China and Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

China and Japan - Essay Example It has evolved and changed, during the 20th century. Many ethnic groups have existed in China. The pre-eminent ethnic group is the ‘Han Chinese’. Most social values are derived from Confucianism and Taoism with a combination of conservatism. Reincarnation and rebirth is the connection between real-life and the next-life. Spoken Chinese consisted of a number of Chinese dialects. The ancient written standard was Classical Chinese and it was used for thousands of years, but was mostly reserved for scholars and intellectuals. A large part of Chinese culture is about finding the balance of Yin and Yang in relation to Qi, in order to find harmony. Chinese medicine consists of a number of treatments including Chinese herb logy and acupuncture. Other forms of health improvement include meditation. Japanese culture has evolved from the ‘Jomon’ culture, which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America. Archaeological research indicates that people were li ving on the islands of Japan as early as the upper paleolithic period. Japanese is written with a combination of three different types of scripts: Chinese characters ‘Kanji’ and two syllabic scripts, ‘Hiragana’ and ‘Katakana’. The Hindu-Arabic numerals are generally used for numbers, but traditional Sino-Japanese numerals are also commonplace. Japanese sculptures mainly settled on the subject of Buddhist images. Wood has traditionally been used as the chief material. The oldest sculpture is a wooden statue of 'Amitabha'. 'Chanoyu' and 'Ikebana' are the traditional rituals. The most popular professional sports are Sumo, Judo, Jujutsu and Kenjutsu. Political view of China and Japan:- The deadlock of the Chinese Civil War has resulted in two political states: the People's Republic of China (PRC), known as China, which controls "China proper" as well as Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Xingjian, Hong Kong, and Macau; and the Republic of China (ROC), known as Taiwan, which controls the island of Taiwan and its surrounding islands. The PRC is governed under the one-party system by the Chinese Communist Party, but the ROC has moved towards democratic government. After the founding of the PRC, both states claimed to be the sole legitimate ruler of all of "China". The ROC had more international support but most international diplomatic recognitions have shifted to the PRC. Both regimes use diplomatic and economic means to compete for recognition in the international arena. Currently, the PRC is recognized by most world organizations such as the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee. Today, there are 24 U.N. member states that maintain official diplomat ic relations with the ROC while the majority of the U.N. member states maintain official diplomatic relations with the PRC. Japan is recognized as a liberal democracy with free and fair elections, has operated with a dominant-party system known as the Liberal Democratic Party. It takes place in a framework of a parliamentary- representative- democratic- monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister of Japan is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Japan is generally considered a constitutional monarchy, based largely upon the British system with strong influences from European continental civil law countries such as Germany and France. The Emperor of Japan is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people" and exercises a purely ceremonial role without the possession of sovereignty. The constitution is called "the Pacifist