GROUP 2

THE ROOTS
OF EAST ASIA
 The Civilization of East Asia
The history behind East Asia goes back
than civilization itself. It is said that the
first Homo erectus or “upright man” in
both East and Southeast Asia almost two
million years ago. Subsequently, fossils of
40 Homo erectus men, or the Peking
Men, WERE FOUND NEAR Beijing, China.
These Homo erectus individuals are
believed to have lived in China and
Indonesia.
 The early Homo erectus were
the first ones to migrate to other parts
of Asia, and were followed by herds of
animals such as mammonths. They
brought with them their own culture
and practices to different parts of the
world.

The first dynasties ever recorded

were China, and the first dynasty was
called the Xia Dynasty.
This was followed by Shang Dynasty of
Yellow River Valley. It is interesting to
note that the Zhou Dynasty was the
longest lasting dynasty in Chinese
history. During this dynasty, bronze
ware was developed into mass
production, and written script became
the modern Chinese characters that
you are familiar with today.
China’s vast influence also reflects on its
religion. Confucianism, Buddhism, and
Taoism were all intertwined with Chinese
culture in some way. Confucianism, for one,
became a state religion during the Han
Dynasty. Eventually, these beliefs, traditions,
and practices spilled onto other countries
and territories in East Asia: Hong Kong,
Japan, Korea, Macau, Ryukyu Islands(now
known as Okinawa prefecture), Tibet, and
Taiwan.
 POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE
The extensive history of
colonialism in Asia cannot be
denied. Almost all Asian countries
have been colonized in some way
or another.in response to this long
history of colonization and the
aftermath of it, literature has
begun to tackle these prevailing
issues in society.
Literary criticism has also responded to this,
with an intellectual discourse called
postcolonialism or postcolonial studies.

What is postcolonialsm?
It is an era or theory that is developed after a
certain colony gains independence from its
mother country. Postcolonialism looks at these
colonial countries and sees how being
colonized has affected their political,
economical, and social climate.
Aside from these, how does the postcolonial
country respond to the independence it is
suddenly given, and how is it still bound to the
countries that have colonized it beforehand?

So many literary works have featured

characters who struggle with their own
identity after being colonized. How does the
character deal with the emotional,
economical, and political effects that the
colonizers have brought and left behind?
 Postcolonialism analyzes these
particular texts by reading the text in a
specific and critical way. Postcolonialism
asks the reader to analyze and expound on
the effects of colonization and imperialism
on the characters. Furthermore , it also
seeks to look at the way the powers of the
colonizers are extended beyond their
colonial era and into the future of the
colonized country.
Postcolonialsm is big part of
you; life as a Filipino citizen.
You should take note of the
colonial influences of different
nations that came to conquer
the country because they
directly affect the way you live
now. The challenge is on how
you deal and respond to
these.
A way to counteract how the
colonized have held onto their
colonizers is through the term
decolonization. Decolonization is
the intellectual process of returning
to the former independence that
colonies have enjoyed before the
colonizers came.
Here, the pervading ideas, cultural
practices, and beliefs that were
integrated and taught by the colonizers
may be deconstructed from the minds
of the natives. It is an extensive and
exhaustive process of change, of
eliminating the tethers that bind the
colonies with their colonizers and
regaining the power that was lost upon
colonization.
Although postcolonialism and
decolonization may be two different
bananas of the same bunch, both
concepts deal with the conflicts of
identity and belonging. When colonial
powers come to a particular colony,
they destroy native beliefs and cultural
practices, only to replace these with
their own.
Chon Ponggon was born in North
Korea back in 1928 and fled to the
South in 1946. after being discharged
from the army, he became a poet who
championed the integration of the
experiences of war in poetry. His
poems are usually about the ways to
deal with and overcome the traumatic
experiences of war.
If you come to a stony place by Chon Ponggon

Literature can be an
indicator of the kind of
culture a certain society
has. The literature in
your country can be a
mirror of the people
who belong in it.
Kimitake Hiraoka (known by
his pen name Yukio Mishima)
was a Japanese author, poet,
playwright, actor, and film
director. He was heavily
invested into political right-
wing interests and was rumored
to have lost his Nobel Prize
nomination due to his political
beliefs. After a failed coup
d’état against the Japanese
government, he committed
ritualistic suicide or seppuku.
Swaddling clothes by Yukio Mishima, translated
by Ivan Morris

ESSENTIAL LEARNING
East Asian literature is rich in history,
culture, and traditions. There have been
references that civilization might have
begun in East Asia. Also, the influence of
East Asia can be felt in many countries
around the world up to today.
 GROUP 2
LEADER:
Jelyn Noblefranca

Members:
Jela Villegas
Anthony Lebita
Gylle Martines