Centre and Periphery in Ming Foreign Relations: The Case of Chen Cheng

明朝外交關係的核心與邊陲：陳誠之例

10.29439/FJHJ.200912.0001

Sally K Church

陳誠 ； 核心與邊陲 ； 行人 ； Chen Cheng ； centre and periphery ； xingren

輔仁歷史學報

24期（2009 / 12 / 01）

1 - 52

英文

雖然陳誠最著名的使命為他在1413到1420年間三次前往帖木兒帝國首都哈烈之外交任務，但作者認為研究陳誠早期較不為人知的使命更能有效地分析「核心與邊陲」這個主題。在通過國家考試成為進士後，陳誠立即被聘為當時禮部「行人司」的行人。以行人一職，從1394到1396年間他被派遣至中國內部各地。在1396年他身負重任前往更遠的地區，出使那時位於今日青海省北方的撒里畏兀兒族。1396年的使命後，陳誠授予另兩件重任，一件是出使安南（更正式的說法為Dai Viet，在今天的北越）（1396—1397），另一件是在1401年出使塔灘里，或是稱為東邊的蒙古人（那時聚集於今日內蒙古包頭附近）。陳誠輕易遊走於他所被分派的國內和邊陲任務之間。這兩種不同性質的任務都是由當時同一個政府部門（行人司）來處理的。在1401與1413年間，由於朱棣（燕王）挑戰建文之內戰和永樂皇帝的篡位，陳誠的外交生涯被迫停擺。這段停擺期間成為陳誠早期和晚期事業的分水嶺。以陳誠各項出使任務為主題，這篇論文分析「核心」與「邊陲」的意義。相較於「中央與藩屬國」之理論架構，這篇論文更加以探索「核心與邊陲」理論架構對於理解早期明代中國對外關係之益處。論文總結以明代外交關係而言，「核心」與「邊陲」是難以清楚劃分的。「核心與邊陲」與「中央與藩屬國」兩個理論架構各有其缺點。再者，由於同一個人承奉不同使命，所以使節的個人角色可能比之前所設想的還重要。

Although Chen Cheng is most famous for his three overland missions to Herat, undertaken between 1413 and 1420, the topic of centre and periphery is more fruitfully examined in the context of his earlier diplomatic career, which is less well known. Soon after he passed the civil service examinations and was awarded the jinshi degree, he was appointed as a messenger (xingren 行人) in the ”messenger service” (xingren si 行人司) within the Ministry of Rites (li bu 禮部). In this capacity he received numerous domestic assignments between 1394 and 1396, and then in 1396 was entrusted with a mission further afield, to the Sari Uighurs in what is today the northern part of Qinghai province. This was followed by two other important missions, one to Annam (Dai Viet) in 1396-1397, and another to the Eastern Mongols in 1401, who at that time were based near present-day Baotou, Inner Mongolia. Chen Cheng moved easily between his domestic assignments and his peripheral ones, both of which came under the authority of the same governmental institution, the messenger service. There was a gap in his ambassadorial career between 1401 and 1413, caused by Zhu Di's civil war and subsequent usurpation, and this gap marks a clear distinction between his early and later careers. The present paper analyses the meaning of centre and periphery in the context of Chen Cheng's various missions. It also explores the usefulness of the concept of centre-periphery as a model for the conduct of early Ming foreign relations, compared to the concept of the tribute system. The paper concludes that no clear lines can be drawn between centre and periphery in the context of Ming foreign relations. There are problems with this theory as a model, as well as with the tribute system. Moreover, given that the same person participated in these various different missions, the role of the individual in embassies to distant lands is perhaps more important than is often thought.

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