A reason why might China had a strong cultural and economic influence on Mongolia because the deserts and mountains in the west that were mostly impassible due to the limited long-range transportation options available, early China's civilizations were unaware that European civilizations existed prior to the development of the Silk Road. In this way, geography kept early China culturally and economically isolated from the rest the world. However, ancient Chinese civilizations were exposed to the sheep and cattle herders inhabiting the grasslands in the northwest, and the fishing cultures along the southeast coasts. These surrounding societies were both nomadic and illiterate; a fact which led ancient China to consider itself the most valuable and advanced civilization by comparison.
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