Learn Chinese based on Confucianism and Taoism
(Apprendre le chinois basé sur le taoïsme et le confucianisme)
The First Emperor (Shi-koutei in Japanese) of China, born 100 years after Alexander the Great of Greece, hated Confucianism after he gained mastery of ancient China through fierce wars and bloody battles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang
"To ensure stability, he outlawed Confucianism and buried many of its scholars alive, banning and burning all books other than those officially decreed."
The empire he established did not last long; his son and his grandson could not bring or add any glory to the Qin Dynasty which heavily relied on law, order, and military.
Then the fourth emperor Gaozu (known also as Liu Bang in various works of literature in Japan) established the Han Dynasty, after a fierce civil war and legendary battles, which was more successful and lasted 400 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Gaozu
"Confucian scholars were welcomed into his government, while the harsh Legalist laws were lessened."
According to Hajime Nakamura, one of the most respectable Buddhist philosophers of Japan, when Gaozu held the power of China, he declared the Three Chapter Law which consists of only three articles:
(1) Any person who killed other person(s) shall be subject to capital punishment;
(2) Any person who has injureed and robbed other person(s) shall be punished; and
(3) All other laws the Qin Dynasty enforced shall be abolished.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajime_Nakamura
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Indeed, each Chinese Dynasty influenced Japan in a unique manner:
1) Qin Dynasty: a personal mission sent by the First Emperor is said to have reached Japan; many Japanese today may be their descendants. Also many refugees from the wars and cruel administrations in the continent are believed to have fled to Japan until Han was established in 202 B.C.
2) Han Dynasty: "Han" is called "Kan" in Japanese. Literally, Japanese "Kan-ji" means "Han's letters." Han occupied and colonized the Korean Peninsula. Queen of Yamato "Himiko" (in the early third century) and other Japanese monarchs and leaders rendered homage to the Han Empire and its minor derivative nations in the mainland China since the first century to the sixth century.
3) Jin Dynasty: The most respected crown prince Shotoku of Japan (around 600) declared spiritual independence of Japan from China in his official letter to the emperor of Jin who was so much provoked not only because he was especially an inhumane emperor among other Chinese emperors in history.
4) Tang Dynasty: The capital of Tang flourished culturally through international trade over the silk road. Japan fought its first international full-scale war (in the late 7th century) against Tang over the hegemony of the Korean Peninsula; nonetheless many Japanese scholars and students visited Tang to study Buddhism as the Imperial Court of Japan was so eager to learn Buddhism and so on from the continent, especially around the 9th century.
As the only female Emperor of China in Tang confirmed sovereignty of Japan after the Tang-Yamato War, its national name could be elegantly changed from "Wa" to "Nihon (Japan)," since "Wa" means meekness but "Ni-hon (sun-source)" means the ground from which the sun rises.
5) Song Dynasty: Trade between Japan and China was growing in various fields while the samurai class got power in Japan. The philosophy developed in Song also deeply affected the cultural aspect of Japan, including Zen and tea.
6) Yuan Dynasty: Mongolians or descendants of Genghis Khan conquered China; they further tried to invade the Italian Peninsula, Egypt, and Japan (the late 13th century) but all failed, though their empire, including the mainland China, was the largest in the human history.
7) Ming Dynasty: Han people drove out Mongolians and established a new empire. They also renewed Confucianism which Japan's samurai class also adopted as its backbone to govern the nation all through the 17th to the 19th century.
8) Qing Dynasty: Manchus, another northern tribe, defeated Han people and occupied the whole Chinese continent. However, its defeat in the Opium War with the U.K. at Hong Kong in 1841 awaked Japan and its samurai regime. Japan opened the door to adopt Western Civilization and even defeated Qing in the Japan-Sino War in 1894 over the hegemony of the Korean Peninsula which was the vital front line to prevent Russia from invading Japan.
Since then, until the Communist Party won hegemony after WWII, China had been in a kind of great chaos. The last emperor of Qing, namely the last emperor in the Chinese history, was put under authority of the Empire of Japan, but survived WWII to live peacefully under the Chinese Communist regime, while Japanese Emperor also survived eventually to be followed by his son as the Emperor of Heisei Era to this date.
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Each Chinese Empire is expressed with one Kanji letter, visual appealing of which is really impressive to the Japanese eye.
But, the Yellow River Civilization, early Taoism, and Confucianism were all formed, established, and developed before the era of the First Emperor (the third century B.C.), a half-mad military genius who however dreamed of blessing to be obtained in the holy islands in the east sea which are actually Japan to which he sent a personal mission.
And the best part of the Yellow River Civilization, early Taoism, and basic Confucianism were all imported to Japan so that Japan can claim that it is legitimate successor of the classical Chinese Civilization, since Japan still keeps and preserves many cultural traditions of the Civilization while modern China has lost many of them in its long history of wars, atrocities, and authoritarian ruling.
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That is why Japanese feel no difficulty in dealing with Chinese.
If Lao-tze and Confucius live today, they will take Japanese as their direct descendants rather than Chinese under the communist regime.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao-tze
My hope is that some day Japanese will feel no difficulty in dealing with Israelites as well as the so-called Christians.
(If you learn Chinese but you do not learn teachings of ancient great Chinese, you may look very strange to the Japanese eye, even if you have European eyes.
Yet, Chinese would much respect you, even in Paris or Berlin, with any knowledge about Japanese.)
"I tell you, however, that Elijah has already come..."
(Ich sage euch, Elija ist shon gekommen...)