Culture of Asia

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For discussion of the area sometimes termed southwest Asia, see Middle East.

The culture of Asia is the artificial aggregate of the cultural heritage of many nationalities, societies, religions, and ethnic groups in the region, traditionally called a continent from a Western-centric perspective, of Asia. The region or "continent" is more commonly divided into more natural geographic and cultural subregions, including the Caucasus, Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia (the "Indian subcontinent"), North Asia, Southwest Asia and Southeast Asia. Geographically, Asia is not a distinct continent; culturally, there has been little unity or common history for many of the cultures and peoples of Asia.

Asian art, music, and cuisine, as well as literature, are important parts of Asian culture. Eastern philosophy and religion also plays a major role, with Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity all playing major roles. One of the most complex parts of Asian culture is the relationship between traditional cultures and the Western world.

Contents 1 Nationalities and ethnic groups 1.1 East Asia 1.2 South Asia (Indian Subcontinent) 2 Architecture 3 Art 3.1 Visual arts 3.1.1 Crafts 3.1.2 Music 3.1.2.1 South Asia 3.1.2.2 East Asia 3.1.2.3 Middle East 3.1.2.4 Central Asia 3.1.2.5 Southeast Asia 3.1.3 Dance 4 Mythology and folklore 5 Languages 6 Literature 6.1 Classical Indian literature 6.2 Classical Chinese and Japanese literature 6.3 Classical Persian and Arabic literature 6.4 Modern literature 7 Philosophy 8 Religions 9 Festivals & celebrations 10 Food & drink 11 Culture by people 12 See also 13 Notes 14 External links

[edit] Nationalities and ethnic groups

There are an abundance of ethnic groups throughout Asia, with adaptations to the climate zones of Asia, which can be arctic, subarctic, temperate, 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.

[edit] East Asia

East Asia is usually thought to consist of China, Japan, Korea, but may also include Mongolia and Vietnam. Rarely, it includes the rest of Southeast Asia. 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. 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 first to Korea, and was the main writing system there until the end of World War II, and to Japan, where it now forms a major component of the Japanese writing system. In Vietnam, classical Chinese (Han Tu) was used during the millennium of Chinese rule, with the vernacular Chu Nom script replacing it later on. However, this has now (since the early 20th century) been replaced completely by the Latin Alphabet-based Quoc Ngu. In these cultures, especially in China, 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, Japan, and Vietnam are not Chinese speaking regions, their languages have been heavily influenced by Chinese. Even though their writing systems have changed over time (with limited use of Chinese characters in Korea and none at all in modern Vietnam), Chinese is still found in the historical roots of many borrowed words, especially technical terms.

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.

[edit] South Asia (Indian Subcontinent)

Main article: Culture of India

The nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka share an ethnic background and all have similar cultures. This is largely due to the fact that before the 1947 partition, India included both Pakistan and Bangladesh in its borders. The reason they were separated was due to varying religious composition in various Indian states.

The Indus Valley Civilization began on the Indus River (now in Pakistan). In time, however, Aryans settled down in the Indian subcontinent from the north. The Aryans also invaded the island of Sri Lanka and set up the Kingdom of Sinhala. The people eventually mingled to form a common culture.

Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, the four major world religions founded in the region that is today's India, are spread throughout the subcontinent. While 80% of Indians are Hindus and Nepal is a Hindu State, Sri Lanka has a majority of Buddhists. South Asian culture was influenced somewhat by the arrival of Islam, which based itself in the northwest of India (now Pakistan), near the borders of Afghanistan.

In 1947, India was split as part of the Partition as a result of the Indian Independence Movement. This partition was on the basis of religion, although Pakistani people and Indian people share a common language (Urdu being very similar to Hindi when spoken). Many Hindus and Sikhs still live in Pakistan while 12% of Bangladesh's population is Hindu.

Another common feature of these states is the fact that all these countries maintain interests in the same world sports. India and Pakistan were both strong in Field Hockey during the 80s while Cricket is by far the most popular sport in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. With the Indian Cricket Team being one of the earliest International Cricket Teams to be created (after England, Australia and South Africa).

Despite their religious differences, the way of life is still similar in India and Pakistan, because of shared history; and Pakistan differs in some ways from the Middle East. Foods such as chapatis are common in both nations. South Indian foods (from the states Kerala and Tamil Nadu) can be found in Sri Lanka. Bangladeshi ways of life are similar to the people in West Bengal, the Indian North-Eastern State.

[edit] Architecture

In Japan, the temples of Kyoto and Nara might be over 1,000 years old in style, but be completely rebuilt, in the same style, every few generations or so. 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.

[edit] Art

[edit] Visual arts

[edit] Crafts

[edit] Music

Main article: Asian music

Harmonic music can follow the pentatonic scale as well as the twelve-tone scale; percussive music can use cymbals as well as gongs, in Asia.

[edit] South Asia

Main article: South Asian music

In the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, bhangra music is very popular.

[edit] East Asia

Main article: East Asian music

[edit] Middle East

Main article: Middle Eastern music

[edit] Central Asia

Main article: Central Asian music

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.

[edit] Southeast Asia

Main article: Southeast Asian music

[edit] Dance

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 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 Bornean datus 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.

[edit] Mythology and folklore

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 mythology Shan 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.

The regions of Asia has a rich variety of mythical fauna. Japan has Nekomatas, cats with two tails and having magical powers; whereas Balinese mythology has child-eating Rangdas. Hindu mythology have Pishachas haunting the cremation grounds to eat half-burnt human corpses, and Bhuts hanting the desolate places. Asia has a rich tradition of folklores and storytelling. In the Indian subcontinent, the Panchatantra, a collection of fables 200 BC, has remained a favorite for 2000 years.

[edit] Languages

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:

• Austro-Asiatic: Khasi, Khmer, Mundari, Vietnamese
• Austronesian: Atayal, Cebuano, Cham, Ilokano, Indonesian, Javanese, Malay, Paiwan, Sundanese, Tagalog, Tetum
• Dravidian: Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu
• Indo-European: Armenian, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kurdish, Nepali, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Tajik, Urdu
• Japonic: Japanese, Okinawan
• Sino-Tibetan: Burmese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tibetan
• Tai-Kadai: Lao, Thai
• Turkic: Azeri, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tatar, Turkish, Turkmen, Uzbek

Other languages that do not belong to the above groups include Ainu, Burushaski, Georgian, Hmong, Korean, Mongolian, and many others.

[edit] Literature

[edit] Classical Indian literature

Main article: Indian literature

[edit] Classical Chinese and Japanese literature

Main articles: Chinese literature and Japanese literature

In Tang and Song dynasty China, famous poets such as Li Bai authored works of great importance. They wrote shī (Classical Chinese: 诗) poems, which have lines with equal numbers of characters, as well as cí (词) poems with mixed line varieties. Early-Modern Japanese literature (17th–19th centuries) developed comparable innovations such as haiku, a form of Japanese poetry that evolved from the ancient hokku (Japanese language: 発句) 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 Bashō (松尾芭蕉); others influenced by Bashō include Kobayashi Issa and Masaoka Shiki.

[edit] Classical Persian and Arabic literature

Main articles: Persian literature and Arabic literature

[edit] Modern literature

The polymath Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali poet, dramatist, and writer who was an Indian, became in 1913 the first Asian Nobel laureate. He won his Nobel Prize in Literature for notable impact his prose works and poetic thought had on English, French, and other national literatures of Europe and the Americas.He also wrote the Indian anthem Later, other Asian writers won Nobel Prizes in literature, including Yasunari Kawabata (Japan, 1966), and Kenzaburo Oe (Japan, 1994). In Pakistani literature, Saadat Hasan Manto (Urdu: ‏‏سعادت حسن منٹو) was a Punjab (Pakistan)-born Kashmiri short story writer who was notable for confronting controversial topics — including incest and social injustice — with wit, humor, and satire.

[edit] Philosophy

Main article: Eastern philosophy

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 Carvaka, which originated in India, and was propuned by Charvak around 2500 years before, preached the enjoyment of material world.

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 communist philosophy was crystallized.

[edit] Religions

Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated in India, a country of South Asia. In East Asia, particularly in China and Japan, Confucianism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism and Shinto took shape. Other religions of Asia include the Bahá'í Faith, Shamanism practiced in Siberia, and Animism practiced in the eastern parts of the Indian subcontinent.

Today 30% of Muslims live in the South Asian region of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The world's largest single Muslim community (within the bounds of one nation) is in Indonesia. There are also significant Muslim populations in the Philippines, China, Central Asia, Iran, and Russia.

In the Philippines and East Timor, Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion; it was introduced by the Spaniards and the Portuguese, respectively. In Armenia, Armenian Apostolic Church is the predominant religion. Various Christian sects have adherents in portions of the Middle East.

A large majority of people in the world who practice a religious faith practice one founded in Asia.

Religions founded in Asia and with a majority of their contemporary adherents in Asia include:

• Ahmadi (Qadiani): Pakistan, Bangladesh, India.
• Bahá'í Faith: slightly more than half of all adherents are in Asia
• Buddhism: Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, parts of northern, eastern, and western India, and parts of central and eastern Russia (Siberia).
  • Mahayana Buddhism: China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam.
  • Theravada Buddhism: Cambodia, parts of China, Laos, mainly northern parts of Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, as well as parts of Vietnam.
  • Vajrayana Buddhism: Parts of China, Mongolia, parts of northern and eastern India, parts of central and eastern Russia and Siberia.
• Hinduism: India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Bali.
• Islam: Central, South and Southwest Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Brunei.
  • Shia Islam: largely to specific Iran, Azerbaijan, parts of Iraq, Bahrain, parts of Afghanistan, parts of India, parts of Pakistan.
  • Sunni Islam: dominant in the rest of the regions mentioned above.
• Jainism: India
• Shinto: Japan
• Sikhism: India, Malaysia, Hong Kong
• Taoism (Daoism): China, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, and Taiwan
• Zoroastrianism: Iran, India, Pakistan
• Shamanism: Siberia
• Animism: Eastern India

Religions founded in Asia that have the majority of their contemporary adherents in other regions include:

• Christianity (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Armenia, Georgia, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, East Timor, Pakistan, India and the Philippines)
• Judaism (slightly fewer than half of its adherents reside in Asia; Israel, Iran, India, Syria.)

[edit] Festivals & celebrations

Asia has a variety of festivals and celebrations. In China, Chinese New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Moon Festival are traditional holidays, while National Day is a holiday of the PRC. In Japan, Japanese New Year, National Foundation Day, Children's Day, The Emperor's Birthday, and Christmas are popular. Buddhist festivals include Vesak and Asalha Puja.

In India, Republic Day and Independence Day are important national festivals celebrated by people irrespective of faith. Major Hindu festivals of India include Diwali, Dussehra or Daserra, Holi, Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Mahashivratri, Ugadi, Navratri, Ramanavami, Baisakhi , Onam, Rathayatra, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Krishna Janmastami. Islamic festivals such as Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha, Sikh festivals such as Vaisakhi, and Christian festivals such as Christmas, are also celebrated in India.

In the Philippines, 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. Some prime examples include Sinulog from Cebu and Ilo-Ilo's Dinagyang.

[edit] Food & drink

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 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.

[edit] Culture by people

• Ainu people
• Afghan people
• Aramean people
• Armenian people
• Assyrian people
• Aryan
• Baloch people
• Burmese people
• Chinese people
• Cambodian people
• Dravidian people
• Filipino people
• Iranian people
• Japanese people
• Kazakh people
• Korean people
• Kyrgyz people
• Mongolian people
• Tibetan people
• Filipino people
• Russian people
• Tajik people
• Thai people
• Uzbek people
• Vietnamese people

[edit] See also

• Culture of Africa
• Culture of Europe
• Culture of Oceania

[edit] Notes

↑  John Lindley (1889), Treasury of Botany vol 1. p.435. Longmans, Green, & Co; New and rev. ed edition (1889)

Asia
Culture • Demographics • Economy • Geography • History • Politics

[edit] External links

• Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home showcases Chinese culture through a detailed examination of a family residence located in the Anhui province of East China.