East Asian Culture Thread

[Indos]

This is Melayu style singing and song (Melayu culture in Indonesia is in large part of Sumatra and Kalimantan island)

This time live performance by Intan Sukoco in singing Melayu song.

 

[pigtaker]

this one is classic, far better than the oringial by 古筝

Rolling in the deep

 

[magic-007]

This is the real classic Chinese beauty. Wow!!!!!!

Also, could someone please post some Korean K-Pop. Currently K-Pop is the most loved and most popular East Asian culture around the world!!! there is just no competition from any other East Asian culture.

have you ever seen Princess Pearl/ 还珠格格? so beautiful, but is not my food .

高圆圆
it is just my goddess, very pity that she have just been married.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

have you ever seen Princess Pearl/ 还珠格格? so beautiful, but is not my food .

高圆圆
it is just my goddess, very pity that she have just been married.

My aunt looked like 高圆圆 when she was young.

 

[Indos]

In term of singing and charisma, Indonesian can compete Americans for sure

Here is Raisa singing all of me (John Legend) at Metro TV

 

[StarCraft_ZT]

Let's talk about the real culture thing, not merely just the girls.

 

[Nan Yang]

The Music of East Asia: Chinese Instruments

One musical instrument that is associated with China has been the Guqin:

Guqin is seven-stringed zither without bridges, the most classical Chinese instrument with over 3000 years of history. It is literally called qin (

) yet commonly known as "guqin" (

where "gu" stands for ancient), whereas the qin has become a generic name for all string instruments today.

Guqin has the most well-documented history and best preserved repertoire among all the intruments from China. There are a lot of literatures around guqin, and the information about the guqin is plenty.

China to open mega-Confucius center

China will open a US$260 million Confucius center next year, the boldest symbol yet of a recent revival of traditional Chinese religion as the Communist Party seeks to sideline Western faiths.

The sprawling 90,000 square-meter complex — slightly bigger than Madison Square Garden in New York — will include a museum displaying 100,000 relics and an exhibition center in Qufu, the philosopher’s birthplace, state media reported on Friday.

Confucianism has exploded in China since President Xi Jinping visited Qufu in Shandong province a year ago to “send a message to the nation: to carry forward our traditional culture and spread Confucian thought”.

Following his visit, investors have poured billions of dollars into Confucian schools and tourist sites in Qufu, which has reportedly attracted 3,000 visitors per day in recent months. Chinese celebrations marking Confucius’ birthday in September this year were the largest in decades.

State media has regularly featured Xi quoting the philosopher as a rule-based moral compass for China’s new consumerist society, and in October the state-run Foreign Languages Press published a new book of the president’s speeches littered with Confucian references.

“The Chinese tradition, represented by Confucianism, has held a dominant role for more than a thousand years, which means that there has never been an established state religion imposed on the whole population,” Helmut Schmidt, Germany’s chancellor between 1974 and 1982, wrote in a glowing tribute to Xi and the book in Friday’s state-run China Daily.

Confucianism was all but banned in China up to the 1990s after Mao Zedong called for criticism of the 2,500-year-old “feudal” philosophy during the Cultural Revolution.

Since becoming president in March last year, Xi has frequently praised China’s traditional faiths, as the ruling party has continued to warn against “Western religions” amid a growing crackdown on Christianity in Zhejiang province and Islam in restive Xinjiang.

“The government is paying more attention to Confucianism these days since what Confucianism advocates — hierarchical rule with peaceful stability — complies with the ideas of the ruling party,” Yan Ping, director of the National Studies Research Academy in Qufu, told ucanew.com.

China to open mega-Confucius center ucanews.com

Confucianism is only one pillar of East Asian civilization. The other two pillars are Daoism and Buddhism.
Confucianism teaches us how one should behave from son to emperor. Daoism teaches us how to live with nature and about the balance of the universe and Buddhism teaches us about afterlife and happiness.

All three may overlaps and may contradict. No one ideology is perfect but they coexist together. That is the essence of East Asian Civilization.

 

[magic-007]

Let's talk about the real culture thing, not merely just the girls.

you know ,every time the discussion of beauties that is welcomed by menfolk . let us get bcak to the topic now.

 

[StarCraft_ZT]

you know ,every time the discussion of beauties that is welcomed by menfolk . let us get bcak to the topic now.

True!

 

[Indos]

In term of music, the majority of Indonesian (usually living in villages and rural areas) still prefer Indonesian style of music like Melayu song, keroncong, and others, even though some big portion of them also like Indonesian pop music (westernized one) if the song quite easy listening, but for Cities Middle Class people like me, our song is really westernized one like this one. This is the song created for that market. So there is already a gap in our society in term of music preference and industry serves both market.

Andra and The Backbone ( their song are balad and rock)

Dewa 19 (Mostly Balad)

 

[magic-007]

JAPAN

The writing is a little boring, and pictures is more vivid and lively .

 

[Aepsilons]

China truly is the Father-Civilization of Greater East Asia. Much of what is Japanese culture or Korean culture has been influenced deeply by Chinese. Even Japanese Character (Kanji) is Chinese Hanzi.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Religion in Japan

Shinto and Buddhism are Japan's two major religions. Shinto is as old as the Japanese culture, while Buddhism was imported from the mainland in the 6th century. Since then, the two religions have been co-existing relatively harmoniously and have even complemented each other to a certain degree. Most Japanese consider themselves Buddhist, Shintoist or both.

Religion does not play a big role in the everyday life of most Japanese people today. The average person typically follows the religious rituals at ceremonies like birth, weddings and funerals, may visit a shrine or templeon New Year and participates at local festivals (matsuri), most of which have a religious background.

Mount Fuji (Fuji-san) is the highest mountain in Japan, rising to 12,388 feet. Visible from Tokyo on a clear day, the beautiful cone-shaped mountain is located west of the city, surrounded by lakes in a national park.

Mt. Fuji is named for the Buddhist fire goddess Fuchi and is sacred to the Shinto goddess Sengen-Sama, whose shrine is found at the summit. It is the holiest of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains." Every summer, thousands of pilgrims and tourists climb to the summit, many of them hiking throughout the night to witness the sunrise from the summit.

Introduction

Shinto does not have a founder nor does it have sacred scriptures like the sutras or the bible. Propaganda and preaching are not common either, because Shinto is deeply rooted in the Japanese people and traditions.

"Shinto gods" are called kami. They are sacred spirits which take the form of things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility. Humans become kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral kami. The kami of extraordinary people are even enshrined at some shrines. The Sun Goddess Amaterasu is considered Shinto's most important kami.

In contrast to many monotheist religions, there are no absolutes in Shinto. There is no absolute right and wrong, and nobody is perfect. Shinto is an optimistic faith, as humans are thought to be fundamentally good, and evil is believed to be caused by evil spirits. Consequently, the purpose of most Shinto rituals is to keep away evil spirits by purification, prayers and offerings to the kami.

Shinto shrines are the places of worship and the homes of kami. Most shrines celebrate festivals (matsuri) regularly in order to show the kami the outside world. Please read more on our special information pages aboutshrines and festivals.

Shinto priests perform Shinto rituals and often live on the shrine grounds. Men and women can become priests, and they are allowed to marry and have children. Priests are aided by younger women (miko) during rituals and shrine tasks. Miko wear white kimono, must be unmarried, and are often the priests' daughters.

Important features of Shinto art are shrine architecture and the cultivation and preservation of ancient art forms such as Noh theater, calligraphy and court music (gagaku), an ancient dance music that originated in the courts of Tang China (618 - 907).

Shinto History

The introduction of Buddhism in the 6th century was followed by a few initial conflicts, however, the two religions were soon able to co-exist and even complement each other. Many Buddhists viewed the kami as manifestations of Buddha.

In the Meiji Period, Shinto was made Japan's state religion. Shinto priests became state officials, important shrines started to receive governmental funding, Japan's creation myths were used to foster an emperor cult, and efforts were made to separate and emancipate Shinto from Buddhism.

After World War II, Shinto and the state were separated.

Shinto Today

People seek support from Shinto by praying at a home altar or by visiting shrines. A whole range of talismans are available at shrines for traffic safety, good health, success in business, safe childbirth, good exam performance and more.

A large number of wedding ceremonies are held in Shinto style. Death, however, is considered a source of impurity, and is left to Buddhism to deal with. Consequently, there are virtually no Shinto cemeteries, and mostfunerals are held in Buddhist style.

 

[Aepsilons]

A Core trait of East Asian Culture: Tea


Chinese: 茶藝

Japanese: 茶道

 

[StarCraft_ZT]

China truly is the Father-Civilization of Greater East Asia. Much of what is Japanese culture or Korean culture has been influenced deeply by Chinese. Even Japanese Character (Kanji) is Chinese Hanzi.

But as Chinese national strength went down in 19th and first half 20th century, Chinese culture losts some influence. Maybe a strong economy is is prerequisite for its culture to spread. Japan did very well.