1. East Asia

2. China Japan N.Korea S.Korea Taiwan Communist bloc Capitalist economy

3. Introduction  Cultural unity  Legacy of Chinese civilization/Empire  Confucianism, Chinese writing system  Ideological division in the second half of 20 th century  Capitalist economy: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong  Communist bloc: China, North Korea  Core areas of the world economy

4. Environmental Geography Resource Pressures in a Crowded Land

5. Insular belt: Mainland: geologically active geologically stable  Plate boundary

6. Japan’s physical environment 85% mountain Limited areas of alluvial plains Prone to earthquake, volcano

7. Taiwan’s environment Rugged Central/Eastern region Alluvial West Also prone to seismic activities

8. Chinese environments Yangtze R. Huang He North China Plain Sichuan Basin Xi Basin flat rugged Loess Plateau

9. Landscape regions of China       More accessible

10. Korean landscapes Mountainous North and East scattered alluvial basins in South and West

11. Temperate climates Humid summer Dry winter  monsoon Typhoon in the summer

12. Three Gorges Dam Yangtze R. Three Gorges Dam  Benefits  Prevent flooding  Generate electricity  Costs  Jeopardize endangered species  Inundate a major scenic attraction  Displace inhabitants

13. Flooding in Northern China Huang He (Yellow River) North China Plain Loess Plateau Devastating flood Upstream erosion  sediment load accumulation  rise of lake level  flooding

14. Pollution exporting  How do you think Japan’s environment is?  It’s relatively clean considering large pop and industrialization  Why?  Relocating dirtier factories in wealthier countries to poorer countries due to high cost of production and its strict environmental laws  As a result, pollution is displaced to poorer countries

15. Population and Settlement A Realm of Crowded Lowland Basins

16. East Asia, along with South Asia, is the most densely populated, and most populous region  High population density, but low natural growth  Low fertility in China  “one-child” policy  Population loss and aging in Japan

17. The lowlands in East Asia are among the most intensely used portions Dense settlements in lowlands Light inhabitation in uplands North China Plain Sichuan Basin

18. Agricultural regions in China Rice Wheat, millet, sorghum Abundant precipitation Arid climates

19. Subterranean housing in Loess Plateau

20. Settlement and agricultural patterns in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan  Highly urban  Among the most densely populated countries  Crowded into the alluvial plains or basins  Major food importers  Global resource procurement pattern  Japan is virtually self-sufficient in rice

21. Settlement and agricultural patterns in China and North Korea  Relatively rural  These countries have long been self-sufficient in food, but recently  China is moving towards food imports due to the rapid industrialization

22. Major cities in East Asia Shanghai Beijing Taipei Seoul Tokyo Hong Kong

23. Major cities in East Asia  China  Shanghai: economic center  Beijing: political center  Seoul (South Korea), Taipei (Taiwan)  Characterized by urban primacy  Japanese cities  Characterized by superconurbation

24. Urban concentration in JapanSuperconurbation

25. Cultural Coherence and Diversity A Confucian Realm?

26. East Asia is one of the world’s more unified cultural regions  Ancient Chinese civilization in isolation from other civilizations  Writing systems  Chinese characters  Belief systems  Confucianism, Buddhism

27. The Chinese writing system  Ideographic writing  Each symbol represents an idea rather than a sound  Chinese writing system spread when the Chinese Empire expanded  Korean modifications  Replaced by its own alphabetic system in 1400s  Japanese modifications  Chinese characters (kanji) mixed with hiragana, katakana

28. Belief systems 6c B.C. India Buddhism 2c A.D. Theravada: Mahayana: South, Southeast Asia China Confucianism 6c B.C. Korea, Japan China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam 2c B.C. China Taoism Zen Shinto (Japan) Geomancy

29. The Confucian legacy  Confucius’s philosophy aimed at generating social stability (6 th century B.C.)  Deference for authority  authoritarian government  Emphasis on education (meritocracy)  advantage in competition in global economy  Confucianism in Japan was not as important as it was on the mainland

30. Secularism in East Asia  East Asia is one of the most secular regions of the world  Confucianism as a philosophy rather than a faith  Mahayana Buddhism is nonexclusive  Most of Shinto-observing Japanese are not devout  Marxist orthodoxy in communist states

31. The language geography of East Asia Korean Japanese Han Chinese who speak Mandarin     Non-Han Chinese who speak distinct languages  : Non-Han Chinese who speak distinct languages AustronesianAustronesian Taiwanese (Fujianese)Taiwanese (Fujianese) MandarinMandarin Han Chinese who speak language closely related to Mandarin

32. Geopolitical Framework The Imperial Legacies of China and Japan

33.  Centrality of China (until 1800s)  Japanese Empire (in the first half of 20 th century)  Political split by Cold War rivalries (after WWII)

34. The Evolution of China  For most of the past 2000 years, the Chinese Empire was Earth’s wealthiest and most powerful state 1800 B.C. Chinese civilization 200 B.C. The first political unification 1800s A.D. Decline in power  The Chinese Empire failed to keep pace with the technological progress of Europe in the 1800s

35. The historical extent of China (200s B.C. ~ 1800s)

36. China in the 1800s 1840s Opium Wars  Hong Kong ceded to British 1850s Northernmost Manchuria annexed to Russia 1900 China divided into “spheres of influence”: European power

38. The Rise of Japan Sino-Japanese War Taiwan ceded to Japan Russo-Japanese War 1868 Meiji Restoration 189519051910 Annexed Korea 1931 Conquered Manchuria 1941 Attacked U.S. pacific fleet in Pearl Harbor 1945 End of WWII

40. Postwar geopolitics  Division of Korea  1945 ~ 1950  North occupied by the Soviet Union; South occupied by U.S.  Korean War (1950~53)  Korea became a divided country with two governments  Division of China  Civil conflict between nationalists and communists ended with the Chinese Revolution (1949), forcing the nationalists to retreat to Taiwan

41. Geopolitical issues in East Asia  Global  Cold War : communist bloc  capitalist economy  Korean DMZ, Taiwan-China tensions Korean DMZ  End of Cold War: U.S.  China  Regional: Border dispute  China  India, Southeast Asia, Russia  Local: Autonomy in China  Autonomous regions in China (eg. Tibet, Xinjiang)  Former colonies returned to China (eg. Hong Kong, Macau)

42. The demilitarized zone in Korea

43. Geopolitical issues in East Asia

44. Economic and Social Development An Emerging Core of the Global Economy

45.  The Japanese economic system  The newly industrialized countries  Chinese development

46.  Disparities between capitalist and communist bloc  Rapid economic growth in the second half of 20 th century  Increasingly, East Asia function as a global economic core

47. Guandong, and Shanghai are relatively well connected to the global economy while interior portions of China are isolated from the world economy Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea are highly integrated into global economic networks East Asia’s global ties

48. Let’s compare the economic system of Japan to that of U.S.  Role of private sector U.S.Japan  Role of bureaucracy  Firms are significantly influenced by investors  Flexibility  Loose relationship between employers and employees  Interconnection between a group of companies  Tighter relationship between employers and employees  Stability

49. Let’s compare the social system of Japan to that of U.S. Low U.S.Japan High Basic living cost Social condition Unemployment Crime rate Illiteracy rate Poverty level High Low Civil liberties Work hour Discrimination ShortLong LowHigh

50. The Rise of South Korea  In the 1960s, government initiated a program of export-led economic growth  Government-business ties  Chaebol (large industrial conglomerates)  Economic transformation  inexpensive consumer goods  heavy industrial products  high-tech equipment  Economic development has been achieved at the expense of political and social development  Pressure for democratization in the late 1980s Newly industrialized countries:

51. Taiwan and Hong Kong  Taiwan  Taiwanese government guided the economic development of the country  Organized around small to mid-size family firms  High-tech business; Close overseas economic connections  Hong Kong  One of the most laissez-faire economic systems in the world (little government control)  One of the world’s most important trading ports  Business services, banking, and telecommunication; Close overseas economic connections Newly industrialized countries:

52. Chinese development  Under the communist rule, the economy was nearly stagnant  “Great Leap Forward”, “Cultural Revolution”  Capitalist openings in the late 1970s  Gradual economic reform while political system remain the same  Special Economic Zones (SEZs)  Attract foreign investment with minimal state interference  Mostly located in the coastal region  Brought huge success shown in economic growth since 1990s  Joined WTO in 2001

53. Economic and social differentiation in China The benefits of economic growth have not been evenly distributed throughout the country  Booming coastal region  Impoverished Interior China

54.  In general, high social indicator despite the poverty in China and North Korea

55. China’s population quandary  “One-child” policy in the 1980s  Has reduced its growth rate  TFR 1.8, RNI 0.9  But generated social tensions and human-rights abuses  Growing gender imbalance through abortion and female infanticide

56. Child-care facilities in China  High female labor force participation in China

57. Demographic change in China In-migration High fertility

58. The position of women in East Asia  Women have historically had a relatively low position in East Asia  Foot binding in the premodern China  Advanced career opportunities remain limited for women  Drop in marriage rate in Japanese women