There are an abundance of ethnic groups throughout Asia, with adaptations to the climate zones of Asia, which can perate, subtropical or tropical. The ethnic groups have adapted to mountains, deserts, grasslands, and forests. On the coasts of Asia, the ethnic groups have adopted various methods of harvest and transport. Some groups are primarily hunter-gatherers, some practice transhumance (nomadic lifestyle), others have been agrarian/rural for millennia and others are becoming industrial/urban. Some groups/countries of Asia are completely urban (Singapore and Hong Kong). The colonization of Asia was largely ended in the twentieth century, with national drives for independence and self-determination across the continent.
East Asia is usually thought to consist of China, Japan, and Korea. The dominant influence historically has been China, though in modern times, cultural exchange has flowed more bi-directionally. Major characteristics of this region include shared Chinese-derived language characteristics, as well as shared religion, especially Buddhism and Taoism. There is also a shared social and moral philosophy derived from Confucianism.
The Chinese Script is generally agreed to be the unifying principle. It was historically used throughout the region, and is still used to some extent in most countries of the region. In most cases, the meaning of the characters remain unchanged, but the pronunciation differs between regions. Even within China, for example, a Cantonese person and a person from northern China probably cannot hold a conversation, but they can certainly understand each other by passing notes. The Chinese writing system is the oldest continuous writing system in the world (but by no means primitive).
It was passed on to Korea, Japan and Vietnam. In Japan, where it (called Kanji in Japan) now forms a major component of the Japanese writing system. In the 9th century, Japanese developed their own writing systems called Kana (Hiragana and Katakana) which support Kanji script to suit Japanese language. Today, both ideograph Kanji and syllabary Kana is used in mixture in Japanese. In Vietnam, Chinese script (Han Tu) was used during the millennium under the influence of China, with the vernacular Chu Nom script are also used since 13th century. However, this has now (since the early 20th century) been replaced completely by the Latin Alphabet-based Quoc Ngu. In the 15th century, Koreans also developed their own writing system called Han-gul which is more adapted script to write Korean.
In these cultures, especially in China and Japan the educational level of person is traditionally measured by the quality of his or her calligraphy, rather than diction, as is sometimes the case in the west.
Though Korea and Japan are not Chinese speaking regions, their languages have been influenced by Chinese to some extent. Even though their writing systems have changed over time, Chinese is still found in the historical roots of many borrowed words. Though in modern times, Chinese is also influenced by other Asian languages, especially modern technical and political terms created in Japan to represent western concepts. For example, culture,civilization), people, economy, republic) and philosophy are borrowed words from Japanese to Chinese.
Apart from the unifying influence of Confucianism, Buddhism, Chinese characters, and other Chinese Cultural Influences, there is nevertheless much diversity between the countries of the region such as different religions, national costumes, languages, writing systems, cuisines, traditional musics and so on.
Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, the four major world religions founded in the region that is today's India, are spread throughout the subcontinent. Islam and Christianity also have significant region-specific histories. While 80% of Indians are Hindus and Nepal is a Hindu-majority State, Sri Lanka and Bhutan have a majority of Buddhists. Islam is the predominant religion of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The region has been greatly influenced by the cultures and religions of India and China as well as the religions Islam and Christianity from Southwest Asia. Southeast Asia has also had a lot of Western influence due to the lasting legacy of colonialism. One example is the Philippines which has been heavily influenced by America and Spain due to the invasion.
A common feature found around the region are stilt houses. Another shared feature is rice paddy agriculture, which originated in Southeast Asia thousands of years ago. Dance is also a very important feature of the culture, utilizing movements of the hands and feet perfected over thousands of years. Furthermore, the arts and literature of Southeast Asia is very distinctive as some have been influenced by Indian, Hindu, Chinese, Buddhist and Islamic literature.
The predominant religion in Central Asia is Islam. Central Asia has a long rich history mainly based on its historic position on the famous Silk Road. It has been conquered by Mongols, Persians, Tatars, Russians, Sarmatian and thus has a very distinct, vibrant culture. The culture is influenced by Chinese, Indian, Persian, Arabian, Turkish, Russian, Sarmatian and Mongolian cultures. The people of the steppes of Central Asia have historically been nomadic people but a unifying state was established in Central Asia in the 16th century: The Kazakh Khanate.
The music of Central Asia is rich and varied and is appreciated worldwide. Meanwhile, Central Asian cuisine is one of the most prominent cuisines of Asia, with cuisines from Pakistan, India, China and Azerbaijan showing significant influence from the foods of Central Asia. One of the most famous Central Asian foods is the kebab.
The literature of Central Asia is linked with Persian literature as historically it has been part of the Persian Empire for a lot of its history. Furthermore, being at the junction of the Silk Road it has numerous Chinese, Indian and Arabian literary works.
For the most part, North Asia is considered to be made up of the Asian part of Russia solely. The geographic region of Siberia was the historical land of the Tatars in the Siberia Khanate. However Russian expansion essentially undermined this and thus today it is under Russian rule. There are roughly 40 million people living in North Asia.
Architecture
In Japan, the temples of Kyoto and Nara might be over 1,000 years old in style, but be completely rebuilt, in the exact same style, every 20 years. The best example would be the Shinto Shrine. The primary reason for this was that the materials might be wood and thatch rather than stone and tile.
Other cultures might build from stone, but the jungles and forests might overgrow the buildings, as in Angkor Wat.
Art
Detail of Dragon Throne used by the Qianlong Emperor of China, Forbidden City, Qing Dynasty. Artifact circulating in U.S. museums on loan from Beijing
The music of Central Asia is as vast and unique as the many cultures and peoples who inhabit the region. The one constant throughout the musical landscape is Islam, which defines the music's focus and the musicians' inspiration.
Principal instrument types are two- or three-stringed lutes, the necks either fretted or fretless; fiddles made of horsehair; flutes, mostly open at both ends and either end-blown or side-blown; and Jews' harps, either metal or, often in Siberia, wooden. Percussion instruments include frame drums, tambourines, and kettledrums.
Instrumental polyphony is achieved primarily by lutes and fiddles. On the other hand, vocal polyphony is achieved in different ways: Bashkirs hum a basic pitch while playing solo flute.
In the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, bhangra dance is very popular. The bhangra is a celebration of the harvest. The people dance to the beat of a drum while singing and dancing.
In Thailand which is never colonized by Western countries, has retained cultural connections with the two of the great centers of Asian civilizations, India and China. Dances of Burma, a country which was colonized only for a brief period, also retain very strong influences from these cultures.
In Southeast Asia, dance is an integral part of the culture; the styles of dance vary from island to island. There are courtly dances, found, for example, wherever there are Rajahs and princesses. There are also dances of celebration. For example, according to oral history, in 1212, when 10 Borneandatus left the rule of Sri Vijayan empire on Borneo, they sailed away and negotiated settlement rights with the chieftain of the Negritos on the island of Panay. In commemoration of the agreement, they danced; the Negritos danced as well.
The story of Great Floods find reference in most of the regions of Asia. The Hindu mythology tells about an avatar of God Vishnu in the form of a fish who warned Manu of a terrible flood. In ancient Chinese mythologyShan Hai Jing, the Chinese ruler Da Yu had to spend ten years to control a deluge which swept out most of the ancient China and was aided by the goddess Nuwa who literally "fixed" the "broken" sky through which huge rains were pouring.
Asia is a continent with great linguistic diversity, and is home to various language families and many language isolates. A majority of Asian countries have more than one language that is natively spoken. For instance, according to Ethnologue over 600 languages are spoken in Indonesia while over 100 are spoken in the Philippines. The official figure of 'mother tongues' spoken in India is 1683, of which an estimated 850 are in daily use. Korea, on the other hand, is home to only one language.
The main language families found in Asia, along with examples of each, are:
In Tang and Song dynastyChina, famous poets such as Li Bai authored works of great importance. They wrote shî poems, which have lines with equal numbers of characters, as well as cí poems with mixed line varieties.
Classical Japanese literature
In the early eleventh century, court lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote Tale of the Genji considered the masterpiece of Japanese literatures and an early example of a work of fiction in the form of a novel. Early-Modern Japanese literature (17th–19th centuries) developed comparable innovations such as haiku, a form of Japanese poetry that evolved from the ancient hokku mode. Haiku consists of three lines: the first and third lines each have five morae (the rough phonological equivalent of syllables), while the second has seven. Original haiku masters included such figures as Edo period poet Matsuo Bashô; others influenced by Bashô include Kobayashi Issa and Masaoka Shiki.
Asian philosophical traditions originated in India and China, and has been classified as Eastern philosophy covering a large spectrum of philosophical thoughts and writings, including those popular within India and China. The Indian philosophy include Hindu and Buddhist philosophies. They include elements of non-material pursuits, whereas another school of thought Cârvâka, which originated in India, and was propuned by Charvak around 2500 years before, preached the enjoyment of material world. Middle Eastern philosophy include Islamic philosophy as well as Persian philosophy.
During the 20th century, in the two most populous countries of Asia, two dramatically different political philosophies took shape. Gandhi gave a new meaning to Ahimsa, and redefined the concepts of nonviolence and nonresistance. During the same period, Mao Zedong’s communistphilosophy was crystallized.
The Philippines is also tagged as the "Fiesta Country" because of its all-year-round celebrations nationwide. There is a very strong Spanish influence in their festivals, thus making the Philippines, distinctively occidental. Fiesta is the term used to refer to a festival. Most of these fiestas are celebrated in honor of a patron Saint. To summarize it all, at least every municipality has a fiesta. Some prime examples include Sinulog from Cebu and Iloilo's Dinagyang.
Food & drinks
Chicken tikka, a well-known dish across the globe, reflects the amalgamation of Indian cooking styles with those from Central Asia.
In many parts of Asia, rice is a staple food, and it is mostly served steamed or as a porridge known as congee. China is the world largest producer and consumer of rice. In China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam, people usually use chopsticks to eat traditional food, but shapes of chopsticks are different in these countries. For example, Japanese chopsticks are spire to eat bony fish easily. Korean chopsticks are made of metal. It is said that wood is rarer than metal in Korean peninsular and metal chopsticks can prevent to poison.
An island nation surrounded by ocean, Japan has various fish dishes. Especially, fresh raw fish cuisines are very popular in Japan and well-known as Sushi and Sashimi. In India, people often eat food with their hands, and many spices are used in every dish.
Most spices originated around India or neighboring countries such as Sri Lanka. Durians are a common fruit in Southeast Asia, which, Alfred Russel Wallace, attested to its delicious flavor as worth the entire cost of his trip there. In every special Filipino banquet, people will see a unique set of dishes compared to other Asian cuisine. Because of the country's long years of colonization and interactions with other neighboring cultures and nations, it has inherited Latin, Malay, Chinese, and American influences to its people's local blend.
Most drivers of Delhi's 55,000 registered and 25,000 illegal autorickshaws are poor and live in the city's slums. Photograph: Arko Datta/EPA
The Indian capital's streets are notorious for the swarms of green
and yellow autorickshaws – and for their surly, betel nut-chewing and
overcharging drivers. But their days may be numbered after Delhi's
chief minister, Sheila Dikshit, said she wanted to see the
three-wheelers phased out within five years.
Amid uproar in the state assembly, she said "Autorickshaws are
not a good option. They are uncomfortable and pollute [the]
environment. Autorickshaw drivers are unruly and harass passengers,"
.
The authorities in the congested city are struggling to find ways to handle increasing levels of traffic brought on by India's
economic boom. Three times as many cars, buses and motorbikes clog the
country's roads as 15 years ago. Laws intended to restrict the number
of autorickshaws in Delhi are widely flouted. Though the city has
55,000 registered, at least another 25,000 operate illegally.
Most of their drivers are poor and live in the city's slums. "If
they ban us what will we do for work? I've children to feed," said
Mohammed Imran Khan, a driver from the southern Delhi neighbourhood of
Nizamuddin. Dikshit said that the city was looking at introducing
electric cars or electric motorbikes to replace the autorickshaws.
• This article was amended on 19 March 2010. The Delhi high court,
not the Indian supreme court, ruled that a cap set by local authorities
on the number of rickshaw pullers was illegal.
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