"The essays and case studies ... presented in this volume were principally discussed in a week-long conference at Endicott House ... in Dedham, Massachusetts, in September 1965."

A preliminary framework /John K. Fairbank -- Historical notes on the Chinese world order / Lien-Sheng Yang -- Early Ming relations with Southeast Asia : a background essay / Wang Gungwu -- The Ch'ing tribute system : an interpretive essay / Mark Mancall -- Sino-Korean tributary relations in the Ch'ing period / Hae-Jong Chun -- The Ryukyu (Liu-Ch'iu) islands as a fief of Satsuma / Robert K. Sakai -- Investiture of Liu-Ch'iu kings in the Ch'ing period / Ta-Tuan Ch'en -- Intervention versus tribute in Sino-Vietnamese relations, 1788-1790 / Truong Buu Lam -- China's relations with inner Asia : the Hsiung-Nu, Tibet / Chusei Suzuki -- The origins of the Manchus' Mongolian policy / David M. Farquhar -- China and Central Asia, 1368-1884 / Joseph F. Fletcher -- Ch'ing relations with the Dutch, 1662-1690 / John E. Wills, Jr. -- The early treaty system in the Chinese world order / John K. Fairbank -- The Chinese perception of world order, past and present / Benjamin I. Schwartz.