Asian 257 Critical Term Dictionary

Shengxiong Jiang
Professor Juhn Ahn
Asian 257
Asian 257 Critical Term Dictionary
September 12, 2021
● Urbanization: Urbanization is the social process of the population shifting from rural
areas to urban areas, which creates cities. Urbanization is a common concept that
appears in our reading. According to Henry Smith’s article Tokyo as an Idea, Japan is
urbanized one hundred percent, this represents all the population in Japan are living in
the city. In ancient times, Japanese culture believed “The city is similarly a place of
mediation between man and nature.” (Smith p.47) In the beginning, people gathered
together to fulfill their basic needs for survival, markets and farms were created,
which is the basic structure of the city. As the city developed, people started to move
to the city from rural areas, which resulted in the city expanding rapidly and
becoming more diversified. Unique arts and cultures were created within the city. Not
only did the size of the city increase but the amount of the city also increased
significantly. During the process of urbanization, there are countless dissenting voices
against it, the majority of people think it will alter the culture which they respect
completely. In my opinion, urbanization will not erase or make a huge change to a
city’s culture and historical past, it will help the city combine its past with the new
ideas and technologies and build a greater city together. I believe urbanization is an
inevitable process for every single country in the world, it is a great tool for the city’s
development. There are many great cities in Asia with rich historical pasts, with no
doubt urbanization plays an extremely important role in their development history.
 

 
● Confucianism: Confucianism is a type of cultural mainstream thought and philosophy
that was invented in China by Confucius around 500 BC. The entire history of China
has been influenced by Confucianism deeply. In Han Dynasty, the Chinese
government had officially recognized and supported Confucianism in education and
political areas, such as government decisions and policies. Later in Tang Dynasty,
Confucianism caused more profound effects on government laws policies. And a new
civil service examination system was created to select the government’s officials. It
was called the Imperial examination, this system allowed civilians to be government
officials through written examination. This provided a fair environment for those
ordinary families. Not only China, Confucianism also made a huge influence on the
other neighboring countries such as Japan and Korea in East Asia, many of those
countries had also referred to Imperial examination from China. According to Henry
Smith’s article Tokyo as an Idea, “On top an explicit and highly intellectual structure
of thought evolved under the Tokugawa political system and molded by Confucian
ideology.” (Smith, p.47) As we can see, during Japan’s Tokugawa period,
Confucianism has had a profound influence on the entire Japanese culture, including
art, politics, and education. But in the late 19th century, Confucianism was criticized
by people in China, many people believe that Confucianism led to China’s failure in
the early 20th century. After the founding of the new China, Communism took the
place of Confucianism. But after the Chinese economic reform in 1978, Confucianism
was brought up again by the people and government.
 

 
● Colonialism: Colonialism is the policy of a country to control another country’s land,
resources, and people through war or peace method. Colonialism generally exists in
powerful countries to obtain resources and wealth from less powerful countries, the
powerful country will establish the colonial government to rule the less power
country, which is called colony. Because the colonial governments usually are more
advanced in military and technology, the relationship between colonists and
indigenous population are unequal. European colonial period started at the beginning
of the 15th century, many European countries established colonizing empires, such as
British Empire, French Colonial Empire, and Dutch Empire. According to
Colonialism and Urban Development, “European empires of the so-called ‘Age of
Discovery’ were the outcome of the overseas trading and military intentions of
maritime powers.” (Anthony D. King p.1) Their armies and business ships had been
to many continents and countries, including Asia. The colonialism shaped various
great Asian cities,
● Segregation: