Chapter 30—Introduction to East Asia and the Pacific World

• Concession: a privilege or exemption granted by a gov.

• intensive farming: farming that requires a great deal of labor
• terrace: in farming, a flat, narrow ledge of land, usually constructed in hilly areas to increase the amount of arable land
• bullet train: high-speed train

1. What was the most influential development in East Asia, and why?
• 1500 B.C.—China dev. a complex society + unique writing system that remains in use today
2. China was the birthplace for what two religions?
• Confucianism + Daoism
3. What technologies originated in China?
• Printing, gunpowder, + the compass
4. What was the original reception of European traders like in the 1500s and 1600s?
• Not widely welcomed in China, Korea, /Japan, each of which restricted the movement of Western traders
5. Where did the Portuguese and Spanish establish colonies?
• Portuguese est. trading colonies in Indonesia
• Spain colonized the Philippines during the 1500s
6. What country(ies) belonged to the Netherlands? Britain?
• 1600s—Netherlands conquered most of Indonesia
• 1700s + 1800s—Britain conquered Australia + New Zealand
7. What happened in China during the 19th century?
• Military action by Britain + other European industrial powers forced China to grant increasing concessions to
European merchants + gov.s
8. How did Japan change from the mid-19th century through the early 20th century?
• U.S. forced Japan to allow greater foreign trade
• After 1868—new gov. dev.
• 1920s + 1930s—new gov. launched its own program of industrialization and colonial conquest
• 1940—Japan had conquered Korea, Taiwan, parts of mainland China, + many Pacific islands
• WW2—Western allies defeated Japan + liberated its colonial possessions
9. Describe what happened to China following WWII? North Korea? North Vietnam?
• China—1949, Nationalists fled to Taiwan, and the Communists est. the People’s Republic of China on the
mainland
• N. Korea + N. Vietnam—communist gov.s also took power
10. By when had most colonies gained independence?
• 1960
11. Describe Japan’s economy during the last half of the 20th century.
• Rapid economic growth + prosperity under market economies
12. How did China’s economy change during the 1990s?
• Adopted some capitalist reforms + exp. eco. boom
13. How has the collision of the Eurasian and Indian plates changed the physical geography of East Asia?
• Raised the Himalayas, the Plateau of Tibet, the Kunlun Shan, the Altun Shan, and the Tien Shan
14. Describe Southeast Asia’s physical geography.
• Complex geo. of mountain chains, river valleys, peninsulas, + islands
• S.e.—Australia + New Zealand form blocks of continental crust that rise above the Pacific Ocean, which is dotted
w/volcanic islands
15. What geographic feature is Japan a part of?
• Volcanic island part of the Ring of Fire—a fringe of volcanic + earthquake-related activity that surrounds the
Pacific Ocean
16. What types of winds heavily influence the climates of East Asia?
• Wind erosion shapes desert landforms
• Summer monsoons bring rain to much of East Asia + to the tropical wet + dry climate regions of S.e. Asia + n.ern
Australia
17. In what countries do you find Buddhism? Confucianism? Shinto?
• Buddhism—China, Mongolia, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia
• Confucianism—China, Vietnam
 • Shinto—Japan
18. What part of China has the highest population density?
• North-central plains, on the southern coast of Eastern China, and in the Yangtze River valley
19. Based on the charts on p. 642, compare Australia & China’s settlement patterns.
• China—densely settled, almost ¾ is rural
• Australia—sparsely pop, 85% live in cities
20. What are the two most common economic activities in China?
• Nomadic herding + commercial farming
21. Why do people in Asia practice terrace farming?
• To use all available land, farmers in hilly areas have reshaped the land into terraces
22. How do the economies of East Asia and the Pacific world portray the contrasts between the developed and the
developing world?
• Highly industrialized urban areas in Japan + Australia exist alongside large pop.s of subsistence farmers in China
and S.e. Asia
23. How can differences in transportation systems reflect differences in wealth?
• China’s relative poverty explains the lack of both motor vehicles + airports
• Pop., geographic size, + relative wealth of country affect trans. System
• Wealth of Japan’s pop.—many more railroad systems + airports, bullet train
• Australia—heavy air travel + motor vehicle use reflect both long distances bet. Cities in Australia + the country’s
wealth
• Thailand—reliance on air + motor vehicle travel show that its pop. is wealthier than China’s but less wealthy than
that of Australia/Japan