The purpose of this book was to deepen our understanding of China’s vision for international order in Asia, by focusing on the concept of hierarchy at the centre of this vision and by highlighting the lines of continuity between the country’s pre-modern past and its present foreign policy. It has argued that ancient ideas about the creation of an enduring Sinocentric political order have survived into the modern era and continue to guide Chinese foreign policy today. It was traditionally considered the ultimate mission of the Chinese emperor to bring order to ‘all-under-heaven’ in the form of a stable hierarchy centred on himself, where the subordinate position of all surrounding polities would be made clear and manifest through ritual diplomacy. The hierarchical structure of order was justified by the Son of Heaven’s all-encompassing virtue and supported by the empire’s wealth, military might, and control over names. An enduring attachment to these principles did not prevent Chinese statesmen from displaying a great degree of flexibility and adaptability in applying them to changing and sometimes adverse circumstances. Successive emperors displayed very variable degrees of attachment to the Confucian model of virtuous rulership, while making ‘barbarians’ adhere to proper ritual forms was a constant challenge and required negotiations and compromises. Nowhere was this more evident than in the empire’s relations with its nomadic neighbours in Inner Asia, with their often superior military might and tendency to push into the Chinese heartland and establish ‘conquest dynasties’ of their own. Attachment to the imperial ideal of hierarchical order nevertheless remained consistent throughout this tumultuous history.

It took the trauma of the ‘Western shock’ to bring about a fundamental rethink in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This rethink did not result in the complete abandonment of this ideal but in its transformation and adaptation to China’s modern conditions. Achieving order was still a sacred mission, but one that implied radical change and evolution out of the parlous conditions Chinese statesmen thought international society to be in. China pursued equality with Western great powers, but other Asian nations were still considered natural subordinates and followers.