Essay test for Edusson's

Discuss how Japan's changing relationship with China and Korea impacted its art and cultural development in a 275-300-word essay.

Both Japan and China have evolved into prosperous and technologically advanced cultures and Korean culture too is well adored all over the world. The greatest aspect of the culture of any civilization is its written language which flowed from China to Japan.

China had a system of scripts that helped to record Japanese history for the first time. Hence, when Japan emerged to develop a script of its own it was along the models of the Chinese script. Since government patronage is important for any art and culture to flourish, the written language which helped in governance also paved the way for the Japanese culture to develop. Powerful Chinese dynasties like the Tang dynasty were instrumental in building up the confidence of Japan to emulate their examples which led the way for Japan to modify its diplomacy and foreign policy. Even years later when the Fujiwara became powerful in Japan, they started learning from the Chinese ways to name their eras. Every aspect of the government of the Fujiwara right from their bureaucracy to the styling of monarchs conformed to the Chinese model. All this shows how China had a tremendous impact on Japanese culture and art. 

Korea has been the geographical and cultural bridge between the two great civilizations of Japan and China. So it has been influenced and has influenced both the former cultures to a great extent. Buddhism grew in popularity in Japan as the Korean people migrated there during the Jomon period of Japan even making prehistoric ties. These people were adept in metallurgy, stoneware, and the Chinese script which they brought to Japan. Even Neo-Confucianism in Japan was due to a Korean scholar. 

Modern Japanese pottery, math, navigation, jewelry, script, and faith can be attributed to the Koreans and the Chinese throughout the ages.