ABSTRACT
The Far Eastern System primarily refers to the political interactions, inter- and intra-civilizational relations, and competition for system-wide hegemonic status between political units/entities/actors within the wider region of the Far East. The consolidation of power at the regional level allowed several sub-system hegemons to attain system-wide status, thus transitioning the nonpolar structure into a multipolar configuration. The most common polar structure in the Far Eastern World Political System (FEWPS) is unipolarity, with eight polar periods being coded as unipolar. The chronological treatment of the system's political history begins analysis of polar periods from approximately 1000 BC. From 2000 BC to 1000 BC, three dynasties, the Hsia, Shang, and Chou, dominated the Far Eastern System, with Chou beginning its system-wide hegemonic preponderance from approximately 1000 BC. The post-Chou period gave way to intense disintegration with vast numbers of small political units, ranging in the hundreds, restructuring the system into a nonpolar constellation.
