An Overview of Interaction within Pre-modern East Asian Region Through Buddhist Impact

Abstract

Scholars have researched the impact of Buddhism on pre-modern and modern East Asia from different aspects, both within and between politics (states since the late 19th century): art, ideology, cultural practice, and food. Among existing academic literature on Buddhisms impact on the interaction between polities within East Asia, the expansion of certain material cultural elements and cultural concepts and foodways are among the major focuses. This paper employs the anthropological understanding of non-material and material components of culture. The working anthropological definition of religion is combined, to summarize and categorize the existing research on Buddhisms impact on pre-modern East Asian culture. Understanding culture in its material and non-material components, and its relationship with religion through time and space leads to this article to structure the relationship between Buddhism and pre-modern East Asian cultures into its expansion, its development, and its impact on different subcategories of a culture. The overview suggests an increase in future research on the multidirectional interaction of Buddhist pre-modern East Asian cultures and Buddhisms influence on greater foodway within different pre-modern East Asian societies.