China’s Influence on Korea and Indo-China
China’s Influence on Korea and Indo-China
What is a barbarian? Each culture possesses its own definition, and the usual answer starts where the culture’s territory and ethnicity or ethnicities end. In other words, barbarian usually meant for one culture any other culture that seemed to be inferior in the slightest regard. A curious era in East Asian history, however, occurred when the peoples of Japan, Korea, and Indo-China held Chinese civilization in such high regard that their definition of barbarian meant “unlike the Chinese.” After centuries of contact with China, these cultures had attained a level of sophistication of trade, technology, social and political organization, and even philosophical and religious ideas that proved they viewed China as the best model. That is not to say that any of China’s neighbors in East Asia liked being dominated by China. While China influenced Japanese culture heavily, China ruled both Korea and Indo-China, or Vietnam, directly for centuries. These latter two cultures will be our main focus for this exercise, and while they began as simple agricultural societies, the very sophistication they received from Chinese influence compelled both to strive for independence from China. Even today the modern nations of North and South Korea and Vietnam bear the signs of having fought to maintain their societal distinctions while overawed by their giant ancient neighbor. Chinese influence was nowhere else so long nor so profound as in Korea (even though rule of Vietnam lasted much longer). Of course geography played a role in this connection because China and Korea are, well, connected. Koreans are ethnically distinct, however, a fact that led indigenous Korean rulers to establish dynasties with a will to keeping their peninsula secure. Koreans originated out of eastern Siberia and Manchuria rather than out of Mongolia or Asia Minor making them have more in common, ethnically, with American Indians than with the
What is a barbarian? Each culture possesses its own definition, and the usual answer starts where the culture’s territory and ethnicity or ethnicities end. In other words, barbarian usually meant for one culture any other culture that seemed to be inferior in the slightest regard. A curious era in East Asian history, however, occurred when the peoples of Japan, Korea, and Indo-China held Chinese civilization in such high regard that their definition of barbarian meant “unlike the Chinese.” After centuries of contact with China, these cultures had attained a level of sophistication of trade, technology, social and political organization, and even philosophical and religious ideas that proved they viewed China as the best model. That is not to say that any of China’s neighbors in East Asia liked being dominated by China. While China influenced Japanese culture heavily, China ruled both Korea and Indo-China, or Vietnam, directly for centuries. These latter two cultures will be our main focus for this exercise, and while they began as simple agricultural societies, the very sophistication they received from Chinese influence compelled both to strive for independence from China. Even today the modern nations of North and South Korea and Vietnam bear the signs of having fought to maintain their societal distinctions while overawed by their giant ancient neighbor. Chinese influence was nowhere else so long nor so profound as in Korea (even though rule of Vietnam lasted much longer). Of course geography played a role in this connection because China and Korea are, well, connected. Koreans are ethnically distinct, however, a fact that led indigenous Korean rulers to establish dynasties with a will to keeping their peninsula secure. Koreans originated out of eastern Siberia and Manchuria rather than out of Mongolia or Asia Minor making them have more in common, ethnically, with American Indians than with the