Eastern world facts for kids

The term Eastern world means very broadly the various cultures or social structures and philosophical systems of Eastern Asia or geographically the Eastern Culture. This includes the Indian subcontinent (which is Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal and sometimes Afghanistan), the Far East (which is China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Malaysia, Mongolia, Indonesia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea), Australasia (Australia, New Zealand). The Middle East/Near East and Central Asia are, as their names imply, often considered 'east' in terms of Europe

Introduction

An image of the "Eastern world" defined as Asia.

The division between "East" and "West" is from European cultural history. There is a difference between European Christendom and the alien cultures beyond it to the East. With the European colonization of the Americas the East/West distinction became global. The idea of an Eastern, "Indian" (Indies) or "Oriental" sphere was made stronger by ideas of racial as well as religious and cultural differences. Such differences were shown by Westerners in the scholarly tradition known as Orientalism and Indology. People from the East are known by certain regions in the West as "Oriental". During the Cold War, the term "Eastern world" was sometimes used to mean the Eastern Bloc, which was the Soviet Union, China and their communist allies. The term "Western world" often meant the United States and its NATO allies such as the United Kingdom. The idea is often another term for the Far East—a region that bears considerable cultural and religious sameness. Eastern philosophy, art, literature, and other traditions, are often found throughout the region in places of high importance, such as popular culture, architecture and traditional literature. The spread of Buddhism and Hindu Yoga is partly responsible for this.

Eastern culture

An image of the "Eastern world" defined as the "Far East", consisting of three overlapping cultural blocks: East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.

The distribution of the two major families of world religion, Dharmic religion and Abrahamic religion, highlights the religious difference between the Far East and the rest of the world.

Eastern culture has created many themes and traditions. Some important ones are:

• Eastern religion, Eastern philosophy
  • Far Eastern religions
    • Confucianism — the belief that human beings are teachable, improvable and perfectible through personal and communal endeavour especially including self-cultivation and self-creation.
    • Eastern Buddhism
    • Shinto
    • Daoism
  • Indian religions
    • Buddhism — path of liberation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality
    • Hinduism — an umbrella term for religious sects native to India
    • Jainism
    • Sikhism — A religion that developed in the warring plains of Punjab in an atmosphere of ideological clash between Islam and Hinduism. Its followers keep spiritual as well as martial qualities.
  • The Middle East, today largely the same as the Islamic world
    • Christianity — like other Abrahamic religions like Judaism and Islam, originates in the Middle East, where it is now a small minority religion.
    • Islam — the majority of the world Muslim population have always lived in Asia, due to Islam spreading and becoming the main religion of these areas.
    • Judaism — although not as much of a presence as it once was, Judaism still exists in Asia (see Mizrahi Jews).
    • Zoroastrianism, the monotheistic state religion of Sassanid Persia
• Oriental medicine
  • Ayurveda
  • Chinese medicine
  • Kampo
  • Traditional Tibetan medicine
  • Traditional Korean Medicine

Images for kids

• 

  Distribution of Haplogroup O-M175

• 

  Dispersal of Austronesian languages

• 

  Indian cultural sphere

• 

  Mongolian Buuz

• 

  Kebabs are a popular cuisine among Middle Easterners.

• 

  Round challah, a special bread in Jewish cuisine

• 

  Sushi has become prevalent even among westerners.

• 

  Armenian khash (or pacha), which is also commonly eaten by Assyrians, Arabs and Kurds.

• 

  Ramoji Film City located in Hyderabad, holds the Guinness World Record for the World's largest film studio.

• 

  A movie theater in Qufu, Shandong

• 

  A Hindu temple in Sri Lanka.

• 

  The Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong.

• 

  A Syro-Malabar Catholic bishop holding the Mar Thoma Christian Cross which symbolizes the heritage and identity of the Syrian Church of Saint Thomas Christians of India

• 

  The Monastery of St. Matthew, located atop Mount Alfaf in northern Iraq, is recognized as one of the oldest Christian monasteries in existence.

• 

  Assyrian Christians from lake Urmia in north eastern Persia in their traditional costumes.

• 

  Mor Hananyo Monastery is located in the Syriac cultural region known as Tur Abdin in Turkey.

• 

  Chaldean Catholic from the town of Alqosh, Iraq.

• 

  Temple of Confucius in Liuzhou, Guangxi.

• 

  Maronite Church in Lebanon.

• 

  The Druze Maqam Nabi Shu'ayb.

• 

  The Western Wall and Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

• 

  Aerial view of Masada, Israel

• 

  Great synagogue in Afula, Israel

• 

  Great Mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

• 

  Color drenched Gopis during the Holi celebrations in Krishna Temple, Mathura.

• 

  Minangkabau Tari Lilin (candle dance)

• 

  Izumo-taisha shrine in Izumo, Japan.