The wonders of religious Assimilation

China is a remarkable example of a country that had multiple prominent religious influences on its people. Its interesting how over the years the predominant religion changed. It started with Confucian values but daoism quietly moved in. Soon influences from both religions influenced different ways of thinking. Each dynasty seemed to have a different view on what elements from which religion should belong in Chinese society. Eventually the silk roads bought in Buddhism from India and that changed china forever. Buddhist values were a new addition to Chinese culture and many in the villages liked Buddhist values. High aristocratic officials tried to get rid of Buddhism by trashing the temples but the values had already been seeping into all aspects of Chinese culture. Another civilization with unique religious influence was Japan. Japan chose to send hundreds of scholars to china to study their system. After doing so they examined their system and decided what were the best aspects of their political system. Japan was 100 miles of ocean away from the mainland so they could easily defend against china, thus resulting in a civilization that could choose how to build their own unique political system. Japan adopted Confucian and daoist values as well as adopting certain political mannerisms from china while maintaining a incredibly unique Japanese cultural heritage with their house religion; Shinto. Japan focused more on the value of being a warrior and the ideology of Bushido rather than the Chinese aristocratic ways. It is remarkable the way that civilizations have been changed and influenced by other civilizations as well as religions in many different ways.