Читать книгу Asia Past and Present - Peter P. Wan - Страница 25

Yet whether Chinese central government or Indian regional rule, both centers of culture eventually provided guidance for those territories surrounding them. Indian culture remained the chief influence in Central Asia until the arrival of Islam in the eighth century CE and in most of Southeast Asia at least until the arrival of the Europeans. Chinese ideas and institutions served as both a broad outline and frequently a detailed agenda for civilization in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. From the concept of monarchy to writing systems and educational arrangements, religious attitudes and philosophical outlook, and secular observances and popular culture, India and China served as repositories of culture that adjacent peoples drew upon and modified to suit their particular needs. And by the eighteenth century, China began to influence those territories in Southeast Asia that initially embraced Indian practices. Chinese migrants made their way there in search of employment as least as far back as the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and carried with them cultural baggage from the homeland. They brought with them a distinctly Chinese way of looking at the world that competes with Indian practices even today.