Chinese Influence On Japanese Culture Essay

One of Japan’s largest cultural influences was its neighbor across the ocean, China. Chinese lifestyles were observed and appealed to Japanese, so with the extra push of rulers promoting them, were incorporated into Japanese society. A major impact of China on Japan is Buddhism. Siddharta Gautama was born in India, and was the center of Buddhism. The religion is based off of his teachings. It was spreading across Asia and eventually came to China. Japanese citizens liked Buddhism, but it caused some controversy because the Buddha was not Japanese, he was Indian. Many people, though, still practiced the religion.

More of China’s influences were parts of government, arts, writing systems, and agriculture. Japanese leaders like Prince Shotoku adopted principles of Confucianism, a Chinese philosophy, in Japanese government. These helped balance out government systems, keeping Japan from launching into periods of chaos during the rule of the leaders who established them. Chinese influences are even shown through in the Japanese writing system. Chinese characters are used to stand for additional concepts and even sounds in the spoken language. There is no …show more content…
It was one of the most influential impacts on medieval Japan. It arrived into Japan during the late 500s. Japanese liked Buddhism, but the Buddha was not born in India, and there was a conflict between Buddhism and Shinto, the traditional, age-old Japanese religion. To solve this problem between the two religions that people wanted to practice, Japanese blended Buddhist rituals with Shinto customs to form a new religion. But the tweaking did not stop there. People changed types of Buddhism to fit their needs. These types were called Tendai, Shingon, Amida, and Zen. Zen was one of the most practiced forms. Samurai practiced it because it gave them inner peace and helped them in battle. Artists also practiced it because they liked the simplicity and boldness of the