ABSTRACT
East Asian civilizations and cultures rest upon a philosophical basis shaped primarily by Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Developed first in China, these three traditions later spread to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam where they underwent further development. Shang dynasty in China ended with the conquest by the Zhou people who, according to tradition, established the Zhou dynasty in 1122 BCE. Confucius lived from 551 to 479 BCE, but some of the ideas of Confucianism are derived from earlier times, while other ideas were not developed until later. Although Confucianism and Daoism were to become the most influential of the early philosophies of China, they were not the only philosophies of the day. Mohism, which received its main direction from Mozi, shared the Confucian interest in advocating the increased welfare of the people. Buddhism entered Japan in the seventh century CE by way of Korea and China. Throughout its history, Japanese Buddhism has had significant interaction with the indigenous Shinto tradition.
