Northeast Asian History Quiz 01

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Most Viewed

The other face of Japan you don't wanna know

Image
    Japan, according to the Korean minds Yatsuhiro Nakasone in his peak days and at the height of the Japanese economy  in 1980s  with the world leaders  Now you are about to set out on a journey into the Korean mind on their cousin and neighbor called Japan. Fasten your seat belt. The longest kidnapping in the history of the United States is known to be that of Jaycee Dugard, who disappeared while walking to the school bus stop in June 1991 at the age of eleven and remained missing for 18 years until 2009 when Philip Garrido, a convicted sex offender under parole then already, was arrested after his visit to the campus of UC Berkeley, with his two biological daughters between him and Jaycee Dugard, which caught the attention of the parole officer. Philip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years of imprisonment while many felt the punishment was too light. That’s what happens in the real life in the civilized society of today. Now imagine that Philip Garrido somehow ...
Read more

Confucian Influence? Are you sure?

Image
            The myth named “Confucian Influence”      When the Confucianism is discussed, we see that it is taken for granted it has influenced the East Asian societies "greatly". But, to discuss the influence or impact of a thing, one needs to know what it had been like before to be able to say how much of the change it brought in what way. It seems no such fundamental questions have ever been raised as for the Confucianism. Somehow it has been exempted of the due diligence probe. Before you know it, you have been fed the notion of the “Confucian Influence” to become another propagator of the idea, contributing to its unchallengeability in the course.  It is about time we got reminded of the simple principle that things should be subjected to the due diligence before accepted at least closest available to the truth. It is never too late. Here I start with those basic questions that have been long overdue, that the Confucianism has b...
Read more

The Missing Link in the history of Okinawa

Image
 .                                                 - The Skeleton in the closet                           - What got into Okinawa in the 13th century                          - The message the Shuri Castle Bell wanted to tell you                          - Karate,  how come did you happen to be there ?       The pre-modern history of Okinawa is becoming more and more of the subject of historical and cultural claims between the neighboring powers in the East Asia. While there is no denying that Okinawa is currently under the firm control of the Japanese government and that most Okinawans would identify themselves as Japanese now, if...
Read more

Chinese History under Construction "again"

Image
                     Chinese History under Construction "again"                    : The Northeast History Project                     It is a common knowledge among the Chinese history students that the history narratives written later often get more detailed with new episodes added, sometimes expanding the story back to the farther antiquity. The Northeast History project, which had been carried out for the period of five years that ended in 2007, masterminded and orchestrated by the Chinese Communist government, in an attempt to incorporate the history of some ancient Korean states into the Chinese one, was just another example we, as history student, had the luck to witness happening before our eyes.                             It was mainly ...
Read more

"Tang's Influence"-True or false, why it matters (2/3)

Image
               The Formation of the centralized government and rule of law           We often see the emergence of the Nara Japan illustrated like a quantum move to the state of centralized government under rule of law, or Ritsuryo State  律令國家 , triggered by the influence from Tang China.   If no one has intended to present it that way, that is the impression the most of us get left with from the popular narratives on the grand opening of Japan as state that we associate with Nara.          Here again, we see a lot of fallacies working behind those narratives. To begin with, there is no evidence that the Japanese copied the Chinese law system. More importantly, even if they had done it, the written law is only a part of the social culture. Japan took the very different course of social development from that of China after the seventh century when, accord...
Read more

"Tang's Influence" - True or false, why it matters ( 1/3 )

Image
                                    Tang's Influence on the early Japanese civilization:                                                      Was it real?                                                                        Yes. The ancient Japanese civilization was brilliant. Unlike its neighbors in the Northeast Asia, a lot of ancient artifacts and edifices in Japan could survive to our time, thanks to the geographical isolation of the Archipelago from the continent. What amazes us today is how the flowering of such exquisite art and architecture could take place in the physically sepa...
Read more

The Tale of Ji Zi : the lie that changed the history

Image
  The Great Chinese Gentleman Zhou Enlai.  He epitomized in his person the Chinese dignity and cultural power  as  a CCP founder along with Mao Zedong. He was a big man. In 1963 he officially apologized to the visiting Koreans for the history distortion by Shiji  史記   of Sima Qian  馬遷撰   about Ji Zi    箕子,  or Gija in Korean .   If you are a student of Korean history, you may have heard of Ji Zi 箕子,   or Gija as pronounced in Korean. Koreans believe the founding father of their country is a culture hero figure called Dangun, who was born to a being that came down from the heaven to benefit the land and people. They celebrate October 3rd as national holiday every year to celebrate the coming of the heavenly being to the land, that the legend says took place four and half millennia ago. That first ancient Korean state was called Joseon and to tell it from the last Korean dynasty that had used the same name before de...
Read more

Koreans come back to Europe May 2022

Image
The Korean Wave Comeback in Europe May 2022   No one with open eyes and ears in Europe could possibly have avoided the news of the Koreans coming back to their continent in the month of May 2022. No sooner the pandemic had shown signs of amenability than the K-Pop fans from 84 nationalities filled the Deutsche Bank Park stadium in Frankfurt chanting and rejoicing in the comeback of the musical performers from Korea in the two-day event named KPOP FLEX Frankfurt starting May 14. 1)  One week later when the Premier League of U.K. had just wrapped up its 2011-2022 season, you could hear the soccer attacker Son’s name cited in the news as winner of the Golden Boot, award given to the most goal scorer in the most prestigious league of the world. The following week at Cannes Film Festival in France, two Koreans were called out as winner, one for Best Director and the other for Best Actor. The movie that gave Song Gang Ho the Best Actor award was directed by the Japanese Kore-eda Hi...
Read more

How the Mongol rule delivered Korean culture to Ming China

Image
  明朝 高丽样 汉服 服饰  :  Korean style Hanfu in the Ming Dynasty, which followed the Mongol rule.  <明宪宗元宵行樂圖卷 part of Scroll painting Ming Emperor Xianzong (Chenghua) Enjoying the Lantern Festival, circa 1486 >       There are many postings in the internet space about the cultural influences between Korea and China especially about the traditional fashions.  Hanbok  韓服  is the name of the Korean traditional wears, while the Hanfu  漢服 refers to all the Chinese traditional clothes from Han period of two millennia ago down to Ming Dynasties. The name Hanfu was coined and began to be used in early 2000s by the initiatives of the young generations in China, who were stimulated by the rise of the Korean Wave or Hallyu  韓流, in which the Hanbok was presented as symbol of the Korean traditional beauty.       While it was a nice thing for the Chinese to get conscious of their traditions, their commendable  new...
Read more