In class, Monday October 3, we began our unit on East Asia with Professor Bonk. When discussing the region Professor Bonk emphasized the importance of looking at it as a zone of shared cultural and economic interactions rather than current national borders that may encompass areas outside of the interwoven history of east Asia as a region. The shared written language of Chinese for state affairs, works of philosophy, and other areas of interest often geared toward the elite/ formally educated helped to facilitate the exchange of ideas across trade routes. These included ideas of religion such as Mahayana Buddhism , governing philosophies such as Confucianism, the preparation of teas like mocha, and technologies like the dragon kiln. Japanese and Korean speakers also adapted the scripts to better suit their inflective languages in variations that became common in lower class and women’s’ literary work. While there is plenty of cultural overlap and a shared historical fate in the region, conflict as far back as the late 1500s with Hideyoshi leading Japan’s invasion of China’s subordinate state, Korea, has led to deep resentment and animosity.