Due to its long history as a tributary state of China, as well as several periods of Chinese
occupation, Vietnamese culture is heavily influenced by that of Southern China, with
Confucianism forming the basis of Vietnamese society. The Vietnamese language also contains
many loan words from Chinese, though the two languages are unrelated. Buddhism remains the
single largest religion in Vietnam, though like in China but unlike in the rest of northern
Southeast Asia, the dominant school of Buddhism in Vietnam is the Mahayana School.