•Chinese
culture spread to the sedentary agricultural populations of Korea, Japan, and Vietnam in the first millennium C.E.
Chinese writing, bureaucratic
organization, religion, and art all made impressions on the indigenous cultures.
•In general,
the local elites of the three regions actively sought to emulate Chinese models.
•Differences
within the three areas resulted in divergent outcomes and alternative mixes of the indigenous and the
imported.
•China was
able to establish direct control over Korea.
•In Vietnam,
Chinese influences mingled with Indian cultural contributions.
•Only Japan
remained permanently independent of China and, thus, was able to selectively adapt Chinese models to Japanese
needs.
•In East Asia,
as a whole, cultural exchanges took place in isolation from the rest of the civilized world.