Thinking About President Xi and Prince Kanenaga

Sometimes when thinking about what President Xi is up to Chairman Mao comes to mind. I mean with posts like:

• The Little Red Book vs. the Big White Book (Mao v. Xi) 
• "China to require patriotism education for intellectuals " (and the rise of "Xi thought") 
• In Xi We Trust: Inwardly Directed Chinese Propaganda (now with more elephants)

Mao obviously comes to a lot of minds.
And then when President Trump tweets: "Relations with China have taken a BIG leap forward!" it's inescapable. or as they say in Hollywood, "A little too on the nose?"

There is however another Chinese emperor leader that should also come to mind, Ming Dynasty founder Emperor Hongwu.
Upon gaining control in 1368, Hongwu ('Vastly Martial') began demanding tribute from all the surrounding lands, including Japan.

We mentioned this obliquely in 2014's Oil and China's Territorial Ambitions: "The World Is the World's World". Here is a better, more scholarly reference via Oxford Journals' Chinese Journal of International Politics, Summer 2012:

...The threat of military force was evident in Ming China’s effort to bring Japan into the tribute system. Japan’s Prince Kanenaga imprisoned and executed a number of the Chinese envoys that Emperor Hongwu had sent in 1369 to demand tribute, apparently angered at the condescending tone of the diplomatic letter denoting Chinese superiority. When the Ming court threatened invasion, the Japanese reminded it of the Mongols’ failed attempts in 1281 to conquer Japan. A letter Kanenaga sent in 1382 explicitly denied the legitimacy of Chinese dominance: ‘Now the world is the world’s world; it does not belong to a single ruler … . I hear that China has troops able to fight a war, but my small country also has plans of defence … . How could we kneel to and acknowledge Chinese overlordship!’⁸⁸  ...

Jus' sayin' Mr. President Xi, jus' sayin'.