Imperial China was a major regional power in Eastern Asia and had exerted influence on tributary states and neighboring states, among which were Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.[a] These interactions brought ideological and cultural influences rooted in Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. During classical history, the four cultures shared a common imperial system under respective emperors. Chinese inventions influenced, and were in turn influenced by, innovations of the other cultures in governance, philosophy, science, and the arts.[14][15][16] Written Classical Chinese became the regional lingua franca for literary and scientific exchange,[17] and Chinese characters became locally adapted in Japan as kanji, Korea as hanja, and Vietnam as chữ Hán.[18][19]
In late classical history, the literary importance of classical Chinese diminished as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam each adopted their own literary device. Japan developed the Katakana and Hiragana scripts, Korea created Hangul, and Vietnam developed chữ Nôm (which is now rarely used; the modern Vietnamese alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet).[20][21] Classical literature written in Chinese characters nonetheless remains an important legacy of Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cultures.[22] In the 21st century, ideological and cultural influences of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism remain visible in high culture and social doctrines.
^Kang, David C. (2012). East Asia before the West : five centuries of trade and tribute (Paperback ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN978-0-231-15319-5. OCLC794366373.
^Howe, Christopher. The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy: Development and Technology in Asia. p. 337
^Nanxiu Qian; Richard J Smith; Bowei Zhang, eds. (2020). Rethinking the Sinosphere: Poetics, Aesthetics, and Identity Formation. Cambria Press. ISBN978-1604979909.
^Nanxiu Qian; Richard J Smith; Bowei Zhang, eds. (2020). Reexamining the Sinosphere: Cultural Transmissions and Transformations in East Asia. Cambria Press. ISBN978-1604979879.
^Jeffrey L. Richey (2013). Confucius in East Asia: Confucianism's History in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Association for Asian Studies. ISBN978-0924304736.
Ching-I Tu, ed. (2010). East Asian Confucianism: Interactions and Innovations. Rutgers University. ISBN978-0615389325.
Chun-chieh Huang, ed. (2015). East Asian Confucianisms: Texts in Contexts. National Taiwan University Press and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN9783847104087.
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