East Asia

East Asia

Area	11,840,000 km2 (4,570,000 sq mi) (3rd)
Population	1.6 billion (2020; 4th)
Population density	141.9/km2 (54.8/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	$37 trillion (2021)[1]
GDP (nominal)	$25.6 trillion (2021)[2]
GDP per capita	$16,000 (nominal)[2]
Demonym	East Asian
Countries	show 6 states[3][4][5][6]  China  Japan  Mongolia  North Korea  South Korea  Taiwan
Dependencies	show 2 autonomous dependencies  Hong Kong (China)  Macau (China)
Languages	Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Tibetan, Others
Time zones	UTC+7, UTC+8 & UTC+9
Largest cities	List of urban areas:[7] Beijing Shanghai Tokyo Seoul Yokohama Pyongyang Ulaanbaatar Taipei Hong Kong Macau Shenzhen Osaka
UN M49 code	030 – Eastern Asia 142 – Asia 001 – World

East Asia, sometimes defined geographically as Northeast Asia^[8] and abbreviated as EA or NEA, is along with Southeast Asia located at the far eastern regions of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms.^[9][10]

The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan.^[3][4][5][6] China, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan are all unrecognized by at least one other East Asian state due to severe ongoing political tensions in the region, specifically the division of Korea and the political status of Taiwan. Hong Kong and Macau, two small coastal quasi-dependent territories located in the south of China, are officially highly autonomous but are under de jure Chinese sovereignty. East Asia borders Siberia and the Russian Far East to the north, Southeast Asia to the south, South Asia to the southwest, and Central Asia to the west. To the east is the Pacific Ocean and to the southeast is Micronesia (a Pacific Ocean island group, classified as part of Oceania).

East Asia, especially Chinese civilization, is regarded as one of the earliest cradles of civilization. Other ancient civilizations in East Asia that still exist as independent countries in the present day include the Japanese, Korean and Mongolian civilizations. Various other civilizations existed in East Asia in the past but have since been absorbed into neighbouring civilizations in the present day, such as Tibet, Baiyue, Manchuria and Ryukyu, among many others. Taiwan has a relatively young history in the region after the prehistoric era; originally, it was a major site of Austronesian civilization prior to colonization by European colonial powers and China from the 17th century onward. For thousands of years, China was the leading civilization in the region, exerting influence on its neighbors.^[11][12][13] Historically, societies in East Asia have fallen within the Chinese sphere of influence, and East Asian vocabulary and scripts are often derived from Classical Chinese and Chinese script. The Chinese calendar serves as the root from which many other East Asian calendars are derived. Major religions in East Asia include Buddhism (mostly Mahayana^[14]), Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, Taoism, Ancestral worship, and Chinese folk religion in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, Shintoism in Japan, and Christianity, and Sindoism in Korea.^[15][16][17] Tengerism and Tibetan Buddhism are prevalent among Mongols and Tibetans while other religions such as Shamanism are widespread among the indigenous populations of northeastern China such as the Manchus.^[18][19][20] Major languages in East Asia include Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Major ethnic groups of East Asia include the Han (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan), Yamato (Japan) and Koreans (North Korea, South Korea). Mongols, although not as populous as the previous three ethnic groups, constitute the majority of Mongolia's population. There are 76 officially-recognized minority or indigenous ethnic groups in East Asia; 55 native to mainland China (including Hui, Manchus, Chinese Mongols, Tibetans, Uyghurs and Zhuang in the frontier regions), 16 native to the island of Taiwan (collectively known as Taiwanese indigenous peoples), one native to the major Japanese island of Hokkaido (the Ainu) and four native to Mongolia (Turkic peoples). Ryukyuan people are an unrecognised ethnic group indigenous to the Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan, which stretch from Kyushu Island (Japan) to Taiwan. There are also several unrecognised indigenous ethnic groups in mainland China and Taiwan.

East Asian people comprise around 1.7 billion people, making up about 38% of the population in Continental Asia and 20.5% of the global population.^[21][22][23] The region is home to major world metropolises such as Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, and Tokyo. Although the coastal and riparian areas of the region form one of the world's most populated places, the population in Mongolia and Western China, both landlocked areas, is very sparsely distributed, with Mongolia having the lowest population density of a sovereign state. The overall population density of the region is 133 inhabitants per square kilometre (340/sq mi), about three times the world average of 45/km² (120/sq mi).^{[when?][citation needed]}

East Asia has some of the world's largest and most prosperous economies: Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.^[24]

History[]

China was the first region settled in East Asia and was undoubtedly the core of East Asian civilization from where other parts of East Asia were formed.^[25] The various other regions in East Asia were selective in the Chinese influences they adopted into their local customs. Historian Ping-ti Ho famously labeled Chinese civilization as the "Cradle of Eastern Civilization", in parallel with the "Cradle of Western Civilization" along the Fertile Crescent encompassing Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt.^[26]

Chinese civilization existed for about 1500 years before other East Asian civilizations emerged into history, Imperial China would exert much of its cultural, economic, technological, and political muscle onto its neighbors.^{[27][28][29][30]} Succeeding Chinese dynasties exerted enormous influence across East Asia culturally, economically, politically and militarily for over two millennia.^[30][31][32] The Imperial Chinese tributary system shaped much of East Asia's history for over two millennia due to Imperial China's economic and cultural influence over the region, and thus played a huge role in the history of East Asia in particular.^[33][34][29] Imperial China's cultural preeminence not only led the country to become East Asia's first literate nation in the entire region, it also supplied Japan and Korea with Chinese loanwords and linguistic influences rooted in their writing systems.^[35]

Under Emperor Wu of Han, the Han dynasty made China the regional power in East Asia, projecting much of its imperial power on its neighbors.^[30][36] Han China hosted the largest unified population in East Asia, the most literate and urbanized as well as being the most economically developed, as well as the most technologically and culturally advanced civilization in the region at the time.^[37][38] Cultural and religious interaction between the Chinese and other regional East Asian dynasties and kingdoms occurred. China's impact and influence on Korea began with the Han dynasty's northeastern expansion in 108 BC when the Han Chinese conquered the northern part of the Korean peninsula and established a province called Lelang. Chinese influence would soon take root in Korea through the inclusion of the Chinese writing system, monetary system, rice culture, and Confucian political institutions.^[39] Jomon society in ancient Japan incorporated wet-rice cultivation and metallurgy through its contact with Korea. Starting from the fourth century AD, Japan incorporated the Chinese writing system which evolved into Kanji by the fifth century AD and has become a significant part of the Japanese writing system.^[40] Utilizing the Chinese writing system allowed the Japanese to conduct their daily activities, maintain historical records and give form to various ideas, thoughts, and philosophies.^[41] During the Tang dynasty, China exerted its greatest influence on East Asia as various aspects of Chinese culture spread to Japan and Korea.^[42][43] As full-fledged medieval East Asian states were established, Korea by the fourth century AD and Japan by the seventh century AD, Japan and Korea actively began to incorporate Chinese influences such as Confucianism, the use of written Han characters, Chinese style architecture, state institutions, political philosophies, religion, urban planning, and various scientific and technological methods into their culture and society through direct contacts with Tang China and succeeding Chinese dynasties.^[42][43][44] Drawing inspiration from the Tang political system, Prince Naka no oe launched the Taika Reform in 645 AD where he radically transformed Japan's political bureaucracy into a more centralized bureaucratic empire.^[45] The Japanese also adopted Mahayana Buddhism, Chinese style architecture, and the imperial court's rituals and ceremonies, including the orchestral music and state dances had Tang influences. Written Chinese gained prestige and aspects of Tang culture such as poetry, calligraphy, and landscape painting became widespread.^[45] During the Nara period, Japan began to aggressively import Chinese culture and styles of government which included Confucian protocol that served as a foundation for Japanese culture as well as political and social philosophy.^[46][47] The Japanese also created laws adopted from the Chinese legal system that was used to govern in addition to the kimono, which was inspired from the Chinese robe (hanfu) during the eighth century AD.^[48] For many centuries, most notably from the 7th to the 14th centuries, China stood as East Asia's most advanced civilization and foremost military and economic power exerting its influence as the transmission of advanced Chinese cultural practices and ways of thinking greatly shaped the region up until the nineteenth century.^{[49][50][51][52]}

As East Asia's connections with Europe and the Western world strengthened during the late nineteenth century, China's power began to decline.^[27][53] By the mid-nineteenth century, the weakening Qing dynasty became fraught with political corruption, obstacles and stagnation that was incapable of rejuvenating itself as a world power in contrast to the industrializing Imperial European colonial powers and a rapidly modernizing Japan.^[54][55] The U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry would open Japan to Western ways, and the country would expand in earnest after the 1860s.^[56][57][58] Around the same time, Japan with its rush to modernity transformed itself from an isolated feudal samurai state into East Asia's first industrialized nation in the modern era.^[59][60][57] The modern and militarily powerful Japan would galvanize its position in the Orient as East Asia's greatest power with a global mission poised to advance to lead the entire world.^[59][61] By the early 1900s, the Japanese empire succeeded in asserting itself as East Asia's most dominant power.^[61] With its newly found international status, Japan would begin to challenge the European colonial powers and inextricably took on a more active geopolitical position in East Asia and world affairs at large.^[62] Flexing its nascent political and military might, Japan soundly defeated the stagnant Qing dynasty during the First Sino-Japanese War as well as vanquishing imperial rival Russia in 1905; the first major military victory in the modern era of an East Asian power over a European one.^{[63][64][65][66][56]} Its hegemony was the heart of an empire that would include Taiwan and Korea.^[59] During World War II, Japanese expansionism with its imperialist aspirations through the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere would incorporate Korea, Taiwan, much of eastern China and Manchuria, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia under its control establishing itself as a maritime colonial power in East Asia.^[67] After a century of exploitation by the European and Japanese colonialists, post-colonial East Asia saw the defeat and occupation of Japan by the victorious Allies as well as the division of China and Korea during the Cold War. The Korean peninsula became independent but then it was divided into two rival states, while Taiwan became the main territory of de facto state Republic of China after the latter lost Mainland China to the People's Republic of China in the Chinese Civil War. During the latter half of the twentieth century, the region would see the post war economic miracle of Japan, which ushered in three decades of unprecedented growth, only to experience an economic slowdown during the 1990s, but nonetheless Japan continues to remain a global economic power. East Asia would also see the economic rise of South Korea and Taiwan, and the integration of Mainland China into the global economy through its entry in the World Trade Organization while enhancing its emerging international status as a potential world power.^[3][68][69] Although there have been no wars in East Asia for decades, the stability of the region remains fragile because of North Korea's nuclear program.

Definitions[]

Three sets of possible boundaries for the Central Asia region that overlap with conceptions of East Asia

In common usage, the term "East Asia" typically refers to a region including Greater China, Japan, and Korea.^{[70][71][72][73][21][74][75][76][77][78][69]}

China, Japan, and Korea represent the three core countries and civilizations of traditional East Asia - as they once shared a common written language, culture, as well as sharing Confucian philosophical tenets and the Confucian societal value system once instituted by Imperial China.^{[79][80][81][82][83]} Other usages define Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan as countries that constitute East Asia based on their geographic proximity as well as historical and modern cultural and economic ties, particularly with Japan and Korea having strong cultural influences that originated from China.^{[79][83][84][85][86][87]} Some scholars include Vietnam as part of East Asia as it has been considered part of the greater Chinese sphere of influence. Though Confucianism continues to play an important role in Vietnamese culture, Chinese characters are no longer used in its written language and many scholarly organizations classify Vietnam as a Southeast Asian country.^[88][89][90] Mongolia is geographically north of Mainland China yet Confucianism and the Chinese writing system and culture had limited impact on Mongolian society. Thus, Mongolia is sometimes grouped with Central Asian countries such as Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.^[88][89] Xinjiang (East Turkestan) and Tibet are sometimes seen as part of Central Asia.^[91][92][93]

Broader and looser definitions by international organizations such as the World Bank refer to the "three major Northeast Asian economies, i.e. Mainland China, Japan, and South Korea", as well as Mongolia, North Korea, the Russian Far East and Siberia.^[94] The Council on Foreign Relations includes the Russia Far East, Mongolia, and Nepal.^[95] The World Bank also acknowledges the roles of sub-national or de facto states, such as Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. The Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia defines the region as "China, Japan, the Koreas, Nepal, Mongolia, and eastern regions of the Russian Federation".^[96]

The countries of East Asia also form the core of Northeast Asia, which itself is a broader region.

East Asia map of Köppen climate classification.

UNSD geoscheme for Asia based on statistic convenience rather than implying any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories:^[97]

  North Asia

  Central Asia

  Western Asia

  South Asia

  East Asia

  Southeast Asia

The UNSD definition of East Asia is based on statistical convenience,^[97] but also other common definitions of East Asia contain the Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.^[9][98]

Alternative definitions[]

In business and economics, "East Asia" is sometimes used to refer to the geographical area covering ten Southeast Asian countries in ASEAN, Greater China, Japan and Korea. However, in this context, the term "Far East" is used by the Europeans to cover ASEAN countries and the countries in East Asia. However, being a Eurocentric term, Far East describes the region's geographical position in relation to Europe rather than its location within Asia. Alternatively, the term "Asia Pacific Region" is often used in describing East Asia, Southeast Asia as well as Oceania.^{[citation needed]}

Observers preferring a broader definition of "East Asia" often use the term Northeast Asia to refer to China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan, with Southeast Asia covering the ten ASEAN countries as well as the island of Taiwan. This usage is often seen in economic and diplomatic discussions.^{[99][100][101]} The Council on Foreign Relations of the United States defines Northeast Asia as Japan and Korea.^[95]

Economy[]

Customs territory	GDP nominal billions of USD (2021)[1]	GDP nominal per capita USD (2021)[1]	GDP PPP billions of USD (2021)[1]	GDP PPP per capita USD (2021)[1]
China	16,642.318	11,819	26,656.766	17,205.654
Hong Kong[102]	368.633	49,036	472.395	58,165.200
Macau[103]	39.449	58,004	61.623	58,930.534
Japan	5,378.136	42,928	5,585.786	41,636.628
Mongolia	14.233	4,172	42.412	12,259.059
North Korea	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
South Korea	1,806.707	34,866	2,436.875	44,292.194
Taiwan[a]	759.104	32,123	1,403.663	54,019.882
East Asia	$25,008.58	$14,858	$36,659.52	$21,779.585

Territorial and regional data[]

Etymology[]

Flag	Common Name		Official Name		ISO 3166 Country Codes[104]
	Exonym	Endonym	Exonym	Endonym	ISO Short Name	Alpha-2 Code	Alpha-3 Code	Numeric
	China	中国	People's Republic of China	中华人民共和国	China	CN	CHN	156
	Hong Kong	香港	Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China	中華人民共和國香港特別行政區	Hong Kong	HK	HKG	344
	Macau	澳門	Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China	中華人民共和國澳門特別行政區	Macao	MO	MAC	446
	Japan	日本	Japan	日本国	Japan	JP	JPN	392
	Mongolia	Монгол улс / ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠤᠯᠤᠰ	Mongolia	Монгол Улс（ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠤᠯᠤᠰ）	Mongolia	MN	MNG	496
	North Korea	조선	Democratic People's Republic of Korea	조선민주주의인민공화국	Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of)	KP	PRK	408
	South Korea	한국	Republic of Korea	대한민국	Korea (the Republic of)	KR	KOR	410
	Taiwan[105]	臺灣 / 台灣	Republic of China	中華民國	Taiwan [106]	TW	TWN	158

Demographics[]

State/Territory	Area km2	Population[107][108] (2018)	Population density per km2	HDI[109]	Capital/Administrative Center
China	9,640,011[b]	1,427,647,786[c]	138	0.761	Beijing
Hong Kong	1,104	7,371,730	6,390	0.949	Hong Kong
Macau	30	631,636	18,662	0.914	Macao
Japan	377,930	127,202,192	337	0.919	Tokyo
Mongolia	1,564,100	3,170,216	2	0.737	Ulaanbaatar
North Korea	120,538	25,549,604	198	0.733	Pyongyang[110]
South Korea	100,210	51,171,706	500	0.916	Seoul
Taiwan	36,197		639	0.916	Taipei[111]
East Asia	11,840,000	1,683,205,624	141	0.856 (very high)

Ethnic groups[]

Ethnicity	Native name	Population	Language(s)	Writing system(s)	Major states/territories*	Traditional attire
Han/Chinese	漢族 or 汉族	1,313,345,856[112]	Chinese (Mandarin, Min, Wu, Yue, Jin, Gan, Hakka, Xiang, Huizhou, Pinghua, etc.)	Simplified Han characters, Traditional Han characters	()
Yamato/Japanese	大和民族	125,117,000[113]	Japanese	Han characters (Kanji), Katakana, Hiragana
Korean	조선족 (朝鮮族) 한민족 (韓民族)	79,432,225[citation needed]	Korean	Hangul, Han characters (Hanja)
Bai	白族	1,858,063	Bai, Southwestern Mandarin	Simplified Han characters, Latin script
Hui	回族	10,586,087[citation needed]	Northwestern Mandarin, other Chinese Dialects, Huihui language, etc.	Simplified Han characters[d]
Mongols	Монголчууд ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯᠴᠤᠳ Монгол/ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ	8,942,528	Mongolian	Mongol script, Cyrillic script
Zhuang	壮族/Bouxcuengh	18,000,000	Zhuang, Southwestern Mandarin, etc.	Simplified Han characters, Latin script
Uyghurs	维吾尔族/ئۇيغۇر	15,000,000+[114]	Uyghur	Arabic alphabet, Latin script	[e]
Manchus	满族/ᠮᠠᠨᠵᡠ	10,422,873[citation needed]	Northeastern Mandarin, Manchu language	Simplified Han characters, Mongol script
Hmong/Miao	苗族/Ghaob Xongb/Hmub/Mongb	9,426,007[citation needed]	Hmong/Miao, Southwestern Mandarin	Latin script, Simplified Han characters
Tibetans	藏族/བོད་པ་	6,500,000	Tibetan, Rgyal Rong, Rgu, etc.	Tibetan script
Yi	彝族/ꆈꌠ	8,714,393	Various Loloish, Southwestern Mandarin	Yi script, Simplified Han characters
Tujia	土家族	8,353,912	Northern Tujia, Southern Tujia	Simplified Han characters
Kam	侗族/Gaeml	2,879,974	Gaeml	Simplified Han characters, Latin script
Tu	土族/Monguor	289,565	Tu, Northwestern Mandarin	Simplified Han characters
Daur	达斡尔族/ᠳᠠᠭᠤᠷ	131,992	Daur, Northeastern Mandarin	Mongol script, Simplified Han characters
Indigenous Taiwanese Peoples	臺灣原住民/ 高山族/ Yincomin/ Kasetaivang/ Inanuwayan	533,600	Austronesian languages (Amis, Yami), etc.	Latin script, Traditional Han characters
Ryukyuan	琉球民族	1,900,000	Japanese Ryukyuan	Han characters (Kanji), Katakana, Hiragana
Ainu	アイヌ/ Aynu/ Айну	200,000	Japanese Ainu[115]	Han characters (Kanji), Katakana, Hiragana

• Note: The order of states/territories follows the population ranking of each ethnicity, within East Asia only.

East Asian culture[]

Overview[]

The culture of East Asia has largely been influenced by China, as it was the civilization that had the most dominant influence in the region throughout the ages that ultimately laid the foundation for East Asian civilization.^[116] The vast knowledge and ingenuity of Chinese civilization and the classics of Chinese literature and culture were seen as the foundations for a civilized life in East Asia. Imperial China served as a vehicle through which the adoption of Confucian ethical philosophy, Chinese calendar system, political and legal systems, architectural style, diet, terminology, institutions, religious beliefs, imperial examinations that emphasized a knowledge of Chinese classics, political philosophy and cultural value systems, as well as historically sharing a common writing system reflected in the histories of Japan and Korea.^{[117][30][118][119][120][121][122][123][83]} The Imperial Chinese tributary system was the bedrock of network of trade and foreign relations between China and its East Asian tributaries, which helped to shape much of East Asian affairs during the ancient and medieval eras. Through the tributary system, the various dynasties of Imperial China facilitated frequent economic and cultural exchange that influenced the cultures of Japan and Korea and drew them into a Chinese international order.^[124][125] The Imperial Chinese tributary system shaped much of East Asia's foreign policy and trade for over two millennia due to Imperial China's economic and cultural dominance over the region, and thus played a huge role in the history of East Asia in particular.^[34][125] The relationship between China and its cultural influence on East Asia has been compared to the historical influence of Greco-Roman civilization on Europe and the Western World.^{[121][119][125][117]}

Religions[]

Religion	Native name	Creator/Current Leader	Founded Time	Main Denomination	Major book	Type	Est. Followers	Ethnic groups	States/territories
Chinese folk religion	中國民間信仰 or 中国民间信仰	Spontaneous formation	5000 years from now[citation needed]	Salvationist, Wuism, Nuo	Chinese classics, Huangdi Sijing, precious scrolls, etc.	Prehistoric，pantheism，and polytheism	~900,000,000[126][127]	Han, Hmong, Qiang, Tujia (worship of the same ancestor-gods)	( )
Taoism	道教	Zhang Daoling, was considered the founder of Taoism by Taoists. He founded Zhengyi, the earlist denomination of Taoism. Zhang Daoling reformed the Chinese folk religion from Szechuan, into a real, organised, and regulated religion, in 125A.D.. Wang Chongyang founded the Quanzhen Denomination. Tale says Wang Chongyang met two Gods, Lü Dongbin and Han Zhongli, during Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in 1159. He then get started to study Taoism himself. Three years later, he finished his studying, and founded Quanzhen. The new leader of Zhengyi need to be the son or paternal nephew of the previous leader, confirmed by the court of Zhengyi, in Mount Longhu, Jiangxi. Also beginning from the Song Dynasty, the leaders of Zhengyi get started to be confirmed and titled by the Emperor of China. In 1949, the 63th leader, Zhang Enfu, fled to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang, died in 1969 in Taipei. The Kuomintang Authority titled his cousin Zhang Yuanxian as the 64th leader, while the Court of Zhengyi back in Jiangxi argued that the oracle already foreseen the leadership will end at the 63th generation. Zhang Yuanxian died in 2008, only left a daughter as heir. Meanwhile, the Kuomintang Authority didn't confirmed the next leader. On the other hand, in Mainland China, Zhang Enfu's second daughter's son, Lu Jintao, changes his surname to Zhang, and get in charge of the Court of Zhengyi currently. For the leader of Quanzhen, the last (18th) leader (1335-1362) was Wanyan Deming, titled by the Emperor of Yuan Dynasty. Wanyan Deming was a Jurchen Taoist, the Wanyan family was the imperial house of Jin Dynasty. There is no official leader of Quanzhen after Wanyan Deming anymore.[citation needed]	125 A.D. Eastern Han dynasty[citation needed]	Zhengyi, Quanzhen	Tao Te Ching	Pantheism, polytheism	~20,000,000[127]	Han, Zhuang, Hmong, Yao, Qiang, Tujia	( )
East Asian Buddhism/Chinese Buddhism	漢傳佛教 or 汉传佛教	The Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Zhuang, made a dream about the Buddha occasionally, then sent people to the Western Regions to Introduce Buddhism to the Capital, Chang'an, in 67 A.D. In 384 A.D., during the Eastern Jin dynasty, Indian Mālānanda introduced the Chinese Buddhism to Baekje. In 552 A.D., King Seong of Baekje offered Buddhism to the Emperor Kinmei of Japan.[citation needed]	67 A.D. Eastern Han dynasty	Mahayana	Diamond Sutra	Non-God, Dualism.	~300,000,000	Han, Korean, Yamato	( )
Tibetan Buddhism	藏传佛教/བོད་བརྒྱུད་ནང་བསྟན།	Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, Prince of the Ancient Xang Xung Kingdom.	1800 years ago	Mahayana, Bon	Anuttarayoga Tantra	Non-God	~10,000,000	Tibetans, Manchus, Mongols
Shamanism[f]	萨满教 or Бөө мөргөл	Spontaneous formation	Prehistoric period		N/A	Prehistoric, polytheism, and pantheism	N/A	Manchus, Mongols, Oroqen
Shintoism	神道	Spontaneous formation	Jōmon period	Shinto sects	Kojiki, Nihon Shoki	Prehistoric，pantheism，and polytheism	N/A	Yamato
Shindo/Muism	신도 or 무교	Spontaneous formation	900 years ago	Shindo sects	N/A	Prehistoric，pantheism，and polytheism	N/A	Korean
Ryukyuan religion	琉球神道 or ニライカナイ信仰	Spontaneous formation	N/A	N/A	N/A	Prehistoric，pantheism，and polytheism	N/A	Ryukyuan	()

Festivals[]

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Festival	Native Name	Other name	Calendar	Date	Gregorian date	Activity	Religious practices	Food	Major ethnicities	Major states/territories
Lunar New Year	農曆新年/农历新年 or 春節/春节	Spring Festival	Chinese	Month 1 Day 1	21 Jan–20 Feb	Family Reunion, Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping, Fireworks	Worship the King of Gods	Jiaozi	Han, Manchus etc.	( )
Korean New Year	설날 or 설	Seollal	Korean	Month 1 Day 1	21 Jan–20 Feb	Ancestors Worship, Family Reunion, Tomb Sweeping	N/A	Tteokguk	Korean
Losar or Tsagaan Sar	藏历新年/ལོ་གསར་ or 查干萨日/Цагаан сар	White Moon	Tibetan, Mongolian	Month 1 Day 1	25 Jan – 2 Mar	Family Reunion, Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping, Fireworks	N/A	Chhaang or Buuz	Tibetans, Mongols, Tu etc.
New Year	元旦	Yuan Dan	Gregorian	1 Jan	1 Jan	Fireworks	N/A	N/A	N/A	( )
Lantern Festival	元宵節 or 元宵节	Upper Yuan Festival (上元节)	Chinese	Month 1 Day 15	4 Feb – 6 Mar	Lanterns Expo, Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping	Birthdate of the God of Sky-officer	Yuanxiao	Han	( ) *
Daeboreum	대보름 or 정월 대보름	Great Full Moon	Korean	Month 1 Day 15	4 Feb – 6 Mar	Greeting of the moon, kite-flying, Jwibulnori, eating nuts (Bureom)	Bonfires (daljip taeugi)	Ogok-bap, namul, nuts	Korean
Hanshi Festival	寒食節 or 寒食节	Cold Food Festival	Solar term	Traditionally, on the 105th day after the Winter solstice. Revised to 1 day before the Qingming Festival by Johann Adam Schall von Bell (Chinese: 汤若望) during the Qing dynasty.	April 3–5	Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping, No cooking hot meal/setting fire, Cold food only. Cuju, etc. (People used to mix this one with the Qingming Festival due to their close dates)	In Memory of a loyal Ancient named Jie Zhitui (Chinese: 介子推), ordered by the Monarch of the Jin (Chinese state), Duke Wen of Jin (Chinese: 重耳)	Cold Food, e.g. Qingtuan	Han, Korean, Mongols	( )
Qingming Festival	清明節 or 清明节	Tomb Sweeping Day	Solar term	15th day after the Vernal Equinox. Just 1 day after the Hanshi Festival, but in much higher repute.	April 4-6th	Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping, Excursion, Planting trees, Flying kites, Tug of war, Cuju, etc. (Almost the same with the Hanshi Festival's, due to their close dates)	Burning Hell money for deceased family members. Planting willow brances to keep ghosts away from houses.	Boiled eggs	Han, Korean, Mongols	( )
Dragon Boat Festival	端午節 or 端午节 or 단오	Duanwu Festival / Dano (Surit-nal)	Chinese / Korean	Month 5 Day 5		Driving poisons & plague away. (China - Dragon Boat Race, Wearing colored lines, Hanging felon herb on the front door.) / (Korea - Washing hair with iris water, ssireum)	Worship various Gods	Zongzi / Surichwitteok (rice cake with herbs)	Han, Korean, Yamato	( ) *
Ghost Festival	中元節 or 中元节 or 백중	Mid Yuan Festival	Chinese	Month 7 Day 15		Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping	Birthdate of the God of Earth-officer		Han, Korean, Yamato	( ) *
Mid-Autumn Festival	中秋節 or 中秋节	中秋祭	Chinese	Month 8 Day 15		Family Reunion, Enjoying Moon view	Worship the Moon Goddess	Mooncake	Han	( ) *
Chuseok	추석 or 한가위	Hangawi	Korean	Month 8 Day 15		Family Reunion, Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping, Enjoying Moon view	N/A	Songpyeon, Torantang (Taro soup)	Korean
Double Ninth Festival	重陽節 or 重阳节	Double Positive Festival	Chinese	Month 9 Day 09		Climbing Mountain, Taking care of elderly, Wearing Cornus.	Worship various Gods		Han, Korean, Yamato	( ) *
Lower Yuan Festival	下元節 or 下元节	N/A	Chinese	Month 10 Day 15		Ancestors Worship, Tomb Sweeping	Birthdate of the God of Water-officer	Ciba	Han	( )
Dongzhi Festival	冬至 or 동지	N/A	Gregorian	Between Dec 21 and Dec 23	Between Dec 21 and Dec 23	Ancestors Worship, Rites to dispel bad spirits	N/A	Tangyuan, Patjuk	Han, Korean	( )
Small New Year	小年	Jizao (祭灶)	Chinese	Month 12 Day 23		Cleaning Houses	Worship the God of Hearth	tanggua	Han, Mongols	( )

*Japan switched the date to the Gregorian calendar after the Meiji Restoration.
*Not always on that Gregorian date, sometimes April 4.

Collaboration[]

East Asian Youth Games[]

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Formerly the East Asian Games, it is a multi-sport event organised by the East Asian Games Association (EAGA) and held every four years since 2019 among athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), as well as the Pacific island of Guam, which is a member of the Oceania National Olympic Committees.

It is one of five Regional Games of the OCA. The others are the Central Asian Games, the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), the South Asian Games and the West Asian Games.

Free trade agreements[]

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Name of agreement	Parties	Leaders at the time	Negotiation begins	Signing date	Starting time	Current status
China–South Korea FTA		Xi Jinping, Park Geun-hye	May, 2012	Jun 01, 2015	Dec 30, 2015	Enforced
China–Japan–South Korea FTA		Xi Jinping, Shinzō Abe, Park Geun-hye	Mar 26, 2013	N/A	N/A	10 round negotiation
Japan-Mongolia EPA		Shinzō Abe, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj	-	Feb 10, 2015	-	Enforced
China-Mongolia FTA		Xi Jinping, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj	N/A	N/A	N/A	Officially proposed
China-HK CEPA		Jiang Zemin, Tung Chee-hwa	-	Jun 29, 2003	-	Enforced
China-Macau CEPA		Jiang Zemin, Edmund Ho Hau-wah	-	Oct 18, 2003	-	Enforced
Hong Kong-Macau CEPA		Carrie Lam, Fernando Chui	Oct 09, 2015	N/A	N/A	Negotiating
ECFA		Hu Jintao, Ma Ying-jeou	Jan 26, 2010	Jun 29, 2010	Aug 17, 2010	Enforced
CSSTA (Based on ECFA)		Xi Jinping, Ma Ying-jeou	Mar, 2011	Jun 21, 2013	N/A	Abolished
CSGTA (Based on ECFA)		Hu Jintao, Ma Ying-jeou	Feb 22, 2011	N/A	N/A	Suspended

Military alliances[]

Name	Abbr.	Parties within the region
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation	SCO	( )
General Security of Military Information Agreement	GSOMIA
Sino-North Korean Mutual Aid and Cooperation Friendship Treaty	-	( )
Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan	-
Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea	-
Taiwan Relations Act (Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty before 1980)	TRA (SAMDT)
Major non-NATO ally (Global Partners of NATO)	-	[128]

Major cities[]

v Largest population centres of East Asia [129][130]
	Rank	City name		Pop.
Tokyo Seoul	1	Tokyo	Japan	38,140,000	Shanghai Beijing
	2	Seoul	South Korea	25,520,000
	3	Shanghai	China	24,484,000
	4	Beijing	China	21,240,000
	5	Osaka	Japan	20,337,000
	6	Chongqing	China	13,744,000
	7	Guangzhou	China	13,070,000
	8	Tianjin	China	11,558,000
	9	Shenzhen	China	10,828,000
	10	Chengdu	China	10,104,000

• 

  Tokyo is the capital of Japan and one of the largest cities in the world, both in metropolitan population and economy.

• 

  Seoul is the capital of South Korea, leading global technology hub.

• 

  Shanghai is the largest city in China and one of the largest in the world, and is a global financial centre and transport hub with the world's busiest container port.

• 

  Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China and the largest metropolis in northern China.

• 

  Osaka is the second largest metropolitan area in Japan.

• 

  Guangzhou is one of the most important cities in southern China. It has a history of over 2,200 years and was a major terminus of the maritime Silk Road and continues to serve as a major port and transportation hub today.

• 

  Nagoya is the third largest metropolitan area in Japan. Nagoya is famous as the location of Lexus headquarters.

• 

  Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan for eleven centuries.

• 

  Taipei is the de facto capital of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and anchors a major high-tech industrial area in Taiwan.

• 

  Kaohsiung is the second largest metropolitan area in Taiwan. The Port of Kaohsiung is the largest and busiest harbour in Taiwan

• 

  Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia with a population of 1 million as of 2008.

• 

  Hong Kong is one of the world's leading global financial centres and is known as a cosmopolitan metropolis.

• 

  Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea, and is a metropolis on the Korean Peninsula.

• 

  Xi'an or Chang'an is the oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, having held the position under several of the most important dynasties. It has a significant cultural influence in East Asia.

• Play media

  Pass of the ISS over Mongolia, looking out west towards the Pacific Ocean, China, and Japan. As the video progresses, you can see major cities along the coast and the Japanese islands on the Philippine Sea. The island of Guam can be seen further down the pass into the Philippine Sea, and the pass ends just to the east of New Zealand. A lightning storm can be seen as light pulses near the end of the video.

See also[]

• China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit
• East Asia Summit
• East Asia–United States relations
• East Asian Community
• East Asian languages
• East Asian studies
• East Asian cultural sphere

Notes[]

References[]

Further reading[]

• Church, Peter. A short history of South-East Asia (John Wiley & Sons, 2017).
• Clyde, Paul H., and Burton F. Beers. The Far East: A History of Western Impacts and Eastern Responses, 1830-1975 (1975) online 3rd edition 1958
• Crofts, Alfred. A history of the Far East (1958) online free to borrow
• Dennett, Tyler. Americans in Eastern Asia (1922) online free
• Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, and Anne Walthall. East Asia: A cultural, social, and political history (Cengage Learning, 2013).
• Embree, Ainslie T., ed. Encyclopedia of Asian history (1988)
  • vol. 1 online; vol 2 online; vol 3 online; vol 4 online
• Fairbank, John K., Edwin Reischauer, and Albert M. Craig. East Asia: The great tradition and East Asia: The modern transformation (1960) [2 vol 1960] online free to borrow, famous textbook.
• Flynn, Matthew J. China Contested: Western Powers in East Asia (2006), for secondary schools
• Gelber, Harry. The dragon and the foreign devils: China and the world, 1100 BC to the present (2011).
• Green, Michael J. By more than providence: grand strategy and American power in the Asia Pacific since 1783 (2017) a major scholarly survey excerpt
• Hall, D.G.E. History of South East Asia (Macmillan International Higher Education, 1981).
• Holcombe, Charles. A History of East Asia (2d ed. Cambridge UP, 2017). excerpt
• Iriye, Akira. After Imperialism; The Search for a New Order in the Far East 1921-1931. (1965).
• Jensen, Richard, Jon Davidann, and Yoneyuki Sugita, eds. Trans-Pacific Relations: America, Europe, and Asia in the Twentieth Century (Praeger, 2003), 304 pp online review
• Keay, John. Empire's End: A History of the Far East from High Colonialism to Hong Kong (Scribner, 1997). online free to borrow
• Levinson, David, and Karen Christensen, eds. Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. (6 vol. Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002).
• Mackerras, Colin. Eastern Asia: an introductory history (Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1992).
• Macnair, Harley F. & Donald Lach. Modern Far Eastern International Relations. (2nd ed 1955) 1950 edition online free, 780pp; focus on 1900-1950.
• Miller, David Y. Modern East Asia: An Introductory History (Routledge, 2007)
• Murphey, Rhoads. East Asia: A New History (1996)
• Norman, Henry. The Peoples and Politics of the Far East: Travels and studies in the British, French, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Siberia, China, Japan, Korea, Siam and Malaya (1904) online
• Paine, S. C. M. The Wars for Asia, 1911-1949 (2014) excerpt
• Prescott, Anne. East Asia in the World: An Introduction (Routledge, 2015)
• Ring, George C. Religions of the Far East: Their History to the Present Day (Kessinger Publishing, 2006).
• Szpilman, Christopher W. A., Sven Saaler. "Japan and Asia" in Routledge Handbook of Modern Japanese History (2017) online
• Steiger, G. Nye. A history of the Far East (1936).
• Vinacke, Harold M. A History of the Far East in Modern Times (1964) online free
• Vogel, Ezra. China and Japan: Facing History (2019) excerpt
• Woodcock, George. The British in the Far East (1969) online

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eastern Asia.

Look up east asia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for East Asia.

• High resolution map of East Asian region