Neo-Confucian Influence On Japan

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Japanese contact with China approximately began in 500 CE during the beginning of the Asuka period. The Japanese sent envoys of monks, scholars, artists and students to the mainland. The expeditions were prompted by Shotoku Taishi (Strayer). Shotoku Taishi was a prince who ruled Japan during the Asuka period. These expeditions happened during the Tang Dynasty so the Japanese assimilated many Neo-Confucian ideals into their political system and adopted a more centralized government system with a capital city of Saikyo (ancient Kyoto) mirroring the Chinese capital of Chang’an. These expeditions also influenced artists and intellectuals initiating an artistic and intellectual revolution within Japan spurred by Buddhism. Evidence of this artistic …show more content…

Chinese ideas about government system were the first to be assimilated into Japanese culture (“Seventeen Article Constitution”). Japanese government was more decentralized with a patchwork of clans working towards different goals but after contact with China, Japan developed into a more centralized system with a king and a capital city (Strayer). The Seventeen Article Constitution was the set of governing laws in Japan, it showed aspects of Buddhism within its script. The Seventeen Article Constitution was, “...largely Buddhist and Confucian in tone, for the establishment of a centralized government” (“Asuka”). China influenced Japan to have a more centralized government through Japan’s assimilation of Confucian and Buddhist ideas. The effects of this government evolution are still felt today as the modern Japanese political system is largely centralized with a capital city, Kyoto, and a prime minister, Shinzo Abe. The fact that this impact is still felt today shows the magnitude of Chinese influence on the Japanese political system. Another way China influenced the Japanese political system was through the introduction of Buddhist and Confucian

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