East Asia: Center of the World - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 270

Chapter 10

East Asia:
Center
of the World

“To understand is hard.Once one
understands,action is easy. ”

S UN Y AT - SEN (1866-1925)

For some 7,000 years, East Asia has been dominated

that time a new system was introduced: Pinyin. Pinyin
was made official in 1979.
While Pinyin is found in contemporary topics and
atlases, Wade-Giles remains in pre-1950 publications.
Therefore it is important to be cognizant of both systems.
If you learn to pronounce the names of all China' s
provinces and autonomous regions, you will have a head
start on pronouncing other Chinese words.
Before reading the following discussion, take a look
at Table 10-1, which gives an overview of significant
events in China' s history .

by Chung Kuo: the Middle Kingdom. Not only is
China the largest country in the region, but also its cul-
tural, economic, and political impact has been profound.
Japan, Korea, and Taiwan—each owes significant aspects
of its heritage to the wonder that was China. In this chapter
we will first discuss the physical characteristics of the
region. Then we will then introduce you to the Chinese
worldview relative to those within its sphere of influence.
Subsequently , we will review China' s history up to its
inception as the People' s Republic. Although Taiwan,
Korea, and Japan will be mentioned where appropriate in
this chapter, we will save the more salient details of their
histories for Chapters 12 and 13. Be sure to examine the
pronunciation guide before reading further (Figure 10-1).
Pinyin, a system of romanization (phonetic notation and
transliteration to Roman script), will be used in this
chapter as the primary spelling. Pinyin pronunciation is
based on the Mandarin dialect of Chinese. Following the
Pinyin word, the Wade-Giles system of spelling is given
in parentheses.
Since Chinese is written with characters, it is neces-
sary to transliterate these phonetically into the Roman
alphabet. The nineteenth century Wade-Giles system of
romanization was commonly used before the 1970s. At

Topography

Mountains, hills, and plateaus dominate the East
Asian landscape. For example, mainland China is 65
percent and Japan is 75 percent mountainous. These
physiographic barriers, while permitting the evolu-
tion of unique cultures, were penetrable enough to
allow outside influences to wend their way from one
valley settlement to another. Mountain passes, river
arteries, and ocean passages were instrumental in the
diffusion of people and ideas across the East Asian
landmass to the Korean peninsula and the islands of
Japan and Taiwan.

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