中國崛起是當代國際關係中深受矚目的焦點,中國在東亞崛起為霸權之後,會怎麼行事?以在北美洲的美國此一霸權為例,霸權的最佳策略會是「軟權力」,透過對武力使用的自我克制,來誘使他國自願的服從。就此而言,在清朝鼎盛的乾隆時期,也有相似的行為模式。不過,這並不是說霸權就必然奉行「軟權力」邏輯,中國在不同朝代的鼎盛時期,雖然都是東亞的霸權,行為模式並不相同。相對於唐朝、元朝,清朝對武力使用的自我克制程度是明顯較高。這樣的差異是否是文化所致?就算物質力量驅使霸權奉行「軟權力」邏輯,清朝所採納的儒家思想是否有助於他順應此一趨力?本文以清初對俄羅斯與準噶爾的戰爭為例進行研究,從中顯示儒家文化確實有這樣的作用。
The rise of China has been the focus of contemporary international relations. After China achieves hegemony in East Asia, how will China act? Taking U.S. hegemony in North America as an example, "soft power" seems to be the best choice for a hegemon. It induces voluntary compliance form other countries through self-restraint on the use of force. Nevertheless, hegemons do not necessarily adopt the "soft power" logic. In history, China had achieved hegemony in East Asia for many times, but its behavioral patterns were not consistent. Indeed, the heyday of Qing, in contrast to the Tang and Yuan dynasties, had a similar behavioral pattern with the U.S. This article studies China's two wars with Russia and Junggar in the early Qing period and finds that Qing's embrace of Confucian culture contributes to its adoption of the "soft power" logic.