Download 03 China and Korea

China and Korea
Earliest contact
• 108 BCE – fist records of contact between
Chinese colonies in Korea and Kyushu
• Military contact included an attack on a
Korean kingdom called Koguryo
• Contact with the Chinese was through Korea
at first, but in 500s, Japanese scholars went to
China to study its culture, language and
religion; then Japan allied with a Paikche,
another of China’s allies
Confucianism
• introduced in the early 400s by Koreans
• Popularity meant a big influence on Japanese
society
• Reinforces idea that society is a hierarchy
(everyone has their place)
• Focus on:
– Obeying your conscience and authority
– Kindness is the greatest thing you can have
– Honouring and respecting parents is important
Buddhism
• Buddha – a real person, whose name means
“enlightened one”
• Came to China from India in about 400 AD,
and then to Japan in 552
• Price Shotoku was a Buddhist
• Beliefs:
– Person could be freed from suffering once in a
state of complete happiness and peace
– Live a life without desires or possessions
Religion today
• Japanese people do not follow only one
religion exclusively
• Most Japanese consider themselves to be
both Buddhist and followers of Shinto
• For example, they go to Buddhist temples for
funerals, and to Shinto shrines for marriages
or to pray for good luck
• Only 2% of Japanese self-identify as Christian
Modern-day worldview
• Japanese people still believe in kami, and also
in the Buddha
• Their characteristics include:
– Obedient
– Respectful of authority
– Family and other loyalties are strong
– Believe in helping one another to be successful
– Not very focused on possessions (with some
notable exceptions, such as cell phones)