Chapter 27

Section 1

1. East Asia's culture and traditions originated from the ancient indigenous ancestors of that region.

2. The people of China mainly speak dialects of Mandarin.

Creative Writing: Before communism in China, people were free to practice the religions that they pleased. Most people were Confucist, Buddhist, or Taoist/Daoist. However, today the Chinese Communist government discourages anything other than atheism, and some restrictions are placed upon people that follow some religions, such as the fact that if a Tibetan is found owning a picture of the Dalai Lama, he risks arrest.

Section 2

1. Most Japanese people are located near the urban areas in valleys and coastal regions due to forested mountains covering a large area of Japan.

2. Japan built an empire from the 1890s to the 1940s through military force and diplomacy, mostly gaining land through wars with the Chinese and the Russians.

Creative Writing: Japan has been touched in several ways from the outside world and those small touches have caused large changes in Japan's culture. After the fall of the Japanese Empire after World War Two, Japan became a democracy, sharing the type of government that many nations in the world are controlled by today. Japanese language, too, has been modified by western influences and Chinese influences as well.

Section 3

1. Because Western diplomats came to visit Korea first with military force, Korea closed its doors to them and became an isolated nation.

2. Korean life is largely based upon Confucianism.

Creative Writing: The divergence between North and South Korea was due to the Korean War in the 1950s after World War 2, in which North Korea invaded South Korea in order to reunite both countries after their separtion after the second World War. World War Two had divided the countries into two, South Korea, the U.S. backed democratic state, and North Korea, the Communist nation. Due to South Korea's economy being based on capitalism, the economy has been growing and is currently doing much better than North Korea's. This, along with the United State's help has led to an increased life span of the general public, much greater than that of North Korea's. Because North Korea has been isolated by their government, they have had few contacts with any nations and has kept their own culture for much longer than South Korea, whose culture has been mixed with that of the West's.