1. Korea and Japan

2. Korea
The Korean hereditary elite absorbed Confucianism and Buddhism from China and passed them along to Japan
The several small Korean kingdoms were united by the Koryo in the early 900s
Borrowed ink making, Chinese writing and woodblock printing.

3. Japan
Japan’s mountainous terrain was home to hundreds of small states that were unified, perhaps by horse-riding warriors from Korea, in the fourth or fifth century
The unified state established its government at Yamato on Honshu Island.

4. Japanese Emperor
Japanese utilized Chinese influences to create their government in Kyoto and Nara.
Emperor was hereditary and had ruled since the beginning of time.
The Fujiwara family protected the emperor and had aesthetic pursuits.
Left ruling to local warriors.
Emperor was more of a puppet.

5. In the mid-seventh century, the rulers of Japan implemented a series of political reforms to establish:
centralized government
legal code
national histories
The native religion of Shinto survived alongside the imported Buddhist religion.

6. Rise of the Samurai
Eventually the local warriors became powerful and wealthy.
Fought each other and a civil war engulfed the Fujiwara.
Eventually Kamakura Shogunate takes power in 1156 AD and a series of Shoguns fight for control.
This new warrior class is to become the Samurai.