Investiture is the process of granting someone an official position. This process has existed in different forms all over the world, from ancient times until today. For example, in the United States both the President and justices of the Supreme Court have investiture ceremonies.
The Latin root of the English word, investiture, is vestisVestis means clothing. This makes sense because many investiture ceremonies include giving a person special clothing - literally putting them into special clothing - as a symbol of their new role. Investiture ceremonies also often include an oath, taken by the person who is assuming the new role.
Investiture has an international component, as well. Today, countries and international organizations have official procedures for recognizing a new leader as the legitimate leader of a country. Countries can also communicate disagreement by refusing to recognize a new leader. For example, even though Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party took control of most of China in 1949, the United Nations refused to seat their ambassador in the UN General Assembly. Instead, each year the UN delegates voted to continue to recognize the pre-1949 government (based in Taiwan) as the legitimate leader of all of China. Despite this, Mao Zedong held power within China and many country’s governments individually recognized his government as the legitimate leader of China. Gradually opinion around the world shifted until finally, in 1971, the United Nations voted to seat the ambassador from the communist People’s Republic of China.
One of the ways China exercised its influence in East Asia from the 14th to 17th centuries was through the investiture of new leaders in the region. In other words, when a new king came to power in Joseon he would seek official recognition of his position from the Ming emperor. This helped Korean kings consolidate power within their own kingdom and at the same time it confirmed a fairly stable, hierarchical relationship between the two governments. Regionally, the practice created a web of relationships. For example, leaders from Dai Viet asked for investiture from the Ming, but at the same time, they offered investiture to less powerful leaders of polities to the south and west of them.
This type of investiture came with duties, privileges, and official clothing and gifts that indicated the leader’s rank in the eyes of the Chinese government. It was paired with the sending and receiving of tribute missions.