Why is East Asia an important part of the world to study?
- China’s economy is huge/growing
- US is reliant in China
- Much of the world’s people are East Asian
- China was historically the wealthiest and most technologically advanced part of the world
- Gunpowder
- Compass
- Paper (these all came from China)
South Korea-Economic success story
North Korea is unpredictable and has Nuclear power (we need to be aware of their movements)
What is distinctive about East Asia?
- Language, writing system, Chinese character (a common writing system)
- Confucianism (Philosophy)
- All of East Asia traditionally had monarchies (It’s ending. However, Japan still has an emperor)
Where do the names “China,” “Japan,” and “Korea” come from?
China comes from Qin
Japan comes from Nihon (or Nippon) which means “origin of the sun.”
Korea comes from the Koryo Dynasty (918-1392)
Side note: Korean’s call the “Sea of Japan” the “Sea of the East.”
Here’s something that I found cool
Is Taiwan a country?
The people of Taiwan believe they are a country; however, China says they are not. In 1949 there was a war between the nationalist and the communist. When communism took power in China, 2 million nationalists fled to Taiwan. There they created their own rules, laws, they even have their own dialect.
Thank you Solansh. I enjoyed that little lesson. (Shows you you’re never too old to learn.) I find this fascinating, and even better because it comes in a small dose. I was surprised just looking at the map. I never really paid attention to it before. And I have lots of questions. Like, in which class are you learning this stuff? Do those who speak Mandarin and those who speak Cantonese have the same “written” alphabet? How can a tiny place like Taiwan manufacture and sell so many clothes to us? Korea seems very young in the scheme of things. What was it before 918 AD? I hope your class goes on for a little while on this subject!
I am learning this stuff in my East Asian Civilization class. I don’t have all the answers to your questions right now, but I’ll definitely ask my professor the next time I see her. It’s a great class.