Asian 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: