When viewed from a psychocultural perspective, Ancient East Asian order can be characterized as an “All-Under-Heaven” international system, in which the dominant principle is one of “Role.” This system has two major roles—the core actor and the non-core actor, and the latter can be further divided into “relative”, “acquaintance”, and “stranger.” Role confirmation is related to the“mutually interdependent”self and the“credit exchange model”of “Lun-Jen Human Relations.” During the role confirmation process, different actors self-position themselves based on interactions and their own military, economic and cultural power. Confirmation of the core actor entails acceptance by non-core actors, whose considerations include military deterrence, political status, security assurance, and economic and cultural communication. Confirmation of non-core actors is dependent on the classification of circles by the core actor based on geographical distances, closeness of relations, the degree of acceptance of the core culture, and self-judgment of the core’s security.
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