FROM PERIPHERY TO CORE
Historically, this world region has cycled between periods of isolationism and outward (western) economic expansion
Variety of economies in
Eastern Asia ranging from periphery to core
(East Asian Tigers--early 1990s). East Asian tigers devolved into
economic slowdown and recession in Japan by the late 1990s.
NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT 
REGION - dominated by:
- mountainous
landscapes, major river systems
- high
population densities in well-watered lowlands
- dynamic:
earthquakes, volcanoes, typhoons,..., but still lots of people
Tropical and Midlatitude
Climates
- wide variety
of climates
- latitudinal
range (S of Equator - over 50 degrees N)
- equatorial
(e.g., Malaysia, Indonesia)
- monsoon
(e.g., Vietnam, S China): typhoons late summer; cool, dry winters
- east
coast midlatitudes: summer rain; cold,dry winter (e.g., N. coastal
China, Koreas; Japan also, with rain)
- continental:
cold, dry winters, little summer rain, arid (e.g., inland China)
Mountains and Islands
- high mountains
- tectonics:
significant impact throughout region
Great Wall of China
Major Rivers
- high mountains + lots
of rain = very active rivers
--> deep
valleys, plains, deltas
For example: Mekong, Huang
He (Yellow), Chang Jiang (Yangtze)
Tropical Rain Forest
to Midlatitude Desert
- variety
of natural vegetation types: rainforest to deciduous to grassland
to desert
- being replaced
Natural Resources
- water + soil= high
yields
- minerals
- oil, gas, coal, gold, diamonds, etc.
- heterogeneous
distribution
Country Boundaries
- many established on
natural
borders
- many established on
cultural,
historical, colonial borders
- Buffer
state: a country that stands between major world powers and helps
to reduce direct conflicts between them
for example: Mongolia,
Koreas, Taiwan
Environmental Problems
Natural Hazards
tectonics
+ monsoons = resources and hazards
flooding
(e.g., Chang Jiang, China; Viet Nam)
drought
(mostly inland)
Pacific
"Ring
of Fire" (or "rim of fire")
Kobe
Earthquake Damage 1995
The 70
Year Rule
Human Impacts and Responses
deforestation
(agriculture, dams) --> soil erosion, flooding, silting
warfare
desertification
--> Great Green Wall
dams
Three
Gorges Dam
Pollution
industry + vehicles + chemicals + urbanization = pollution of
air
water
soils
Volcanoes
of Japan
Smithsonian
Institute interactive volcanoes of Japan
FROM PERIPHERY TO CORE
- East Asian Miracle
- stagnation in late 1990s
- 1/3 world population
on 1/10 world land --> ?
- some very poor
- others 1/4 world's economic output
- core: Japan
- semiperiphery: Taiwan, South Korea
- periphery: Cambodia, Vietnam
- what about China?
- variety of economies
- intraregional and international trade
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CULTURAL INFLUENCES
CHINESE EMPIRES
Celestial globe
vase Stem cup, Ming dynasty
The
Splendor of Imperial China
-
regional influence
-
cycles of expansion and contraction
- 2000 B.C. civilization
- agriculture, craft
- 1100 B.C. Chou dynasty:
iron, irrigation, transportation, extended trading
What impacts would a wider
geographic area have on the region?
- following dynasties:
pulled together the feudal states
- Confucianism:
idealized ordering of society (management)
- Taoism:
(Lao Zi) return to local, village-based control, "enlightened self-interest"
- 600 A.D. Buddhism
reaches China
- struggle: Buddhism +
Taoism versus Confucianism
Buddhist pagoda
- 1200 to 1371 Mongols
- mid-1700s: far-reaching
empire
China Resists Colonization
- 1800s - pushed to trade
- resisted colonization
- encourages isolationism
- What did the British
finally use to "encourage" trade?
- Communism in 1947
- Special Economic Zones
There are many differences between coastal China and inner China:
China:
Administration
China:
Agriculture
China:
Clothing recommendations (climate)
China:
Ethnolinguistics Groups
China:
Fuel, Power, Minerals, Metals
China:
Industry
China:
Military Districts
China:
Population Density
China:
Precipitation
China:
Special Economic Zones
China:
Linguistic Zones
Map
of China
Tiennamen Square Massacre\
demonstrators erected
a 33 foot statue called Goddess of Democracy, modeled after the Statue
of Liberty in the
United States. Hundreds
of protesters died on June 3 and 4, 1989, when the Chinese government ordered
the military
to crack down on the protestors.
Meanwhile:
OTHER KINGDOMS
- are developing (e.g.,
Japan, Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam)
- Muslims control the
islands, Indian Ocean trade
Japan Maintains
Its Independence
- Shintoism, Buddhism,
Confucianism
- influence of China
- 1100-1867 shoguns
(feudal lords) ruled Japan; policy of isolationism
Under the feudal military
administration, Japan was ruled by the shoguns
- "gunboat diplomacy" (1850s)
Admiral Perry entering
Japan
- Meiji
Restoration: technology from West; centralized
government; rapid modernization
- exansion of an empire
- contraction after WWII
U.S.S. Arizona torpedoed in Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941 |
Hiroshima, Japan after atomic bomb dropped August 6, 1945 |
- reform and economic expansion
- core
Japanese electronics workers
Divided Korea
Map
of South Korea
Map
of North Korea
liabilities of Korea’s location (buffer state)
bridge to the mainland
hot war and cold war
Map
of DMZ
contrasts between the two Koreas
topography and climate
-- North
Korea: humid continental climate
-- South
Korea: humid subtropical climate
agriculture
Even flat, nonirrigated
fields are terraced in South Korea
natural
resources: predominantly in North Korea
South Korea’s economic growth: Asian tiger
Seoul