Why didn't the Qing Dynasty have any vassal states?

During the time of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, China had more than 50 vassal states, mainly concentrated in the Western Region (Xinjiang and Central Asia) area, but also including countries such as North Korea, Vietnam, and Japan, etc. The vassal kings had to make regular pilgrimages to pay homage to the Chinese Emperor, kneeling and kowtowing, and 'touching the ground with a sound', and they also had to offer their own native products as 'tribute' to the Chinese Emperor, who of course returned gifts of higher value than their tribute to show the wealth, majesty and etiquette of the Chinese nation.

The reason why the neighboring countries were 'willing' to become China's vassal states was that they envied the Chinese civilization that aspired to be rich and wished to become a country like China; and secondly, they feared and were afraid of China's strong military power and wished to be protected by China politically and militarily: the Han Dynasty's military might spread far and wide in Central Asia, the Caspian Sea in Europe, the Russian Baikal region, and the opulence of the Tang Dynasty affected India, Arabia and Eastern Europe.

Until the Ming and Qing dynasties, China also had more than 40 vassal states: Xinjiang, Tibet, and Mongolia actually became Chinese territories, and only nominally still belonged to the status of a vassal state, in addition to a number of nomadic countries in Central Asia, North Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Siam (Thailand), Java (Indonesia), the Philippines, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Malacca ( Malaysia), etc. were all vassals of China.

But by 1840, when the corrupt Qing Dynasty was defeated by Britain, and then continuously invaded and plundered and exploited by Western powers, wealthy China slowly became one of the poorest countries in the world, and gradually lost all its vassal states. Thereafter, China was even invaded by Japan, which was once one of China's vassal states!

2 Relationship between the Qing Dynasty and the vassal states

2.1 Relationship between the Qing Dynasty and Korea

Before the rise of the Qing Dynasty, Korea maintained a traditionally close relationship with the Ming Dynasty (in the first year of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang sent an envoy to Korea to give a gift to the people of Korea). Zhu Yuanzhang sent envoys to North Korea to give the seal, thus establishing the relationship between the two countries of the clan). l636, Huang taiji led the troops of the new conquest of North Korea, captured the North Korean capital of Seoul, North Korean King Lee? At the moment of the country's survival, forced to accept the conditions of surrender of the Qing army, stop using the Ming Dynasty, cut off all exchanges with the Ming Dynasty, and serve the Qing Dynasty as the sovereign. After the Qing Dynasty settled in Beijing, the two sides of the envoys every year to and from. On the Korean side, in addition to the four fixed annual tribute envoys for the winter solstice, the first solstice, the holy festival, and the yearly coins, there were also a variety of unscheduled envoys to China. After the Japanese Meiji Restoration, Japan pointed its aggression at Joseon, and in January 1876, Japan sent an expedition to invade Joseon and coerced Joseon to enter into a commercial agreement. On the other hand, Japan sent people to China to negotiate. At that time, the Prime Minister replied that China had never interfered in the internal and external affairs of Joseon. Japan took advantage of this situation and said that since China did not interfere in the affairs of Joseon, the so-called "dependency" was just an empty name, and Japan was determined to treat Joseon as an "independent state", and forced Joseon to sign the "Ganghwa Treaty" between Korea and Japan on February 26, 1876, which was the most important treaty in Joseon's history. Ganghwa Treaty" on February 26, 1876. The "Ganghwa Treaty" clearly exposed Japan's ambition to reject China's "sovereignty" in Korea. Thereafter, Japan accelerated its invasion of Korea, and successively staged the "Imno-Wu Mutiny" in 1882 and the "Kashen Coup" in 1884. "Although these two incidents were quelled by the quick action of the Qing army, Japan took advantage of them to force Korea to sign the Treaty of Incheon in 1882 and the Treaty of Seoul in 1885, which enlarged Japan's invasion rights and interests in Korea. As Japan was not satisfied with these interests. When it was ready, it launched the Sino-Japanese War to invade Korea and then China. The Qing army was defeated, and the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan, recognizing the "independence" of Korea, and the end of the clan relationship between the Qing Dynasty and Korea.

2.2 Relationship between the Qing Dynasty and the Ryukyus

The Ryukyus is Okinawa in today's Japan. Since the early Ming Dynasty, the Ryukyus had a close relationship with China. After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, a Ryukyuan envoy came to China in 1646 and was received by Emperor Shunzhi. From then on, Ryukyuan envoys were in constant contact with the Qing court, and in 1662, the Qing court dispatched Zhang Xue Li, a vice-legal officer of the military department, as the official envoy to the Ryukyus. Since then, whenever a new Ryukyu king succeeded to the throne, Qing envoys would go to the country to honor and celebrate his succession. In 1663 (the second year of the Kangxi reign) and 1756 (the twenty-first year of the Qianlong reign), the Qing Emperor gave the Ryukyu king a seal twice, and the seal given by the Qianlong emperor had the inscription "Seal of the King of the Ryukyus". Until the 1860s, the Ryukyus always recognized themselves as a vassal of the Qing Dynasty. 1872, the Emperor Meiji of Japan ascended to the throne, irony Ryukyu congratulations. The King of the Ryukyus sent his son to Tokyo to contribute to the party. The emperor of Japan issued an edict to the Ryukyus as a vassal, in 1873 and listed the Ryukyus as prefectures. 1875 May. In May 1875, Japan forced the King of the Ryukyus to stop paying "tribute" to China and stationed troops in the Ryukyus; in order to remove the traces of the "clan relationship" between China and the Ryukyus, Japan forced the Ryukyus to change to the Japanese year code in June, and in 1876 Japan set up a judicial organization in the Ryukyus, which de facto put the Ryukyus under its rule. In 1876, Japan established a judiciary in the Ryukyus and in effect placed the Ryukyus under its rule. The King of the Ryukyus was unable to withstand the Japanese aggression and oppression, in April 1877, the secret dispatch of the purple scarf officer to Dehong and other people to China, the presentation of the State is a secret letter, pleading to stop the annexation of Japan's behavior.

[ The Qing court sent He Ruzhang to Japan to negotiate, but did not achieve results. 1879 March, the Japanese government sent troops to occupy the Ryukyus, March 30 officially declared the Ryukyus for the Okinawa Prefecture. 1879 July 3 and 23, the King of the Ryukyus and the secret order of the Purple Scarf Officer to the Dehong twice to visit Li Hongzhang, Tianjin, requesting that the Qing government to ask for punishment to the Japanese. October 24, Ryukyuan ear officer Mao Jingchang and others to Beijing Prime Minister Yamen "". To the Premier's Yamen in Beijing, "long kneeling and wailing, crying blood appeal", hoping that the Qing Government can be in the "mercy of the two hundred years to serve the Shun clan" on the rescue of the Ryukyus. Although the Qing government negotiated with Japan again, the Ryukyus was finally annexed by Japan due to Japan's brutality and the weakness of the Qing government. The relationship between the Qing Dynasty and the Ryukyus came to an end.

2.3 Relationship between the Qing Dynasty and Annam

Annam is today's Vietnam, which was under the rule of the Le Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty, and which was split into two opposing feudal groups at the beginning of the 16th century. In the north, the Tay Son group controlled the Le dynasty, while in the south, the Nguyen Duc group was in control. In order to deal with the Nguyen group in the south, the Tay group was eager to befriend the Qing court, and in 1660 (the 17th year of the Shunzhi reign), the Le dynasty sent envoys to pay tribute to the Qing dynasty, which then agreed to crown Le Vi Kieu as King of Annam. By the end of the 17th century, the Nguyen Clan, which had originally ruled the southern part of Annam, had completely annexed the southern state of Champa. 1702, Nguyen Phuoc? Sent envoys to China, requesting the Qing court, was rejected by the Qing government, and then made himself king. 1803, Nguyen Phuoc Anh changed Annam to the state of Vietnam, the Qing government ordered the Guangxi press commissioner Qibsun mission to Vietnam, Nguyen Phuoc Anh was named king of Vietnam. 1840s to 1950s. France began armed aggression against Vietnam, forced Vietnam to sign the first "Treaty of Saigon" in June 1862, the six southern provinces of Vietnam into a French colony. 1874 March, France forced Vietnam to sign the second "Treaty of Saigon", in the treaty, France "recognized" Vietnam "independent? In May 1875, France notified the Qing government of the treaty and asked China to restrain the Black Flag Army. The Qing government repeatedly emphasized China's "sovereign" responsibility to protect Vietnam, and pointed out that the troops in Vietnam were invited by the King of Vietnam to "fight bandits". 1877, Vietnam sent envoys to pay tribute to China as usual, and France did not stop them. In 1883, France invaded Vietnam and forced Vietnam to sign the Vietnam-France Treaty of Hue, in which Vietnam recognized and accepted the French right of protection, and in June 1884, France forced Vietnam to sign the second Vietnam-France Treaty of Hue, which established French colonial rule over Vietnam. After the Sino-French War, in June 1885, China and France formally signed the Sino-French Treaty of Vietnam (Sino-French New Treaty), in which the Qing government recognized the treaty concluded between France and Vietnam and gave up its suzerainty over Vietnam