"The traditional conception of the radiation of ancient Chinese culture from its imperial centre (from the Shi Ching Thu Shuo). Proceeding outward from the metropolitan area, we have in concentric rectangles, (a) the royal domains, (b) the lands of the tributary feudal princes and lords, (c) the 'zone of pacification', i.e., the marches, where Chinese civilization was in course of adoption, (d) the zone of allied barbarians, (e) the zone of cultureless savagery..."
(from The Shorter Science & Civilization in China, vol 2 pg. 239)
