Empire and periphery? The Qing empire's relations with Japan and the Ryūkyūs (1644–c. 1800), a comparison

Analysing Qing China's relations with her neighbours, a distinction between her continental and maritime border space is evident. The Qing emperors were extremely alert towards their continental borders undertaking military intervention when they considered other countries a threat to them. While great parts of formerly non-Chinese territories in Central Asia were integrated into the Chinese empire and their peoples subdued by military force, maritime space was viewed differently, but as we want to show, not simply as a distant periphery nor as frontier as it is often claimed. China's relations with Japan and the Ryky Islands are excellent examples to show how differently the Qing rulers viewed these neighbouring countries. Simultaneously, while the early Qing rulers like Kangxi (r. 1662-1722) and Yongzheng (r. 1723-35) maintained a vivid interest in overseas developments, a shift towards disinterest in maritime space occurred only with the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-95)