RELATED TOPIC:
THE TALE OF GENJI

Robert Oxnam :: The Japanese borrowed and adapted four important elements of Chinese civilization at this time:

+ Buddhism;
+ a centralized, imperial state;
+ Confucian ethical and political thought; and the
+ Chinese writing system.

It is crucially important to understand that what the Japanese borrowed, they also adapted and made Japanese.

For example, in establishing a centralized, bureaucratic state headed by an emperor, the Japanese didn't adopt the Chinese notion that the emperor rules by virtue of a "Mandate of Heaven" that can be withdrawn. Instead — and it's a major difference — the Japanese drew on their own mythological traditions which supported the eternal rule of one imperial family.