East Asia
From Hobson's Choice
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Generally speaking, East Asia is conceived as a region shaped by continuous Chinese influence over thousands of years. East Asian nations have a strong Buddhist and Confucian tradition, as well as a medley of Taoist currents. In addition to these easily-named influences on culture, political philosophy, and belief systems, there are practical technologies that have molded East Asian civilization along very distinct lines: wet rice cultivation, traditional Chinese medicine, intensive use of soybean curd, and so on.
Linguistically, East Asia is highly diverse, with at least five distinct language families (Sino-Tibetan,Austro-Asiatic, Altaic, and the isolates Japanese and Chukotko-Kamchatkan). However, certain traditions of written communication are shared among most of the cultures. In Korea and Japan, the usage of Chinese ideographs coexists with a native alphabet and syllabary, respectively. Vietnam used Chinese characters for writing its language, alongside Chữ-nôm, until 1918 when the French regime banned the use of either. Dual orthography of this kind existed in Manchuria and Mongolia in previous eras as well. As East Asia fades into Southeast Asia, the crisp linguistic boundaries are replaced by a a polyphony of distantly related Austro-Asiatic or Tibeto-Burman languages, many of which never used the Chinese writing system.
Contents |
See Also
China
Korea
Japan
Laos
Mongolia
Taiwan
Vietnam
Northeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Related links
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External Links
Government
- Gov't & Ref Sites (Gunnar Anzinger)
- Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
- CIA World Factbook
- Country Analysis Briefs, Department of Energy EIA
- Country Studies, US Library of Congress
- US AID | Near East & Asia,
Multilateral
- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
- Labor Statistics, International Labor Organization
- Japan/Korea | OECD Publications
- Datafinder, courtesy Population Reference Bureau
- [http://www.un.org/aroundworld/ United Nations agencies & bureaux
- Social & Economic Data (ECOSOC)
- Econ. & Soc. Comm.-Asia & Pacific (UNESCAP)
- UNHCR: China | N. Korea | Vietnam
- World Health Organization
News & Media
- Arirang News (RoK)
- Asahi Shinbun (EN-Japan)
- BBC (UK)
- Channel News Asia (AFP)
- Asia Times
- Asia Today-Asia Source
- China Daily (EN)
- Chosun Ilbo (RoK)
- Daily Yomiuri (EN-Japan)
- Eurasianet Mongolia News
- Far Eastern Economic Review (EN-HK)
- Japan, Inc
- Japan Focus
- The Korea Times (EN)
- Mainichi Shinbun (EN-Japan)
- Radio Free Asia (US Gov't)
- Straits Times (EN-Singapore)
- Thanh Nien News (EN-Vietnam)
- Xinhua Net
NGO/University: Current Info
- Amnesty International | East Asia
- e-ASPAC Journal, Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast
- Asia Monitor Resource Center
- CSR Asia, Asian Labor News (HK)
- Asia Society publications
- Hong Kong Journals Online
- Human Rights Watch | E Asia
- Nat'l Clearinghouse for U.S.-Japan Studies, Indiana University
- International Crisis Group | NE Asia
- AsiaMedia | AsiaStats | AsiaDocs, University of California, Los Angeles
NGO/University: History
- Australasian Digital Thesis Program (Asian Studies in Australia)
- The Military & Democracy in Asia & the Pacific, from ANU Digital Thesis
- China & East Asia, National Security Archive, George Washington Univ.
- Internet East Asian History Sourcebook, Fordham University
- Frank E Smith | World History
- East Asian History Archives, Hartford University
- Repositories of Primary Sources, University of Idaho
- International Studies | Japan Studies, London School of Economics
- Waseda University Asian Studies
- Digital Archives, University of Wisconsin
- Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
