Non-Western Interpolity Orders and Sociocultural Forces: the <i>shi</i> in the Early Modern East Asian Order

Abstract Who shaped the historical interpolity orders of the pre-modern non-Western world? Existing scholarship attributes the creation of international order to states and empires. In contrast, drawing on historical sociological critiques of state-centrism, I argue that transnational sociocultural forces also played a pivotal role in shaping non-Western interpolity orders. I substantiate this argument by analyzing the rise and order-making activities of the literati class shi in early modern East Asia, whose practices and identities fundamentally reshaped the region’s interpolity relations. First, I show that beginning with the Song period, the shi in China, Korea, and Vietnam emerged as a transnational sociocultural force increasingly autonomous from the state, generating a symbiotic form of state. I then demonstrate how the shi shaped the East Asian order in two interrelated ways: by influencing the foreign policy orientations of symbiotic states and by reinforcing the normative foundations of tributary relations between China and its neighbors. The case of the shi illustrates that a historical sociological approach to sociocultural forces can uncover more complex dynamics within non-Western interpolity orders, moving beyond state-centric models, while also contributing to the globalized historical sociology and offering theoretical and practical insights for the study of international orders more broadly.