Most countries have Han Chinese, so in a sense, most countries are culturally close to China.
However, if what you mean is which nation is culturally closer to China, then that’s an easier answer. Nation is identified as “a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.” So in a sense, nation means groups of people with common cultures.
So that will leave Han Chinese, Yamato Japanese, Koreans, and Kinh Vietnamese. Namely, Mainland China/Taiwan/foreign Chinese, Japan/foreign Japanese, North/South Korea/foreign Koreans, Vietnam/foreign Vietnamese. Unsurprisingly, they’re the only ones with Chinese-derived names in English: Chin(ese) 秦, Japan(ese) 日本, Korea(n) 高麗, Vietnam(ese) 越南. In short, they’re collectively called the Sinosphere, or nations within Chinese cultural sphere of influence.
Notice I don’t have Singapore in any of them, simply because Singapore is a highly Westernized country that aims to have blends of multiple cultures, so while Han Chinese is the largest population, that doesn’t mean Singapore is culturally Chinese. In fact, it’s a very big mixture between British, Chinese, Indian, and Malay cultures.
Also, I will be talking about traditional cultures, not modern culture, because in modern culture, everyone is culturally similar since globalization connects everyone. Majority of humans in this Earth now wears modern clothing, namely a shirt and pants/skirt. So everyone looks the same and culturally similar as well.
Language
These 4 nations have a history of Chinese influence in their languages. They all have at least 50–60% Chinese-derived loanwords, usually for complex terms. The most common names for individuals in these nations are Chinese loanwords, and only Japanese have a lot of native Japanese names (but mostly still written in Kanji). An example for Chinese loanwords is the word for student (I will be using Cantonese and Mandarin for comparison, since Mandarin evolves very far from Middle Chinese of Tang dynasty, when majority of these loanwords were loaned to other countries).
Mandarin: 学生 xuéshēng
Cantonese: 學生 hok6 saang1
Korean: 學生 (학생) hagsaeng
Vietnamese: 學生 học sinh
Japanese: 学生 (がくせい) gakusei
Another example is the term “world.”
Mandarin: 世界 shìjiè
Cantonese: 世界 sai3 gaai3
Korean: 世界 (세계) segye
Vietnamese: 世界 thế giới
Japanese: 世界 (せかい) sekai
All these 4 nations also used Chinese characters as their official writing systems (Chinese Hanzi, Vietnamese Han Tu, Korean Hanja, Japanese Kanji)
China (Hanzi)
Japan (Kanji + Kana)
Korea (Hanja + Hangeul)
Vietnam (Han Tu + Chu Nom)
Architecture
The Sinosphere’s architectural designs and elements are all derived from Chinese architecture. Japan borrowed from Tang China, Korea borrowed from Tang to Ming China, Vietnamese borrowed from Tang to Qing China. However, the most visible cultures are probably cultural borrowings from the last dynasties, so Japan would be Tang-influence, Korea would be Ming-influence, and Vietnam would be Ming-Qing influence.
[China (top left) - Japan (top right) - Korea (bottom left) - Vietnam (bottom right)]
Traditional Architectures
Imperial Palace Gates
Temples in snow
Covered bridges
Traditional Gardens
Interlocked wooden brackets (Dougong)
Fashion
China was like the America of ancient East Asia. Everyone wanted to follow their fashion. Therefore, they all adopted Hanfu (漢服). However, as times passed, although the Chinese influence was still there, they all evolved into something distinct. Japan has Wafuku (和服), Korea has Hanbok (韓服), and Vietnam has Viet Phuc (越服). Each dynasty differed, however, but the final attires that are now used to represent each nation is distinct and is very beautiful.
Han dynasty Quju vs. Edo period Furisode
Ming dynasty Aoqun vs. Joseon dynasty Chima Jeogori
ROC period Qipao vs. French period Ao Dai (although Ao Dai was derived from Ming Aoqun, it bears resemblance to Qipao due to both nations being Westernized at around the same time, meaning similar sense of fashion) and Ming dynasty Aoqun vs. Nguyen dynasty Ao Nhat Binh
Just to give a comparison, here is historical illustrations of each nation’s fashion at the same time periods: (from top to bottom) Ming China, Le Vietnam, Joseon Korea, and Edo Japan (Edo Japan was the only one not influenced by Ming dynasty and retained Tang influence, so it looked quite distinct from the rest).
Belief
All the Sinospheric cultures have a history of the Three Teachings, or Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Buddhism is present in all 4 cultures and is deeply embedded in ancient and modern times. Taoism has faded, but its influence is present in every nation’s values and native religions, namely Chinese Taoism (duh), Japanese Shintoism, Korean Muism, and Vietnamese Dao Mau. Confucianism, while not a religion, is a cultural practice and teaching that is present in all 4 nations.
Confucius depictions in China (top left), Vietnam (top right), Japan (bottom left), and Korea (bottom right)
Buddhist depictions in China (top left), Korea (top right), Japan (bottom left), and Vietnam (bottom right)
Taoist temple in Japan
Taoist temple in Vietnam
Taoist symbol in South Korean flag
Those are the three main ones that I believe defines Sinospheric cultural bonds. However, if you want to see some more minor traditional elements, here they are.
Traditional arts were all influenced in some way by Chinese arts.
Each nation has their own versions of mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival that was a tradition for centuries.
Speaking of mooncakes, each nation also celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival for centuries.
Speaking of Mid-Autumn Festival, each nation celebrated Lunar New Year for centuries (although Japan abolished it for a Western calendar, they still celebrate Lunar calendar holidays). Therefore, they all have the Chinese 12 Zodiacs, but with a few twists. Because they followed the calendar, they also had East Asian age reckoning, although that concept is slowly fading away.
And because each nation celebrates Lunar New Year or a derivation of it (*coughJapancough*), each nation has their own style of giving out money in Lunar New Year.
Each nation’s traditional calligraphy were all derived from Chinese calligraphy.
Each nation also had their version of female entertainers that sold entertainment for a living (including selling your own bodies sometimes). They were Chinese Huakui (top left), Vietnamese Dao Nuong (top right), Japanese Geisha (bottom left), and Korean Gisaeng (bottom right).
The Sinosphere also had centuries-long tradition of chopstick use, following Chinese customs.
They also had centuries-long tradition of tea cultures, all derived from China.
Politically, they were all a form of monarchy (although they all had feudalistic governments at one point, especially Japan) that followed the Chinese model. The picture below illustrates the royal and imperial fashions of royal and imperial concubines and wives of Emperors and Kings of the last non-Westernized periods.
Also, coincidentally, all 4 nations had a history of civil war between 3 divisions. The picture below illustrates the images of the victors, with 3 divisions’ names in black, and the victors’ names in white. These civil wars were called Three Kingdoms Period of China (top left), Tay Son Rebellion of Vietnam (top right), Three Kingdoms Period of Korea (bottom left), and Sengoku Period of Japan (bottom right).
There are more, like traditional styles of sitting (Japanese and Koreans sat on the floor like Chinese during Han to Tang dynasties, Vietnamese sat on raised platforms like Chinese in all dynasties, and while Chinese did all of those, they preferred tables and chairs in the late periods), Tang-style poetry, burning of incense, medicines, food preparation practices, usages of Four Symbols, Four Benevolent Animals, and Four Gentlemen in art, centuries-long lion dances derived from China, music and dance influences from China, Chinese influences in traditional martial arts, how the last eras of all 4 nations were Neo-Confucians, how all 4 cultures had their versions of the Cinderella fairy tale, the 5 Elements, how the Four Beauties and Four Classic Novels of China influences ancient and modern Sinosphere cultures, weapon styles influenced by Chinese styles, wine variants, cuisines (specifically rice and certain noodles), traditional court operas, traditional masks, usages of mandarin squares for government officials in ancient times (for Japan, it was only in Ryukyu).
Even in modern times, the Sinosphere continues to influence one another and the world. Anime influences the entire world, and now Chinese and Korean animation are Japanese-influenced. Manhwa, Manhua, and Manhoa are also influenced by Manga. Jdrama also influenced Kdrama and Cdrama, and Kdrama now influences Cdrama. Manga and anime continues to be cultural inspirations for Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese films. Hallyu influences pop music of Vietnam, China, and Japan (who originally influenced Kpop). Chinese influenced Korea and Vietnam through Cantonese films from Hongkong. Sadly, though, Vietnam hasn’t influenced anything yet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
If anyone wants to see reconstructed traditional clothing of Vietnam, please visit my blog. Vietnam is the least-known culture within the Sinosphere, after all, so everyone automatically associates it with the rest of Southeast Asia and Indosphere, when it's not culturally related to any of them.
Picture Source Google
Thanks for Reading
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