Shirin Shahsavari
12/22/15
G Block
How Did Contact with China influence Japan?
Contact between Japan and China goes back to around 200 AD. At the time, China was much more advanced and powerful than Japan. The Japanese people soon became fascinated with Chinese philosophies and ideas and started to adopt Chinese ways to suit their own needs. As Ancient Japan was developing, it faced an internal division of clans that made the Japanese authorities adopt a range of Chinese political values and practices to strengthen their own emerging state. However, given the Chinese influence, Japanese people never completely gave up on their own beliefs and ideas. Instead, they used what they already had in their country and what they had borrowed from China …show more content…
Since Buddhist ideas fit into many of the Shinto (explain Shinto) beliefs, it started to become popular in Japan. For example, the two religions shared the belief that life had an ongoing cycle to it. Japan's pre-Buddhist Shinto beliefs that were combined with Buddhist ideas and showed that while the Japanese were significantly influenced by Chinese ideas, they still kept their own values and beliefs. Prince Shotoku, the biggest supporter of Buddhism, not only declared Buddhism as the official religion, but also used it as a political tool to create a strong, centralized government. The main reason why the Japanese officials supported Buddhism was because they wanted to use it to establish a system which would consolidate the existing clans. Buddhism offered both moral and intellectual benefits that Shinto lacked and it was these cultural learnings that helped Japan end the war between the clans, as it made the Japanese feel more like a single group of people who were united with one faith rather than separate groups of people with separate goals. Furthermore, Buddhism later led to the creation of many temples, which were not only used as places of worship, but also as hospitals, dispensaries, orphanages and schools (“Early Japanese Buddhism”). The temples helped create an effective system of education and housing, as people could worship their religion, learn, and live in the same place. The creation of temples which also served as schools. etc. strengthened the relationship between the government and the people as it showed people that their government cared about their well-being which created trust between the Japanese government and people. This trust helped create a centralized government as it meant that people and the clans were easier to control as they could rely on the government. Moreover, most Buddhist
12/22/15
G Block
How Did Contact with China influence Japan?
Contact between Japan and China goes back to around 200 AD. At the time, China was much more advanced and powerful than Japan. The Japanese people soon became fascinated with Chinese philosophies and ideas and started to adopt Chinese ways to suit their own needs. As Ancient Japan was developing, it faced an internal division of clans that made the Japanese authorities adopt a range of Chinese political values and practices to strengthen their own emerging state. However, given the Chinese influence, Japanese people never completely gave up on their own beliefs and ideas. Instead, they used what they already had in their country and what they had borrowed from China …show more content…
Since Buddhist ideas fit into many of the Shinto (explain Shinto) beliefs, it started to become popular in Japan. For example, the two religions shared the belief that life had an ongoing cycle to it. Japan's pre-Buddhist Shinto beliefs that were combined with Buddhist ideas and showed that while the Japanese were significantly influenced by Chinese ideas, they still kept their own values and beliefs. Prince Shotoku, the biggest supporter of Buddhism, not only declared Buddhism as the official religion, but also used it as a political tool to create a strong, centralized government. The main reason why the Japanese officials supported Buddhism was because they wanted to use it to establish a system which would consolidate the existing clans. Buddhism offered both moral and intellectual benefits that Shinto lacked and it was these cultural learnings that helped Japan end the war between the clans, as it made the Japanese feel more like a single group of people who were united with one faith rather than separate groups of people with separate goals. Furthermore, Buddhism later led to the creation of many temples, which were not only used as places of worship, but also as hospitals, dispensaries, orphanages and schools (“Early Japanese Buddhism”). The temples helped create an effective system of education and housing, as people could worship their religion, learn, and live in the same place. The creation of temples which also served as schools. etc. strengthened the relationship between the government and the people as it showed people that their government cared about their well-being which created trust between the Japanese government and people. This trust helped create a centralized government as it meant that people and the clans were easier to control as they could rely on the government. Moreover, most Buddhist