AHC/WI : Emperor of Japan claim Chinese Throne?

[GoldenKhanate]

I have considered something of this sort before, with the exact dynasty name that BMN suggested (Wa). Maybe I should really write it up.

A plausible super-state of this magnitude is really exciting.

 

[FasterThanRaito]

I have considered something of this sort before, with the exact dynasty name that BMN suggested (Wa). Maybe I should really write it up.

A plausible super-state of this magnitude is really exciting.

I've really been interested in doing a early royal marriage between Japan and Korea, resulting in a single nation-state with a single identity by the time industrialization rolls around.

Part of it is that China is just so huge, that they'll just end up absorbing the Japanese ruling class like how they absorbed the Mongols. End result, either the unhappy Japanese reject chinese overlordship and make a foreign-baked bid for independence OR the unhappy chinese reject a dynasty they perceive as foreign (even if it married into the chinese) and overthrow them, just like with the OTL Mongols. At least in a Korea-Japan partnership, the relationship is relatively equal.

 

[lycan]

Here's an althist I saw, http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Sino-Japanese_Empire_(Napoleon's_Australian_Victory)

 

[Sharunaku]

I've really been interested in doing a early royal marriage between Japan and Korea, resulting in a single nation-state with a single identity by the time industrialization rolls around.

It's impossible for a dynastic union to happen in East Asia without the use of force. Even if a want of heir do arise, people with titles were skipped (case of Japanese houses), or adopt someone (Cao Wei's case). There was a revolter who later passed his throne to his son-in-law, but the very reason of his rebellion was because the emperor executed his sons, so that's an outlier. The only union on dynastic ground ever in East Asia I can think of is the Ayutthaya-Sukhotai union, but they went through a war for it.

Also, Japanese and Korean in pre-modern times were quite different, I highly doubt you can make a single identity out of them.

 

[democracy101]

I've really been interested in doing a early royal marriage between Japan and Korea, resulting in a single nation-state with a single identity by the time industrialization rolls around.

Part of it is that China is just so huge, that they'll just end up absorbing the Japanese ruling class like how they absorbed the Mongols. End result, either the unhappy Japanese reject chinese overlordship and make a foreign-baked bid for independence OR the unhappy chinese reject a dynasty they perceive as foreign (even if it married into the chinese) and overthrow them, just like with the OTL Mongols. At least in a Korea-Japan partnership, the relationship is relatively equal.

I already addressed your premise in another thread stating why it's virtually impossible. For one, the population of a "united" Korea consisting of both Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula would outnumber that of Japan by three to one, while even the figures for Korea restricted to the peninsula after 926 (after 698 if we're ignoring Balhae) was still double that of Japan until the 12th century or so. Additionally, Japan had received numerous cultural influences from several Korean entities from the 4th to 7th centuries, essentially making it much more likely for the archipelago to be absorbed both culturally and politically over time even if a closer relationship had somehow been considered.

In any case, political marriage alliances could and did occur multiple times between the royal houses of Baekje and Silla (and possibly with Gaya as well) in order to indirectly counter Goguryeo's influence. However, they had absolutely no bearing on the political entities themselves, as succession was patrilineal, and foreign royals were always princesses, not to mention that each royal family had a plethora of potential successors for centuries. Also, while Balhae had a much closer relationship with Japan than Silla did, mostly due to the former's relative diplomatic isolation from the Tang and Silla, they were generally focused on trading relations, and marriage alliances were never considered.