ReLigion and Philosophy From Foreign Influences

The most important contribution that the societies of China and Korea made to Japan was religion and philosophy. Korea introduced Buddhism to Japan, which modified the Japanese way of thinking and produced many great works of architecture in the form of Buddhist temples. Confucianism from China reorganized the family relationship into wife obey husband, children obey parents, and younger sibling obey older sibling. Confucianism also changed the leader to subject, friend to friend, and children to elders relationship. The Japanese produced their own form of Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, and also borrowed Zen Buddhism from the Chinese.

 These contributions added to the self-control, discipline, and overall culture of the Japanese. Without them, the course of Japanese history would be extremely varied