I have assigned 198 countries a number. The countries I've chosen are the 193 members of the UN plus those recognised by at least 20 UN members. Each week I will pick a country using a random number generator and we will discuss that country.

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Country of the Week for week 7: People's Republic of China

Population: 1.4G

Location:


Flag:

This is a pretty shit country

It's like China, but more Chinese

Edited 11/19/2015 08:42:09

Historically, China has been pretty much the same in area. The ethnically Chinese dynasties rarely went expansionist; the only country China ever annexed was Vietnam about 1000 A.D, give or take a few hundred years (I don't remember the exact century).

China: where pollution days are hip.

SVY, yeah Vietnam alone?

China once controlled or had many vassal states such as Mongolia, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia Tibet, Nepal, some old khanates of Central Asia and parts of Siberia, Japan, Myanmar and the list goes on.



(Tang dynasty China showing China proper and vassal states)

Edited 11/19/2015 11:36:03

China, a millenia-old civilization, once first world power, and will be soon again.

(freaking awesome old Imperial Chinese flag)


The dragon has awaken!

Edited 11/19/2015 11:12:12

the only country China ever annexed was Vietnam about 1000 A.D

Really??

the thing about the Vietnamese is that they actually do come from China (from Yunnan or Guangdong), they were part of the Chinese Empire, and this helped them to comquer the native Champas and Khmer people living there before.

Same thing applies for the Thais and the Birmanese people, they also were a people or tribe originally from South East China, and migrated to South East Asia to nowadays Thailand and Birmania, but before Austronesian people lived there (the last Austronesian Nation still living is Cambodia).

Edited 11/19/2015 11:32:09

Panda where did you get that map?
and the list of vassal countries?

You will find a list here and some explanations (the second link is better):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tributaries_of_Imperial_China
www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/history-tributary-states.htm



picture: The Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang. 6th-century painting in National Museum of China. Ambassadors from right to left: Uar (Hephthalites); Persia; Baekje (Korea); Qiuci; Wo (Japan); Langkasuka (in present-day Malaysia); Dengzhi (邓至) (Qiang) Ngawa; Zhouguke (周古柯), Hebatan (呵跋檀), Humidan (胡密丹), Baiti (白題, of similar Hephthalite people), who dwell close to Hephthalite; Mo (Qiemo).

So that map is Tang dynasty map
Even so it wasnt so big as modern China that was given by Europeans -_-

@Angry Panda

Precisely! China rarely "annexed" territories. It had vassals instead of subject territories. These vassals were required to send regular tribute and pay homage to the Chinese royalty. This tribute was more symbolic than of great monetary value. The Chinese worldview was such that China was the focal center of the world and it was superior to all others, so this tribute satisfied their pretensions to superiority while for the vassals it was a cheap and convenient way to keep Chinese fury at bay and to obtain Chinese products. China was the regional arbiter and it was very desirous of peace in its adjacent states.

The Ming Dynasty sent several large naval expeditions under Zheng He into the South China Sea and Indian Ocean sometime in the Middle Ages. They did not attempt to annex territories, they were a show of power and to form new trade links and bring more vassal states into China's fold.

Edited 11/20/2015 08:53:05

Go, China!