Confucius's teachings and philosophy has influenced many Eastern cultures, known as Confucianism.
Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Born in modern-day Nepal, his teachings are venerated by numerous religions and communities in countries within East, Southeast and South Asia.
While there is no singular and catch-all "Eastern culture", there are subgroups within it, such as countries within East Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia, as well as syncretism within these regions. These include the spread of Eastern religions such as Buddhism or Hinduism, the usage of Chinese characters or Brahmic scripts, language families, the fusion of cuisines, and traditions, among others.
An image of the "Eastern world" defined as the "Far East", consisting of three overlapping cultural blocks: East Asia (Green), Southeast Asia (Blue), and South Asia (Orange)
The East, as a geographical area, is unclear and undefined. More often, the ideology of a state's inhabitants is what will be used to categorize it as an Eastern society. There is some disagreement about what nations should or should not be included in the category and at what times. Many parts of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire are considered to be distinct from the West and therefore labelled as eastern by most scholars. The Byzantine Empire was primarily influenced by Eastern practices due to its proximity and cultural similarity to Iran and Arabia, thus lacking features seen as "Western". Both Eastern and Western European authors have often perceived Byzantium as a body of religious, political, and philosophical ideas contrary to those of the West.
It is difficult to determine which individuals fit into which category, and the East–West contrast is sometimes criticized as relativistic and arbitrary.[1][2][3] Globalism has spread Western ideas so widely that almost all modern cultures are, to some extent, influenced by aspects of Eastern culture. Stereotypical views of "the East" have been labeled Orientalism, paralleling Occidentalism—the term for the 19th-century stereotyped views of "the West".
As Europeans discovered the wider world, old concepts adapted. The area that had formerly been considered the Orient ("the East") became the Near East as the interests of the European powers interfered with Meiji Japan and Qing China for the first time in the 19th century.[4] Thus, the Sino-Japanese War in 1894–1895 occurred in the Far East while the troubles surrounding the decline of the Ottoman Empire simultaneously occurred in the Near East.[a] The term Middle East in the mid-19th century included the territory east of the Ottoman Empire, but West of China—Greater India and Greater Persia—is now used synonymously with "Near East" in most languages.
While there is no singular Eastern culture of the Eastern world, there are subgroups within it, such as countries within East Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia, as well as syncretism within these regions. These include the spread of Eastern religions such as Buddhism or Hinduism, the usage of Chinese characters or Brahmic scripts, language families, the fusion of cuisines, and traditions, among others. Eastern culture has developed many themes and traditions. Some important ones are listed below:
Korean shamanism – an animistic ethnic religion of Korea dating back to prehistory and consists of the worship of gods and ancestors as well as nature spirits.
Manchu shamanism – an animistic and polytheistic religion practiced by most of the Manchu people, believing in several gods and spirits, led by a universal sky god who is the source of all life and creation.
Tengrism – an ancient ethnic and state Turko-Mongolic religion originating in the Eurasian steppes, based on folk shamanism, animism and generally centered around the titular sky god Tengri.
Mongolian shamanism – the animistic and shamanic ethnic religion that has been practiced in Mongolia and its surrounding areas (including Buryatia and Inner Mongolia) at least since the age of recorded history.
Shamanism in Siberia – religio-cultural practices of shamanism followed by a large minority of people in Siberia, and regarded by some researchers as the heartland of shamanism.
Buddhism – an ancient religion and philosophical tradition based on a series of original teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha.
Jainism – an ancient religion that traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four Tirthankaras (supreme preachers of Dharma), the last of whom was Mahāvīra.
Sikhism – a relatively new religion that developed in the warring plains of 15th-century Punjab in an atmosphere of ideological war between Islam and Hinduism. Its followers retain spiritual as well as martial qualities.
Islam – the majority of the world's Muslim population has always lived in Asia, due to Islam spreading and becoming the dominant religion of West Asia, Central Asia and Southeast Asia.
Hindson, Edward E.; Mitchell, Daniel R. (1 August 2013). The Popular Encyclopedia of Church History. Harvest House Publishers. p.225. ISBN9780736948074.
C. Held, Colbert (2008). Middle East Patterns: Places, People, and Politics. Routledge. p.109. ISBN9780429962004. Worldwide, the Druze number 1 million or so, with about 45 to 50 percent of them living in Syria, 35 to 40 percent living in Lebanon, and less than 10 percent living in Israel. Recently, there has been a growing Druze diaspora.
.jpg)
.svg)
.svg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_01.jpg)
