美歐起源的現代國際關係主流典範，認為國際體系為無政府結構，受到結構的束縛，行為者只能適應無政府狀態，在結構內苟且求生。相對之下，華夏文明先秦時代政治思想，鼓勵國家追求王霸地位與重建層級秩序。本文擬超脫美歐國際關係主流典範有關無政府狀態的已有看法，以華夏文明先秦時代的政治思想論述暨具體實踐為範本，檢視先秦時代秩序取向的政治思想內容，以圖理解先秦國際體系行為者競逐國際主宰地位的源由。本文發現，主要先秦政治思想認為，自然狀態結構會促使行為者追求層級秩序，以解決內部與外部失序的混亂局面。國家會追求國際環境的權力優勢主宰地位，營建以主宰國家為核心的普遍性天下秩序。

Assuming an anarchical international structure, main-stream international relations paradigm from the West argued that international actors could only accommodate to this anarchical structure with power struggles for survival. However, Chinese political thoughts in the pre-Qin era encouraged states to seek the dominant position instead and to construct a corresponding hierarchical order. This essay hopes to go beyond the existing assumption held by the major international relations paradigm, and tries to explore new approaches with order-orientated political thoughts in the pre-Qin era. It also tries to understand how and why the international actors in the pre-Qin era compete for the dominant position. Major political thoughts in China's pre-Qin era assumed that the international structure naturally pushes actors to seek hierarchical order so to manage their internal and external disorders. States will look for power domination status in the international environment and construct a world order with the dominating state at its core.