Question

From this lesson, in what areas did China influence japan, Korea, and burma

Answer 1

China influenced this countries in areas such as:

• Philosophy and religion: The Confucianism, which is a way of life based in morality, and Buddhism, which is a philosophic and spiritual doctrine, are the principal beliefs in these three countries.
• Art: One of the first poetry books in Japan, The Kaifuso, was written in Chinese by Japanese men. Also, the Buddhism influenced in architecture in these three countries, for example: in Japan, the Kokubujin temples were built because of Buddhism. In Burma (also Myanmar) the main cultural developments were made because of Buddhism.
• Writing: The Japanese writing system is based on Chinese characters (Kanjis). The Hiragana and Katakana systems are combined (Hana) with the Kanjis to write in Japanese. Also, in Korea, before the Hangul system was extended, Koreans used Chinese characters to write (Hanja).

Answer 2

It is difficult to overstate the influence that Chinese culture had on its Asian neighbours. This influence was significant in many different areas, in particular, government, art, writing and philosophy.

• Chinese government was famous because of its bureaucratic efficiency. This was adopted by Korea and Japan in different amounts. Korea was home to Chinese military colonies during the Han dynasty, and the kingdom of Goguryeo was heavily influenced by the Chinese way of governing. In the case of Japan, one of the most significant contributions of China was the idea of "divine rule," which changed the role of the emperor.

• In terms of art, Korean and Japanese poetry were heavily influenced by the literary forms of China. Chinese architecture also left a significant mark in the architecture of Japan and Burma.

• Most Asia countries used the Chinese system of writing in order to write their own language. Eventually, they all changed slightly, with only Japanese retaining many Chinese characters in their writing system.

• Perhaps the greatest contribution of China to the culture of these countries is in the introduction of Buddhism and Confusianism. Japan introduced some native Japanese ideas to Buddhism in order to create Zen Buddhism. Burma, on the other hand, embraced Buddhism to such an extent that it now has the largest number of monks as a percentage of the general population of any country.