Editing Vassal state (section)

===Ancient China===
{{Main|Ancient Chinese states}}
From the time of the [[Zhou dynasty]] (1046–770 BC) until the [[Han dynasty]] (206 BC–220 AD), a varying number of vassal states existed in Ancient China.

These ranged in size from small city states to vassals which controlled large swathes of territory such as the states of [[Chu (state)|Chu]] and [[Qi (state)|Qi]]. One of these vassal states would go on to conquer China and unite the country under the first emperor [[Qin Shi Huang]].

====Controversy on Status of Joseon====
The [[Qing dynasty]] of China viewed the [[Joseon|Joseon dynasty]] of Korea as an [[Autonomy|autonomous]] vassal state.{{sfn|Rockhill|1889|p=1}}{{sfn|Battistini|1952|p=50}} The Joseon dynasty was autonomous in its internal and external affairs.{{sfn|Lin|1991|p=71}}{{sfn|Oh|2019|pp=352–355}} It was not a colony or dependency of China.{{sfn|Lin|1991|p=71}} However, China abandoned its conventional policy of noninterference toward Korea and adopted a radical interventionist one in the late 19th century.{{sfn|Lin|1991|pp=69–70}} [[Yuan Shikai]] argued that Korea was a dependent "vassal state"; Owen N. Denny argued that Korea was an independent "tributary state".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fuchs |first1=Eckhardt |last2=Kasahara |first2=Tokushi |last3=Saaler |first3=Sven |title=A New Modern History of East Asia |date=4 December 2017 |publisher=V&R unipress |isbn=978-3-7370-0708-5 |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZlBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA96 |access-date=17 March 2022 |archive-date=20 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220152954/https://books.google.com/books?id=pZlBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA96 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[William Woodville Rockhill|William W. Rockhill]] said that calling Korea a vassal state was "misleading".{{sfn|Rockhill|1889|p=2}} According to Rockhill: "The tribute sent to Peking by all the 'vassal states,' and also by the Tibetans, and the Aboriginal tribes of Western China, is solely a ''[[quid pro quo]]'' for the privilege of trading with the Chinese under extraordinarily favorable conditions."{{sfn|Rockhill|1889|p=2}} Rockhill argued that Korea viewed China not as a suzerain but as a family head: Korea likened the [[Ming dynasty]] to a father and the Qing dynasty to an older brother.{{sfn|Rockhill|1889|p=18}} According to Rockhill: "As to the custom of submitting to the Emperor the choice made by the king of an heir to the throne, or of a consort, or informing him of the death of his mother, of his wife, etc., we can look at them as only strictly ceremonial relations, bearing with them no idea of subordination."{{sfn|Rockhill|1889|p=18}}