The second edition of Charles Holcombe's acclaimed introduction to East Asian history from the dawn of history to the twenty-first century.

"Drawing on work in a range of disciplines-including history, anthropology, demography, development, environmental studies, political studies, health, sociology and the arts-this work approaches East Asia from new perspectives.The book looks at contemporary Japan and Korea and focuses on many facets of Chinese culture, artistic production, economic development, digital issues, education and international collaboration" -

Charles Holcombe begins by asking the question 'what is East Asia?' In the modern age, many of the features that made the region - now defined as including China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam - distinct have been submerged by the effects of revolution, politics or globalization. Yet, as an ancient civilization, the region had both an historical and cultural coherence. This shared past is at the heart of this ambitious book, which traces the story of East Asia from the dawn of history to the twenty-first century. The second edition has been imaginatively revised and expanded to place emphasis on cross-cultural interactions and connections, both within East Asia and beyond, with new material on Vietnam and modern pop culture. The second edition also features a Chinese character list, additional maps and new illustrations.

Study of historical sociological aspects of countries of the East Asia (incl. South East Asia) - refers to civilisations from as early as 1700 b.c., linked in some cases with the present-day situation, includes China, Japan, Korea, hong kong, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc., and covers political aspects, political problems, political leadership, government structures, wars, foreign policy, etc. Maps and bibliography.

This text offers students a fresh, comprehensive, multidisciplinary entry point to East Asia. After a brief introduction to the study of East Asia, the early chapters of the book survey the essentials of East Asian history and offer an overview of the region's languages, economic development, and global connections. The second half of the book features interdisciplinary case studies that explore key aspects of the cultural, economic, and political life in specific countries.

A common misconception holds that Marco Polo "opened up" a closed and recalcitrant "Orient" to the West. However, this sweeping history covering 4,000 years of international relations from the perspective of China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia shows that the region's extensive involvement in world affairs began thousands of years ago. In a time when the writing of history is increasingly specialized, Warren I. Cohen has made a bold move against the grain. In broad but revealing brushstrokes, he paints a huge canvas of East Asia's place in world affairs throughout four millennia. Just as Cohen thinks broadly across time, so too, he defines the boundaries of East Asia liberally, looking beyond China, Japan, and Korea to include Southeast Asia. In addition, Cohen stretches the scope of international relations beyond its usual limitations to consider the vital role of cultural and economic exchanges. Within this vast framework, Cohen explores the system of Chinese domination in the ancient world, the exchanges between East Asia and the Islamic world from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, and the emergence of a European-defined international system in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The book covers the new imperialism of the 1890s, the Manchurian crisis of the early 1930s, the ascendancy of Japan, the trials of World War II, the drama of the Cold War, and the fleeting "Asian Century" from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. East Asia at the Center is replete with often-overlooked or little-known facts, such as: A record of persistent Chinese imperialism in the region Tibet's status as a major power from the 7th to the 9th centuries C.E., when it frequently invaded China and decimated Chinese armies Japan's profound dependence on Korea for its early cultural development The enormous influence of Indian cuisine on that of China Egyptian and Ottoman military aid to their Muslim brethren in India and Sumatra against European powers Extensive Chinese sea voyages to Arabia and East Africa—long before such famous Westerners as Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus took to the seas East Asia at the Center's expansive historical view puts the trials and advances of the past four millennia into perspective, showing that East Asia has often been preeminent on the world stage—and conjecturing that it might be so again in the not-so-distant future.

This eBook introduces readers to the geography of East Asia, covering the culture region as a whole rather than individual countries. The volume emphasizes the region's people and their various ways of life, considering how they have adapted to, used, and changed the natural environments in which they live. Like other titles in the 10-volume Modern World Cultures set, East Asia, Second Edition explores the geographical features, climate, and ecosystems; population, settlement, and culture; and the history and economy of the region at hand. Also covered are the region’s diversity, challenges, and prospects. Illustrated with full-color maps and photographs, and accompanied by a chronology, glossary, and further readings, these accessible titles offer an ideal starting point for research on the culture regions of the world.