The historical consensus is that a
tianxia system existed at various points in Chinese history. Historical views differ, however, on exactly when it was in place. According to academic Chenyang Song, in ancient times,
tianxia represented a unity of the "supremacy" (maintaining interconnectedness between political entities), "heaven" (directing the fate of the people), and "ancestors" (who bestowed blessings on royal descendants).''''
How a system of tianxia
operated varied over time, ranging from vassal states accepted the authority of a Chinese emperor to when vassal states nominally paid tribute while in fact exercising their own authority. In the most expansive historical view, a tianxia'' system existed between the Zhou (1027–256 BC) and Qing dynasties (1644–1911). According to political scientist
Yan Xuetong of
Tsinghua University, "Given the then lack of a modern science of understanding geography, the Chinese notion of all under heaven meant all the land, sea, and people under heaven. The term all under heaven was virtually synonymous with the world." As reconstructed by philosopher
Zhao Tingyang,
tianxia presupposed "inclusion of all" and implied acceptance of the world's diversities, emphasizing harmonious reciprocal dependence and ruled by virtue as a means for lasting peace. According to Zhao, in the
tianxia system, rulers relied on humane authority, as opposed to tyranny and military force, to win the hearts and minds of the people. The
tianxia world view was not fully developed during the
Shang dynasty. During the
Zhou dynasty, it is first attested that Heaven took on anthropomorphic deity traits, and the concept of
tianxia became common. Other political terms emerged during this time. These include —referring to the territory established by the Zhou court and governed from the capital—and , referring to both the territory as well as the
Hua and
barbarian subjects residing on it. The Zhou kings received and empowered these "Ten Thousand States" by virtue of the
Mandate of Heaven. During the
Spring and Autumn and
Warring States periods comprising the latter half of the Zhou dynasty, the power of local rulers developed rapidly, and several regions outside the Zhou cultural sphere became powerful
states themselves. As many of these states had shared cultural heritage and economic interests, the concept of a great nation centered on the
Yellow River Plain gradually expanded. The term
tianxia began to appear in classical texts such as the
Zuozhuan and
Guoyu. The theme of unification applied to
tianxia can be seen in
Sun Tzu's
The Art of War where the supreme goal of offensive strategy was to conquer without destroying that which you sought to conquer: {{Verse translation During
Qin's wars of unification, the concept of
tianxia was adapted to act as an actual geographic entity.
Qin Shi Huang's goal to 'unify all under Heaven' was in fact representative of his desire to control and expand Chinese territory. At the founding of the
Han dynasty, the equivalence of
tianxia with the Chinese nation evolved due to the practice of
enfeoffment of imperial relatives in return for military assistance. Although many areas enjoyed great autonomy, the practice established and spread Chinese language and culture throughout an even wider territory. Scholars including
Dong Zhongshu sought to standardize the meaning of
tianxia. Dong described
tianxia as a world order in three concentric layers: "The nation is on the inside and the various feudal kingdoms are on the outside; the feudal kingdoms are on the inside while the barbarians are on the outside." By the time of the
Song dynasty, northern China was ruled by the
Khitan-led
Liao dynasty, the
Jurchen-led
Jin dynasty, and the
Tangut-led
Western Xia dynasty. After being threatened by these northern states and realizing the possible effects of a war to the country and people, the Song rulers invented a false concept of kinship with the Jurchens in an attempt to improve relations. The
Mongol-led
Yuan dynasty divided Chinese subjects into two types: those of the south, and those of the north. When the
Ming dynasty overthrew the Yuan dynasty and reunited China under
ethnic Han rule, the concept of
tianxia returned largely as it was during the Han dynasty. At the end of the Ming dynasty, criticisms of
Neo-Confucianism and its mantras of 'cultivation of moral character, establishment of family, ordering the state, and harmonizing
tianxia, a quote from the
Great Learning, became widespread, producing large shifts in
Confucianism. The philosopher
Wang Fuzhi believed that
tianxia was of a fixed, unchangeable dimension, notwithstanding the fact that the Great Learning's mentioning of harmonizing
tianxia was actually in reference to government. Using these arguments, Wang was highly critical of Neo-Confucianism. On the other hand, the collapse of the Ming dynasty and the establishment of the
Manchu-led
Qing dynasty by the, people previously considered "fringe barbarians", heavily influenced people's views of
tianxia.
Gu Yanwu, a contemporary of Wang Fuzhi, wrote that the destruction of the State was not equivalent to the destruction of
tianxia. He argued that the Manchus simply filled the role of Emperor, and that the
tianxia of traditional Chinese culture was thus carried on. The idea of the absolute authority of the Chinese emperor and the extension of
tianxia by the assimilation of vassal states began to fade for good with
George Macartney's embassy to China in 1793. George Macartney hoped to deal with China as
Great Britain would with other European nations of the time, and to persuade the Emperor to reduce restrictions on trade. The
Qianlong Emperor rejected his request, and stated that China was the foremost and most divine nation on Earth and had no interest in foreign goods. In the early 19th century, Britain's victory over Qing China in the
First Opium War forced China to sign an
unequal treaty. This marked the beginning of the end for the
tianxia concept. Following their defeat in the
Second Opium War, China was forced to sign the
Treaty of Tianjin, in which China was made to refer to Great Britain as a "sovereign nation", equal to itself. This made it impossible for China to continue dealing with other nations under the traditional
tianxia system, and forced it to establish
a foreign affairs bureau. Due to the
liberal international order arguably being based on
Westphalian sovereignty, the idea that sovereign nations deal with each other as equals, China's traditional
tianxia worldview collapsed. After China's defeat in the
First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese terminated Korea's traditional status as a tributary state of China, and the system of feudal enfeoffment and vassalage that had been practiced since the Han dynasty came to an end, a move that greatly changed attitudes toward the
tianxia concept. At the end of the 19th century, Chinese Ambassador to Britain
Xue Fucheng took the traditional
Hua-Yi distinction in the
tianxia world view and replaced it with a Chinese-foreigner distinction. In the 21st century, some academics have criticized contemporary philosopher Zhao Tingyang for "aggrandising" the concept of
tianxia and being vague on details of what it may entail in the contemporary world. ==Usage in the Sinosphere==