China’s Influence on Korea, Vietnam, and Japan

600-1300

Copy Vocab Into Your Notebook● Tribute/Tributary System: paying tribute to another to acknowledge submission, to obtain protection, or

to purchase peace.● Orthodox: conforming to established doctrine especially in religion.● Social Mobility: one’s ability to move up in the world (gain a higher status).● Conquest: The act of conquering or being conquered: vanquishment. ● Polygamy: Have more than one spouse.● Confucianism: A Chinese values system based on honor, morals, ethics, and ancestry.● Bureaucracy: government characterized by functions, adherence to fixed rules, and a hierarchy of

authority - not flexible - people hate it. ● Polarize: to set people completely add odds with one another.● Integral: Important, cannot function without. ● Clan: a group united by a common interest or common characteristics.● Buddhism: a religion of eastern and central Asia growing out of the teaching of Siddhārtha Gautama that

suffering is inherent in life and that one can be liberated from it by cultivating wisdom, virtue, and concentration.

● Legitimize: to make justified, lawful.

Korea and ChinaReview & Context:

● The Han dynasty’s ultimately failed conquest of Korea had laid the foundations for cultural influence, (having soldiers there caused cultural diffusion.)

● Buddhism spread throughout Asia.● Korea and China shared the same term for

king: wang (Chinese)● These Korean kingdoms fought one another

bitterly, resisting Chinese control.● They only joined with China when fighting a

common enemy.

China and Korea (Cont)● The 7th century, Silla kingdom allied with the Tang

dynasty to bring some political order to the peninsula for the first time.

● The struggle to force Koreans to assimilate (adopt Chinese ways) caused problems.

● In 688, the Chinese withdrew and set up a tributary system.

● Korea became a miniature version of Tang China.● The tribute system provided legitimacy to Korean rulers,

knowledge of Chinese court life, and administrative techniques.

● The tribute system goods worked with the following goods in trade: silks, teas, ceremonial clothing, Confucian and Buddhist texts, and artwork.

● The new Korean capital of Kumsong was modelled directly after Chinese capital of Chang’an.

Geographical location: key point that allowed Chinese diffusion

China and Korea (cont)● Wealthy Korean students studied in China.● They studied Confucianism, Buddhism, art,

and natural sciences.● Chinese culture had a negative impact on

Korean women (who had enjoyed more freedoms before orthodox Confucianism took hold.)

❖ Women no longer raised children in her parents’ home. Instead, she raised them with her husband’s family

❖ The practice of female property inheritance eroded.

❖ Polygamy was limited - the first wife had to be declared and recognized as the first - (causing problems and jealousies within families)

❖ Widowed women had even fewer rights than in China.

➔ After 688, Korea’s political independence was mainly intact.

➔ “Korea stayed Korean”● Chinese cultural life mainly just diffused

among elites (not peasants who had little exposure to it.)

● Confucian-exams (that could land you a good job) never took hold like it did in China.

● The Korean alphabet - hangul (HAHN-gool) created a distinct Korean language

China and Korea (wrap-up)

China and Vietnam● Like Korea, Vietnam borrowed from China for: ➔ Religion (Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism)➔ Administrative techniques➔ Exam system➔ Art and writing● Like Korea, Vietnam managed to maintain its own

culture, while enjoying the benefits of a tribute system.

● Difference(s) with its relationship to China:➔ Vietnam had been under China’s control for a much

longer period of time - from 111 BCE-939 CE.➔ The Vietnamese were known as “Southern

barbarians” by the Chinese.➔ Elites were brought under the Chinese bureaucracy.➔ But it was also seen as an extension of China itself.➔ The massive rice production of Vietnam was integral

to China’s economy.

● The Chinese language became the language of business in Vietnam.

● Chinese clothing and hairstyles became mandatory.

● Pressure from the Chinese to assimilate sometimes led to revolt.

● The weakening of the Tang dynasty allowed a revolt to finally allow Vietnam to be its own state, although they continued with Chinese culture and engaged in the tribute system.

● The Vietnamese used the Confucian-based exam system more than Korea - this allowed for more social mobility among commoners.

● Although Vietnam was a separate state, the elite still identified heavily with China.

China and Vietnam (cont)

China and Vietnam (wrap-up)

● Like Korea, despite Chinese influence, Vietnam stayed Vietnamese with elements like:

➔ A distinctive language➔ A fondness for cockfighting➔ Chewing betel nuts➔ Women had more of a role in daily life (there

was a female version of the Buddha, economic decisions, political ideas, education.)

China and Japan

● The physical location/island formation of Japan allowed it to remain independent:

➔ It was never successfully invaded.➔ It’s adoption of Chinese culture was

voluntary.● Between 600-700, a huge amount of

borrowing from Chinese culture happened at the same time as the unifying of the Japaneses state (This came from dozens of small clan-based aristocratic chiefdoms).

● They used the Chinese bureaucratic model to unify and control the state.

China and Japan (cont)● Shotoku Taishi (572-622) - rose up from one of the

chiefdoms.● He took his quest for Chinese skills to the mainland:➔ Hundreds of monks, scholars, artists, and students

went.➔ When they returned, they put what they had learned

into practice.➔ In 604, Shotoku issued the Seventeen Article

Constitution and declared the Japanese ruler a Chinese-style emperor, encouraging both Confucianism and Buddhism.

➔ They adopted chinese court rituals, tax systems, law codes, government ministries, provincial administration.

➔ Their two capital cities, Nara and Heian-kyo (Kyoto) were modeled on the Chinese capital, Chang’an.

China and Japan (cont)● Buddhist culture took root in Japan.● Art, architecture, medicine, views of the

afterlife, education were all peppered with elements of Buddhism.

● Because China was not a military threat, Japan truly did pick and choose which elements of Chinese culture they valued.

● By 900, overt attempts at borrowing from Chinese culture diminished.

● A distinctly Japanese culture then emerged.

China and Japan (cont)● Power was never as centralized in Japan as in

China.● The emperor retained a cultural role, but

power was in fact split between several aristocratic families.

● A Chinese-style university served more to educate offspring of elites than to recruit and train good state officials.

● Local authorities developed their own military forces, these were the Samurai. ( They had curved swords. Their values included bravery, loyalty, endurance, honor, great skill in martial arts, and a preference for death over surrender.

● This was strongly juxtaposed to China’s value of brain over brawn.

China and Japan (cont)● Buddhism was prevalent, but the ancient

practice of ancestor worship and other phenomenon associated with kami, and later called Shinto further polarized Japanese culture from that of China:

➔ Legitimized the rule of the imperial family, based on claims of descent from the sun goddess.

➔ Because kami had no elaborate philosophy or ritual, it could coexist with Buddhism. (In fact, they blended together.)

● The romance of court life, poetry, and even extra-marital affairs meant for a less oppressive society for women than in China.

● Marriages could end easily. (This was a hard break from Confucian values.)