前言“东亚世界论”最早出现于1960年代,但作为系统性理解世界史框架(世界史中的日本)的学说,是由西嶋定生先生于1970年提出的。对于战后的日本史学界而言,可以说其发挥着通用性理论的作用。在日本史学界所使用的“东亚”的概念,有意识或无意识地都在东亚世界论的影响之下。例如,东亚世界论的理论基轴,是中国帝王与周边各民族酋长间形成的政治关系,即册封体制。在探讨前近代以中国为中心的国际关系时,大多都依据该 Foreword “World Theory of East Asia ” first appeared in the 1960s, but as a systematic understanding of the framework of world history (Japan in the history of the world), doctrine was proposed by Mr. Nishihara in 1970. For the Japanese historians after the war, we can say that they play the role of universal theory. The concept of “East Asia ” used in Japanese historians is consciously or unconsciously under the influence of East Asian world theory. For example, the theoretical basis of East Asia’s world theory is the political relationship formed between the emperor of China and the chiefs of various ethnic groups in its periphery. Most of the discussions on the pre-modern international relations with China as the center are based on this