CULTURES AND RELIGIONS IN
SOUTHERN AND EASTERN
ASIA
STANDARD:
SS7G12 – THE STUDENT WILL ANALYZE
THE DIVERSE CULTURES OF THE
PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN SOUTHERN AND
EASTERN ASIA
a. Explain the differences between an ethnic
group and a religious group.
b. Compare and contrast the prominent
religions in southern and eastern Asia:
Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Shintoism,
and the philosophy of Confucianism.
c. Evaluate how the literacy rate affects the
standard of living.
Different religions and ethnic
groups
• Southern and Eastern Asia is made up of
a blend of various religious and ethnic
groups.
• Ethnic groups like the Chams of Vietnam,
Tagalog of the Phillipines, and Javanese
of Indonesia.
• Different religious groups like Buddhists,
Muslims, and Hindus as well as Shintoists
and Confucianists
Religious group vs. Ethnic Group
• Religious Group – group made up of
common beliefs. Can have different
languages, cultures, and race. They may
be spread over many countries.
• Ethnic Group – group made up of people
with similar language and culture. They
may or may not share religious beliefs or
values. Usually of the same race with
common ancestors.
Buddhism
• Originated in Northern India
• Fourth largest religion in the world.
• Siddhartha Gautama was the first “Buddha” or
“enlightened one”
• Traveled all over India spreading his teachings
and philosophies and gathered a following.
• Buddhists do not believe in a god.
• They follow the teachings of one man “Buddha”
• Basic ideas of their beliefs include:
Buddhist Teachings
• 1. The Four Noble Truths – basic instructions that say
suffering exists in the world and humans must reach
enlightenment to rise above the sufferings.
• 2. Holy Book – Tripitaka – tells Buddha’s teachings.
• 3. Man worship – they do not worship a god, but they
instead thank Buddha through reading the tripitaka to
become more enlightened.
• 4. Ultimate Goal – Nirvana – a state of enlightenment
where one can achieve peace and happiness through
meditation.
• 5. Reincarnation – a belief in a cycle of birth and rebirth.
They believe one’s behavior in this life determines what
they will be in the next life.
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The
Silk
Road
The Silk Road began about the 5
th
to the 4th centuries BC.
Traders used this road to carry goods
to and from Asia and Europe.
It included many branches, rather
than just one direct route.
Many middlemen were involved in the trade occurring over the
4,000 mile route.
Traders would never travel the entire route with their goods.
Camel caravans were used to transport goods along the Silk
Road.
It was the longest road on Earth.
The Silk Road started in Xi’an, in northwestern China & ended
in Antioch on the Medditerrian Coast
The journey was difficult, dangerous, and long.
The Products and Ideas that Traveled the
Road
People at each end of the Silk Road, as well as along the way,
wanted to trade their goods with each other.
Crops from western Asia went to China, and glass from Europe
and cotton cloth from India traveled to China.
The Chinese traded silk with the rest of Asia and Europe.
Europeans also wanted spices.
Asians wanted wool, gold, and silver from the west.
Buddhism spread along the Silk Road.
Travelers as well as local people liked the Buddhist idea that
thought their present life is full of suffering, the cycle of birth,
death, rebirth, and suffering can be broken by following
Buddhist ideas and practices.
The Road’s Importance
• Traders used the Silk Road until a safe sea route from
Europe to Asia was possible.
• A safer and faster water passage route connecting
Eastern Europe to India and China had to be found.
• Then, instead of getting goods via the middlemen of
Central Asia, European traders could buy spices and
other goods from East Asia directly, and then sell them
in European markets.
• Once the sea-routes started in the 15th &
16th century, the Silk Road fell into disuse.
Hinduism
• It is the oldest religion.
• Around1500 BC, Aryan people migrated to the
Indus Valley, where Pakistan is today (Hindu
means Indus)
• Hinduism does not have any founder or any
prophets, and it does not come from the
teachings of one man.
• By 4th c. BC, Hinduism had spread through all of
India.
• As it spread, Vedic Hinduism mixed with local
religious practices.
Hinduism
• Largely practiced in India
• 80% of Indians proclaim to be Hindus.
• Believe in many gods and goddesses who
are images of a single god.
• They worship two goddesses the most:
Vishnu and Shiva
Hindu Teachings
• A person’s Karma (good or bad behavior)
determines their place in life.
• Ultimate Goal – achieve moksha (freedom from
the cycle of reincarnation)
• They do not have one sacred text.
• They read many texts called the Vedas which
teach them proper behavior.
• They live by a Caste System – The system
divides people into classes. The top class is the
Brahmans (priests), Kashatriyas (soldiers),
Vaishyas (merchants), and Shudras (laborers).
THE CASTE SYSTEM
•began 3,000 years ago
•when Aryans took over India they thought of themselves
as superior and the conquered Indians as subordinate so
started the class system
•untouchable (AKA dalits) is the lowest class that deals
with sweeping the streets, handling dead people and
animals, and tending to pigs that feed on the village
garbage; they must live away from the others and are not
permitted to use the village wells
•it divides the population into hereditary (passed from one
generation to the next) social groups
•1) Brahmin (priest), 2) Kshatriya (soldiers), 3) Vaisya
(merchants & farmers), 4) Sudras (laborers),
5) untouchable
•you belong to same caste all your life; jobs are passed
down from father to son
•according to the rule of karma, if one is an untouchable,
one has no one to blame but one’s self so instead of
complaining, that person had better do a good job to move
up the ladder
Moksha
Islam (Indonesia)
• Based on the teachings of one man like
Buddhism. The man was Muhammad.
• He is to them the greatest prophet of their
one god, allah.
• Main holy book is the Quran. (Koran)
• Two basic groups Shiites and Sunnis
disagree on many of the basic teachings.
Islamic Teachings
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Five Pillars
1. proclaim your faith
2. prayer 5 times a day
3. fasting (during Ramadan)
4. Almsgiving (charity)
5. Pilgrimage (visit to their most holy site
of Mecca)
Shintoism
• Unique to Japan
• Has not spread to other parts of the world
like the others.
• Basic structure says everything in nature
contains Kami (or the spirit of a god).
• Has no rules for moral living and no
concepts of a single ruling god.
Shinto Teaching
• Expected to be reverent to nature, life, birth, and fertility.
• Teaches physical purity is more important than moral
purity.
• They build shrines and worship their ancestors who they
believe became Kami (spirits) when they died.
• Shinto is often practiced along with another religion
because it has no rules of moral living or a god of its
own.
• When entering a shrine, a follower passes through a
Tori, or gate – this symbolizes movement from the
human world to the world of the gods
Philosophy of Confucianism
(China)
• Not really a religion according to some but
a philosophy.
• Comes from the teachings of one man.
• Confucius supposedly created a moral
structure for social life and politics that
every man should follow.
• Does not teach of one true ruling god.
Teachings of Confucianism
• Each person has his or her place in society.
• Each person should accept his or her place so society
can function well.
• 5 basic types of relationships where one must accept
whether they are superior or inferior:
– Ruler and subject
– Father and son
– Husband and wife
– Older brother and younger brother
– Friend and friend
Rulers are to be respected as long as they are fair and care for the
people.
Family relationships are essential to having good society and family
respect is the foundation of all ethics.
•The Asian people have always considered the family to be the most
important part of society.
•The individual thought of himself as a member of the family.
•If the individual was successful, the prestige of the family was
increased but if the individual was a failure, that brought shame on
the whole family.
•Arranging marriages was the responsibility of the parents.
•The bride and groom had little to say about the choice of their mate
or marriage arrangement.
•In most cases the bride had not seen her husband before.
•The most difficult adjustment was to her mother-in-law as the
mother-in-law was responsible for training and discipline her
daughter-in-law.
•Women were never considered equal to men.
•When there was famine, girls were often sold by their parents
who regarded them as just another mouth to feed.
•Girls sometimes as young as six were often betrothed (promised
marriage).
•If the girl’s parents experienced bad times, she would be sent to
work in the house of her future husband.
•Young brides were often mistreated by their mother-in-laws.
•If a woman's husband died, she was not allowed to remarry.
NOW
•Since after World War II, women gained equal rights with men.
•Women can now seek divorce and own property.
•There are little forced marriages
Indian Language
•Hindi is major native language,
•Sanskrit is the ancient, holy language;
3,000 years old, used by upper & educated class
•different language has divided India into many small
states
•following words come from Indian languages: bungalow,
khaki, loot, pajamas, punch, thug
•China is made up of many different peoples.
•About 94% of the people are know as Han Chinese
•The other 6% of China is made up of 55 different groups.
•Most of the minorities live in the sparsely populated western China.
•The minority peoples differ from the Han Chinese in language,
religion, race, custom, and history.
•Some minorities (like Tibet)
want independence, but China will
probably never loosen its control
over the regions because they have
most of China’s natural resources.
•Korea is called “The Land of the Morning Calm”
•It is a peninsula nation that extends off the east coast of Asia
between China and Japan
•Only one-fifth of the land is suitable for farming.
•The peninsula is divided into two countries, N. and S. Korea
•Because of its location near China and Japan, invading armies
swept through Korea many times.
•The invaders settled down and intermarried with the local people.
•Like Japan, Korea is homogeneous (one type) with 99.9 % of its
people Korean
•The Korean people were united into one cultural group hundreds of
years ago.
•many people live in village which is the center of life
•house made of bamboo and wood; roofs are steep with palm
leaves
•well is the place for gossip
•tool shed is for everyone
•wat is the village temple
•under the house is where the family water buffalo lives
•sleep on mats; no electricity, no running water, bathe at river
•major food is broiled meat served on thin bamboo skewers (satay)
•The diet and cuisine of the Japanese have been strongly
influenced by geography and agriculture
•Rice has always been the staple food in Japan
•The scarcity of meat, together with the Buddhist taboo
against the taking of animal life made the Japanese nonmeat eaters, except for fish, for most of their history.
•Much of the fish in Japan is eaten raw, wither in small
slices called sashimi or as sushi which combines the fish
with seaweed and rice
•Another source of protein besides fish is soybean which is
used to make tofu
Ikebana - It is the art of flower arrangement
•Ikebana uses line, color, and rhythm to create
floral designs
Bonsai - For centuries the Japanese have
developed the art of dwarfing (making things small) trees.
•This is the art of bonsai which are planted in pots, are used for
ornaments in rooms or to decorate a garden
•Noh Play: the backdrop is often a single pine tree
•In Noh plays there are usually three roles - an old man, a woman,
and a samurai
•Noh plays are usually short and they are presented as a group of
plays with performances as long as 6 hours.
•The groups plays are about subjects such as: God plays, warriorghost plays, women plays, and demon plays.
•Dancing and chanting accompany the
action of the plays.
•Masks and beautifully designed
costumes are worn by the actordancers
•Bunraku is a puppet play where the puppets
are nearly life-size and are very lifelike.
•They are controlled on the stage by a team
of three puppeteers who are visible
to the audience
•The puppeteer’s performances depend upon
long years of practice and teamwork
•The most popular type of drama for the Japanese
is Kabuki
•All roles in Kabuki, both male and female were until
recently played by men
•Actors taking feminine roles were trained from
childhood to walk, talk, and behave like
women.
•Haiku is the simplest form of poetry
•It consists of one verse with 17
syllables, spaced over three lines
in a 5-7-5 pattern
Standard of Living in Southern and
Eastern Asia
• A country’s literacy rate affects its
standard of living
• Better education means higher standard of
living.
• Countries invest in their human capital
(people) by promoting better education
and high expectations
• Poverty has a major effect on a country’s
literacy rate
Literacy rates in Southern and
Eastern Asia
• Highest – Japan 99%
• Lowest – India 61%
• In all but Japan, females are less literate
than males
• Comes from traditional beliefs about
women’s place in the home.
• Japan’s males and females have an equal
literacy rate.