The Middle Kingdom and Persian Tribute-Kings in Classical Chinese Texts; An Examination of a Claim

The art of historiography in China, like any other country, is influenced by the country's culture. In China, at least from centuries before Confucius, the tradition was the basis of popular culture, which naturally influenced the thoughts of Chinese historians. One of the most important traditions influencing the minds of Chinese historians was the traditional Chinese worldview, which survived for centuries. While other countries took their name from the tribes that inhabited their land, the Chinese had called their country Zhongguo (Middle land) since the early centuries of the first millennium BC. The emergence of this idea, which was originated from the cosmopolitan philosophy of ancient China, led the Chinese emperors to claim to be ‘Son of God’ and to consider the surrounding countries as barbarians and tax collectors who should “come and develop”. For example, the narrations of ancient Chinese historians about the Arsacid and Sasanids kings of Iran and West Asia emphasized that the kings of Iran always offered gifts to the Chinese emperors and even asked the emperor for help and guidance in the affairs of their country. Considering the importance of this claim, the present study intends to study the nature of the Iranian kings’ interaction with Chinese emperors in Chinese texts by reading, comparing, and analyzing reports of Chinese texts and examining the nature of this claim. The author of the present study assumes that the idea of Zhongguo was used by Chinese historians in their work ‘to offer’ gifts to Chinese emperors only to emphasize the central position of their emperors. The author believes that, according to the idea of the Middle Kingdom, the phrase ‘to offer gifts’ was deliberately used by Chinese historians, merely, to emphasize ‘the central position of their emperors’.