SinificationKorea, Japan,

Vietnam

KoreaThe most Sinified

• Cultural hegemony– Confucianism– Law codes– Bureaucratic administration– Literature– Art– Mahayana Buddhism

• Up through the 20th century had to accept– Chinese political dominance– Pay tribute

Celadon Pottery • Borrowed– Iron technology– Paper production– Printing– Lacquer work– Porcelain– Wheat and rice

agriculture– Ideographs of

written language

Japan

• Shinto—– Respect for nature– Ancestor worship– Kami = divine spirits

that dwelled in nature

Chinese influence

•7th-9th centuries borrowing from China peaked

•Syncretism of Shinto with Buddhism

Yamato Period300-710

Promoted adoption of Chinese culture:•Confucianism

•Language—kanji characters

•Buddhist sects

•Chinese art and architecture

•Government structure

Heian Period794-1185

• Growth of large estates• Little social mobility• Art and literature flourished• Court culture = Etiquette

– Lived in complex of palaces and gardens– Basis of life=aesthetic enjoyment– Avoidance of common elements

• Poetry valued art form• The Tale of the Genjii —first novel• Moving away from Chinese in the arts, religion, and

government

Heian PeriodCultural Borrowing

• Chinese writing• Chinese artistic styles• Buddhism—Zen• NOT the Civil Service

Exam

Heian Court Dress

Prayers, Thoughts, Wishesat Shinto Shrine

Vietnam• Chinese control 2nd century BCE – 10th

century CE• Love/Hate relationship• Chinese brought – ideograph script,

Confucian principles and literary classics, and Buddhism [Mahayana not Theravada]

• Confucian bureaucracy established – dominated by aristocracy

• Chinese agricultural technology –– Dams, human fertilizer, market gardening, and

pig farming

• Military organization followed• Chinese influence counterbalanced Indian

influences and separates them from other Southeast Asian peoples

• Women had more freedom

– Trung sisters rebellion in 39 CE

– Evicted Chinese and ruled for two years when revolt crushed

– Committed suicide

• After independence became a Confucian state with examination system