WHI.26


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=**Describe Japan's cultural and economic relationship to China and Korea**=



I. Japanese Cultural Relationship to China
China's culture had developed much earlier than Japan's culture, because the Chinese civilization was a much older civilization. Until about the fourth century the Chinese and Japanese mainly exchanged goods, medicines, and luxurious gifts.

During the sixth century, the Chinese began sending explorers to Japan to find medicines of immortality and after their expedition began to identify Japan as a legitimate power.

During China's Sui Dynasty (581-618) and Tang Dynasty (618-907), Japan sent students to Chinese embassies to solidify Japan's reputation as a legitimate Asian power. The Japanese students adopted many customs from the Chinese during these years.

Some of the elements brought back from China include:
 * Buddhist teachings, customs and culture
 * Bureaucracy
 * Architecture and City Planning
 * Clothing -- The Japanese kimono is very similar to the clothing of the Tang Dynasty.
 * Written language -- Before their first contact with the Chinese, Japan had no prior written language. Chinese proved important for the purpose of political unification under the Japanese Emperor.



The painting to the right depicts the 4 heavenly messengers which the Bodhisatta Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha-to-be) encounters on his trips outside the palace: (1) an old man, (2) a sick man, (3) a corpse and a (4) wandering monk
 * Buddhism**

[|Buddhism] and Confucianism are important features of Chinese culture. As a systematic belief system, Buddhism forced the local Japanese religions, such as Shinto, which were less coherent systems, to define themselves in relation to Buddhism.

"[|Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law" and "Questions That Tend Not to Edification]"(200 C.E. The Buddha) present two primary sources that outlines the four noble truths: truth of suffering; truth of the cause of suffering; truth of the end of suffering; and truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.

An essay on Homosexuality in the Japanese Buddhist tradition.


 * Confucianism**

[|Confucianism], a systematic religious belief system, had a lot to say about governance and society and proved attractive for the Japanese.

Consequently, it had an important influence on Japanese culture. The method of organization of the Imperial Court, a significant element of ancient Chinese culture, was also adopted by the Japanese.

[|Lesson: Women and Confucianism]

The Japanese Imperial Court as well as its bureaucracy, including titles, ranks and functions, soon came to be modeled after Confucian principles.
 * Bureaucracy**

City-planning is also an aspect of Chinese culture borrowed by the Japanese. Kyoto and Nara, capital cities constructed along these lines, are examples. Several localities around these old capital cities reveal a system of fields and irrigation systems divided into even rectangles based on the ancient Chinese model of city planning. The use of a road system to hasten communication and control rebelling localities are also important features of this system of planning.[[|1]]
 * Architecture**


 * Clothing**

[|Women's Costume During the Tang Dynasty in China -- Influencing the Japanese Kimono]

Relations between Japan and Korea go back at least two millennia. [|Chinese culture], including writing and religion, migrated from Korea to Japan in these early years. There are indications that Korea and Japan used one another's political framework to influence each other, however there are discrepancies regarding the direction the political influence flowed. Some have said that Japan had early political footholds in southern Korea, and others indicating that early Japanese centers were populated with, if not partially controlled by Koreans. By the time of the Three Kingdoms period in Korea there were emissaries sent by Japan to the Korean kingdoms and vice vers

In the late 1500s there were a series of invasions by the armies of Japanese Shoguns into the unified Korean kingdom ([|Chosun]). Many Korean temples and buildings were burned by the invading Japanese armies. Although Korean land forces lost most of their battles, a decisive defeat of the Japanese fleet by the famous Korean Admiral [|Yi Sun-shin] helped drive the Japanese out of Korea. After that time Korea remained firmly within the Chinese political sphere.

With the erosion of Chinese power in the 1800s Korea began to flex greater independence, partly in hopes of avoiding control by western powers, but also as a way to not come under Japanese control. Japan was rapidly modernizing in the second half of the nineteenth century and showing a keen interest in Korea. By the 1880s there were pro-Japanese and pro-Chinese factions influencing decisions by the Korean court.

With the defeat of Chinese forces inside Korea in 1895 and the murder of Empress Myeongseong, who tried to modernize Korea by installing electric lights in the palaces in addition to trying to forge an alliance with Russia. With the defeat of Imperial Russia by Japan in 1905, Korea came firmly under the control of Japan. By 1910 the last threads of independence were removed and the Korean kingdom was [|absorbed] into the [|Japanese empire].

III. Japanese Economic Relationship with China
China's economic relations with Japan goes back to the 7th century AD. This was the time when maritime trade was flourishing between the countries. The kingdoms of Silla and Baekje, which were Korean kingdoms, played the role of middlemen. After the fall of the Baekje kingdom in 663 AD Japan had to trade directly with the Chinese as the kingdom of Silla was hostile as a result of the Tang Dynasty's imperial expansionist ambitions.

Through Japan's trade with China, the Japanese were able to gain a better understanding of the geography of the world. Until the early nineteenth century, most Japanese world maps tended to show California as an island, as well as a fictional southern continent of Terre Australis, among other anomalies. Around 1810, Japanese cartographers began to present the earth in a more contemporary light, and became generally in line with the most advanced European cartographic knowledge of the period.



Even though the Japanese were not exactly adept at carrying on sea trade at long distances they were able to go on trading. Some historians believe that this was possible as a result of the expertise of the expatriates of the Baekje kingdom, who helped them amend the making of their ships and also improve on their seafaring skills. An [|interactive map] and time line of trade routs in eastern Asia

IV. Japanese Economic Relationship with Korea
Exchanges between Japan and the Republic of Korea have been active both on governmental and non governmental levels for some time, and in addition to that, the new governmental programs for exchanges based on the "Action Plan", announced by the two leaders in October 1998, has been promoted actively (e.g. programs for junior and senior high school students, accepting undergraduate students of the departments of science and engineering).

On an economic and cultural level, Korea was very isolationist for centuries. Western powers came to Asia to try to force Korea to open up to trade. Korea finally opened in 1876 when Japan forced them too. Some Koreans accepted this opening while others were totally against it. [1] Korea came under the rule of Japan, starting with the Japan-Korea treaty of 1876. Korea was meant to be integrated into the Japanese empire. Korea became a protectorate of Japan in 1905 and officially annexed Korea in 1910. Japan ruled Korea from 1910 until 1945. Japanese colonialism was especially harsh in the first ten years, where they ruled directly through the military. A protest by the Koreans in 1919 caused the Japanese to relax somewhat. In 1945 the Japanese surrendered and Korea was independent. [2]
 * V. Japanese Cultural Relationship to Korea **

[|More on Japanese-Korean Relations.] is available from the Northeast Asian History Foundation in Seoul, South Korea.

[1] Leighanne Yuh. (February 27, 1997). Problematizing Colonialism in Korea. Paper presented for the faculty and graduate students of UCLA at the Center for Korean Studies workshop, Los Angeles, California.

[2] Asia for Educators. (2009). Columbia University. Http://afe.easia.columbia.edu.