EASTERN ASIA — BISHOP 445 



Mainly, therefore, it would appear, to the stimulus imparted by 

 cultural diffusions from the ancient Near East must have been due 

 the origin and fundamental type of that civilization which eventu- 

 ally took form in eastern Asia. The case seems, in short, not to have 

 been one of separate local invention, but of perfectly normal culture 

 drift, acting steadily, though most often imperceptibly, during 

 hundreds, in some cases, even thousands, of years. 



