Book contents
- The Limits of Universal Rule
- The Limits of Universal Rule
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Maps
- Figures
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 From the Mediterranean to the Indus Valley: Modalities and Limitations of the Achaemenid Imperial Space
- 2 Limits of All-Under-Heaven: Ideology and Praxis of “Great Unity” in Early Chinese Empire
- 3 The Roman Empire
- 4 The Medieval Roman Empire of the East as a Spatial Phenomenon (300–1204 CE)
- 5 Early Islamic Imperial Space
- 6 The Mongol Imperial Space
- 7 The Territories and Boundaries of Empires
- 8 Delimiting the Realm Under the Ming Dynasty
- 9 The Expansion of the Qing Empire Before 1800
- 10 All Under the Tsar
- Index
- References
2 - Limits of All-Under-Heaven: Ideology and Praxis of “Great Unity” in Early Chinese Empire
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 January 2021
By
Book contents
- The Limits of Universal Rule
- The Limits of Universal Rule
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Maps
- Figures
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 From the Mediterranean to the Indus Valley: Modalities and Limitations of the Achaemenid Imperial Space
- 2 Limits of All-Under-Heaven: Ideology and Praxis of “Great Unity” in Early Chinese Empire
- 3 The Roman Empire
- 4 The Medieval Roman Empire of the East as a Spatial Phenomenon (300–1204 CE)
- 5 Early Islamic Imperial Space
- 6 The Mongol Imperial Space
- 7 The Territories and Boundaries of Empires
- 8 Delimiting the Realm Under the Ming Dynasty
- 9 The Expansion of the Qing Empire Before 1800
- 10 All Under the Tsar
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter traces the formation of the first imperial polities on Chinese soil — the Qin and Han dynasties. It starts with the exploration of how the disintegration of the Zhou dynasty (c.1046–255 BCE) triggered the quest for political unity of “All-under-Heaven” as the only means of stemming the ongoing bloodshed and turmoil. This common quest legitimated the unified empire with universalistic pretensions generations before the real unification occurred (in 221 BCE). The first imperial polity, Qin, was highly centralized and committed to territorial expansion. It turned out, however, that this model was unsustainable in the long term. The subsequent Han dynasty experimented with various degrees of expansion and retrenchment, in the process of which a new modus vivendi was reached: the universal superiority of China’s emperor had to be maintained primarily on a symbolic level, whereas in practice, the “inner” and “outer” realm became fully delineated.
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- The Limits of Universal RuleEurasian Empires Compared, pp. 79 - 110Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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