recently discovered imperial historical records and translations of scholarly texts from the Zhong dynasty onwards make clear the distinction of the Guoyi from other foreigners. Some recently recovered [[Imperial Tallies (Daxia)|imperial tallies]] include the term alongside the names of Kochok Khan and Desai Khan, the twelfth and sixteenth rulers respectivelly of the [[Degei Confederation]] who were known to be vassals of the Zhong dynasty. From this it can be concluded that [[Daxia]] not only used the term in its internal communications but also bestowed it as a title or reward to some of its tributaries. It could also be withdrawn during times of tumult, Li Xian's ''Chronicle of Hunyu'' recounts the history of the Degei after the death of Darukh Khan and notably in his successors titles, Guoyi is omitted and they are simply mentioned as uncultured barbarians outside of imperial munificence. [[Levantia]]n and [[Sarpedon]]ian diplomats who usually came to the empire bearing gifts were often given in return an untranslated wooden tablet awarding them the status of good barbarian subjects and enjoining them to collect and bring more tribute. For obvious reasons this status was never something that could be practically enforced and served mostly to humilliate foreigners. | ||
===Historical context=== | ===Historical context=== | ||
Ancient Daxians saw their civilization as an island among a sea of lesser things, this notion of superiority was rooted in the efficiency of their bureaucratized state that allowed them to operate at a higher level than their neighbors who had different administrative and organizational traditions. In their immediate vicinity, Daxian culture, language and dress came to be emulated to varying degrees and yet those who mimicked them were still seen as ultimately inferior; further proof of the inadequacy of their own cultures. There are even scattered sources of an ancient ranking system used for non-Daxians, that might today be considered little more than a list of slurs. The 'good barbarian' term first emerges in Xie dynasty accounts of their interactions with the Qifu people, these are described as 'very much unlike the cultured Daxian but still these good barbarians are eminently honorable, cordial and of beneficent nature'; importantly a separate document describes in exacting detail the amounts of tribute the Qifu submitted to the imperial court. Conversely the local Tuang people get no such glowing praise and are simply described as a 'morally destitute people, of small minds, weak limbs and treacherous notions', there are no surviving records indicating the Tuang people ever gave tribute or submitted to imperial authority. It follows then that the label of a 'Good Barbarian' during the Xie dynasty was simply a differentiator between those who gave tribute and submitted to Daxia's rule and those who resisted doing so. | Ancient Daxians saw their civilization as an island among a sea of lesser things, this notion of superiority was rooted in the efficiency of their bureaucratized state that allowed them to operate at a higher level than their neighbors who had different administrative and organizational traditions. In their immediate vicinity, Daxian culture, language and dress came to be emulated to varying degrees and yet those who mimicked them were still seen as ultimately inferior; further proof of the inadequacy of their own cultures. There are even scattered sources of an ancient ranking system used for non-Daxians, that might today be considered little more than a list of slurs. The 'good barbarian' term first emerges in Xie dynasty accounts of their interactions with the Qifu people, these are described as 'very much unlike the cultured Daxian but still these good barbarians are eminently honorable, cordial and of beneficent nature'; importantly a separate document describes in exacting detail the amounts of tribute the Qifu submitted to the imperial court. Conversely the local Tuang people get no such glowing praise and are simply described as a 'morally destitute people, of small minds, weak limbs and treacherous notions', there are no surviving records indicating the Tuang people ever gave tribute or submitted to imperial authority. It follows then that the label of a 'Good Barbarian' during the Xie dynasty was simply a differentiator between those who gave tribute and submitted to Daxia's rule and those who resisted doing so. | ||