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**Only a few individuals were ever formally invested by the Ming as "king of Japan": they include [[Prince Kanenaga]] (c. 1370-1371?), Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1403 or 1404, Ashikaga Yoshimochi in 1408, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1596.
**Only a few individuals were ever formally invested by the Ming as "king of Japan": they include [[Prince Kanenaga]] (c. 1370-1371?), Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1403 or 1404, Ashikaga Yoshimochi in 1408, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1596.
**Ji-Young Lee suggests that investiture, from as early as the Han Dynasty, was a way of bridging the gap between Chinese rhetoric that the Son of Heaven claimed dominion over all, and the real practical limitations on Chinese territorial power - the granting of Chinese imperial titles, honorary positions within the Chinese court hierarchy, to foreign rulers, was a means of incorporating them into "all under Heaven," i.e. into the Emperor's dominion, despite not having the power or resources to actually take over or administer those lands. - Lee, "Diplomatic Ritual as a Power Resource," 322.
**Ji-Young Lee suggests that investiture, from as early as the Han Dynasty, was a way of bridging the gap between Chinese rhetoric that the Son of Heaven claimed dominion over all, and the real practical limitations on Chinese territorial power - the granting of Chinese imperial titles, honorary positions within the Chinese court hierarchy, to foreign rulers, was a means of incorporating them into "all under Heaven," i.e. into the Emperor's dominion, despite not having the power or resources to actually take over or administer those lands. - Lee, "Diplomatic Ritual as a Power Resource," 322.
*investiture involved three documents: A zhao 詔 might be called in English an "imperial proclamation letter." Sent by the Ming or Qing emperor, it proclaimed to all the people of Joseon that the Son of Heaven was investing the king. Second, a chi 勅. This is usually translated as edict, but in the context of investiture might be called a "notification." It is written (at least partially) in the second person, addressed to "you", the king, and notified him that he was being formally invested. Third, a gaoming 誥命. This was the "patent," or certificate, of investiture. - Bumjin Koo, "Languages of the Qing Investiture Letters for Chosŏn
before the Conquest of China," talk given at HMC Seminar, University of Tokyo, 29 Nov 2019.
*The Sinocentric Confucian worldview, the idea of the Emperor as center and source of civilization, and of foreign peoples as expressing a desire to change, or an "inclination towards civilization" (xianghua), still has power today. The standard nationalist view of Qing history, both in the PRC and Taiwan, rejects the notion that Qing China was ever an empire in the imperialist or colonialist sense; according to this narrative, various non-Han peoples of the Qing Empire were incorporated not by force, conquest, or coercion, but by cultural assimilation, the idea being that "frontier peoples willingly accepted the norms of the orthodox Confucian culture because they recognized its superiority." (Peter Perdue, "Comparing Empires: Manchu Colonialism", p255)
*The Sinocentric Confucian worldview, the idea of the Emperor as center and source of civilization, and of foreign peoples as expressing a desire to change, or an "inclination towards civilization" (xianghua), still has power today. The standard nationalist view of Qing history, both in the PRC and Taiwan, rejects the notion that Qing China was ever an empire in the imperialist or colonialist sense; according to this narrative, various non-Han peoples of the Qing Empire were incorporated not by force, conquest, or coercion, but by cultural assimilation, the idea being that "frontier peoples willingly accepted the norms of the orthodox Confucian culture because they recognized its superiority." (Peter Perdue, "Comparing Empires: Manchu Colonialism", p255)