It is difficult to overstate the influence that Chinese culture had on its Asian neighbours. This influence was significant in many different areas:
Government:
Korea was home to Chinese military colonies during the Han dynasty. The Korean kingdom of Goguryeo was heavily influenced by China.
During the Asuka period, Japan borrowed the idea of "divine rule" of the emperor from China.
Art:
Korean poetry was written with Chinese characters until the nineteenth century, and literary forms followed those established by China.
Japanese flower arrangement was imported from China.
Japanese and Burmese architecture was heavily influenced by China.
Writing:
Most Southeast Asian countries used Chinese characters to write their language. An exception is Korea, as they endeavoured to create their own writing system, known as Hangul, in the fourteenth century.
Philosophy:
Korea adopted the philosophies of Buddhism and later Confucianism from China.
Japan similarly adopted Buddhism but added some native Japanese ideas to create Zen Buddhism.
Burma adopted Buddhism and nowadays has the largest number of monks as a percentage of the general population.
