The Effect Of China On Korea And Japan In Pre-Modern Asia (Topics In History Book 4)

For much of China’s unified existence, it served as a hub for Asian culture.
Music and dance from Persia, Samarkand, Bukhara, Kashgar, Kucha, India, and other places west of China were absorbed and popularized in both the royal courts and common inns. Foreign religious practices were present or integrated into Chinese culture, such as Nestorian Christianity, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Islam, and most importantly, Buddhism. Heavy trade in material goods with Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and India allowed for the exchange of consumer goods with China. China was a highly cosmopolitan society, and formed the cultural link between eastern and western Asia. Much of the cultural practices that had traveled from other regions of Asia to
China were transmitted again, as well as many Chinese social and cultural practices, beyond the borders of China. Korea and Japan were both major receivers of various parts of Chinese, as well as general western Asian culture and society. However, both had different relationships and interactions with China, and absorbed various practices from Chinese influence in different ways and to different degrees.

In this text we explore the complex and varied relationships these three great nations and cultures had formed, their interconnected natures altering the nature of each and their development into the future.