Final Exam: Chapter 11 (East Asia) Flashcards
Environmental problems
stem from a combination
of the region’s large population, its massive industrial development,
and its physical geography. Steep slopes and heavy rainfall make many
areas vulnerable to soil erosion and mudslides, and a seismically active
environment generates earthquake threats
three gorges dam controversy
This $39
billion structure is the largest hydroelectric dam in
the world, forming a reservoir 350 miles (563 km)
long. It has jeopardized several endangered species
(including the Yangtze River dolphin), flooded a
major scenic attraction, and displaced more than 1
million people.
- generates large amounts
of electricity, supplying
roughly 1.7 percent of China’s
huge demand.
population challenge
- declining population
agricultural pattern
dominant crops
south: rice
north: wheat, millet, and sorghum
city systems
south korea: known for pronounced urban primary (the concentration
of total urban population in a single city)
Japan: the center
of a new urban phenomenon—the superconurbation, also called a
megalopolis (a huge zone of coalesced metropolitan areas).
Linguistic diversity
Japan:
- only speak japanese and korean
- Ryukyu has unique dialect, face discrimination
China:
- Northern, central, and southwestern China speak Mandarin
- In southeastern China, from the Yangtze Delta to China’s border
with Vietnam, several separate but related languages are spoken.
Traveling from south to north, we hear Cantonese (Yue) spoken in
Guangdong, Fujianese (alternatively Hokkienese, or Min) spoken in
Fujian, and Shanghaiese (Wu) spoken in and around
Shanghai
Non-han:
- 11 million Manchus live in Manchuria.
The Manchu
language, however, is almost extinct
Taiwan:
- In the island’s mountainous eastern region, a
few small groups of “tribal” peoples speak Austronesian languages
related to those of Indonesia.
Confucianism
the philosophy based on the teachings of Confucius
Confucius (or Kung Fu Zi, in Mandarin
Chinese), was born in 551
Confucius’s
goal was to create a philosophy that could generate social stability.
feng shui:
the Chinese and Korean practice of designing
buildings in accordance with the spiritual powers that supposedly
flow through the local topography
cultural internationalism
The capitalist countries of East Asia are characterized
to some extent by a cultural internationalism, especially in
the large cities.
Virtually all Japanese, for example, study English for
6 to 10 years
Evolution of China
The original core of Chinese civilization was the North China Plain
and the Loess Plateau.
The rise of japan
- emerged as a state in 7th century
China and WTO
in 2001 China joined
the World Trade Organization, a body designed to facilitate free trade and
provide ground rules for international economic exchange.
Great Leap Forward
hinged on the idea that small-scale village workshops could
produce the large quantities of iron needed for sustained industrial
growth.
Communist Party officials forced these inefficient workshops
to meet unreasonably high production quotas. The result was a horrific
famine that may have killed 20 million people.
Hikikomori-isolated youth
Hikikomori, which originated in Japan, refers to the condition where youths withdraw into the home and do not participate in society for an extended period of time.
Chinese development
dwarfs all of the rest of East Asia in both physical size and
population.
weaknesses: much of the vast interior remains
poor, many of its heavy industries are not globally competitive, and
a number of massive housing projects are deeply in debt and largely
unoccupied
