East Asia

East Asia, especially the Chinese civilization, is regarded as one of the earliest cradles of civilization. Other ancient civilizations in East Asia that still exist as independent countries in the present day include the Japanese, Korean, and Mongolian civilizations. Various other civilizations existed as independent polities in East Asia in the past but have since been absorbed into neighbouring civilizations in the present day, such as Tibet, Manchuria, and Ryukyu (Okinawa), among many others. Taiwan has a relatively young history in the region after the prehistoric era; originally, it was a major site of Austronesian civilization prior to colonization by European colonial powers and China from the 17th century onward. For thousands of years, China was the leading civilization in the region, exerting influence on its neighbours. Historically, societies in East Asia have fallen within the Chinese sphere of influence, and East Asian vocabularies and scripts are often derived from Classical Chinese and Chinese script. The Chinese calendar serves as the root from which many other East Asian calendars are derived.

Major religions in East Asia include Buddhism (mostly Mahayana), Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, Taoism, ancestral worship, and Chinese folk religion in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, Shinto in Japan, and Christianity and Musok in Korea. Tengerism and Tibetan Buddhism are prevalent among Mongols and Tibetans while other religions such as Shamanism are widespread among the indigenous populations of northeastern China such as the Manchus. The major languages in East Asia include Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The major ethnic groups of East Asia include the Han in China and Taiwan, Yamato in Japan, Koreans in North and South Korea, and Mongols in Mongolia. There are 76 officially-recognized minority or indigenous ethnic groups in East Asia; 55 native to mainland China (including Hui, Manchus, Chinese Mongols, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Zhuang in the frontier regions), 16 native to the island of Taiwan (collectively known as Taiwanese indigenous peoples), 1 native to the Japanese island of Hokkaido (the Ainu) and 4 native to Mongolia (Turkic peoples). The Ryukyuan people are an unrecognized ethnic group indigenous to the Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan, which stretch from Kyushu to Taiwan. There are also several unrecognized indigenous ethnic groups in mainland China and Taiwan.

East Asia is inhabited by around 1,648 million people, making up nearly 33% of the population in continental Asia and 20% of the global population. The region is home to major world metropolises such as Beijing–Tianjin, Busan–Daegu–Ulsan–Changwon, Chongqing, Guangzhou-Hong Kong-Macau, Osaka–Kyoto–Kobe, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai, Taipei, and Tokyo. Although the coastal and riparian areas of the region form one of the world's most populated places, the population in Mongolia and Western China, both landlocked areas, is very sparsely distributed, with Mongolia having the lowest population density of a sovereign state. As of 2025, the overall population density of the region is 133 inhabitants per square kilometre (340/sq mi), about three times the world average of 45/km² (120/sq mi).

History

Ancient era

China was the first region settled in East Asia and was undoubtedly the core of East Asian civilization from where other parts of East Asia were formed. The various other regions in East Asia were selective in the Chinese influences they adopted into their local customs. Historian Ping-ti Ho referred to China as the cradle of Eastern civilization, in parallel with the cradle of Middle Eastern civilization along the Fertile Crescent encompassing Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt as well as the cradle of Western civilization encompassing Ancient Greece.

Chinese civilization emerged early, and prefigured other East Asian civilisations. Throughout history, imperial China would exert cultural, economic, technological, and political influence on its neighbours. Succeeding Chinese dynasties exerted enormous influence across East Asia culturally, economically, politically and militarily for over two millennia. The tributary system of China shaped much of East Asia's history for over two millennia due to Imperial China's economic and cultural influence over the region, and thus played a huge role in the history of East Asia in particular. Imperial China's cultural preeminence not only led the country to become East Asia's first literate nation in the entire region, it also supplied Japan and Korea with Chinese loanwords and linguistic influences rooted in their writing systems.

Under Emperor Wu of Han, the Han dynasty made China the regional powerhouse in East Asia, projecting much of its imperial influence onto its neighbours. Han China hosted the largest unified population in East Asia, the most literate and urbanised as well as being the most economically developed, as well as the most technologically and culturally advanced civilization in the region at the time. Cultural and religious interaction between the Chinese and other regional East Asian dynasties and kingdoms occurred. China's impact and influence on Korea began with the Han dynasty's northeastern expansion in 108 BC when the Han Chinese conquered the northern part of the Korean peninsula and established a province called Lelang. Chinese influences were transmitted and soon took root in Korea through the inclusion of the Chinese writing system, monetary system, rice culture, philosophical schools of thought, and Confucian political institutions. Jomon society in ancient Japan incorporated wet-rice cultivation and metallurgy through its contact with Korea. Starting in the fourth century AD, Japan adopted Chinese characters, which remain integral to the Japanese writing system. Utilizing the Chinese writing system allowed the Japanese to conduct their daily activities, maintain historical records and give form to various ideas, thoughts, and philosophies.

Medieval era

During the Tang dynasty, China exerted its greatest influence on East Asia as various aspects of Chinese culture spread to Japan and Korea. The establishment of the medieval Tang dynasty rekindled the impetus of Chinese expansionism across the geopolitical confines of East Asia. Similar to its Han predecessor, Tang China reasserted itself as the center of East Asian geopolitical influence during the early medieval period which spearheaded and marked another golden age in Chinese history. In addition, Tang China also managed to maintain control over northern Vietnam and northern Korea.

As full-fledged medieval East Asian states were established, Korea by the fourth century AD and Japan by the seventh century AD, Japan and Korea actively began to incorporate Chinese influences such as Confucianism, the use of Chinese characters, architecture, state institutions, political philosophies, religion, urban planning, and various scientific and technological methods into their culture and society through direct contacts with Tang China and succeeding Chinese dynasties. Drawing inspiration from the Tang political system, Prince Naka no Ōe launched the Taika Reform in 645 AD where he radically transformed Japan's political bureaucracy into a more centralized bureaucratic empire. The Japanese also adopted Mahayana Buddhism, Chinese style architecture, and the imperial court's rituals and ceremonies, including the orchestral music and state dances had Tang influences. Written Chinese gained prestige and aspects of Tang culture such as poetry, calligraphy, and landscape painting became widespread. During the Nara period, Japan began to aggressively import Chinese culture and styles of government which included Confucian protocol that served as a foundation for Japanese culture as well as political and social philosophy. The Japanese created laws adopted from the Chinese legal system that was used to govern in addition to the traditional kimono, which was inspired from Chinese traditional hanfu during the 8th century.

Modern era

For many centuries, most notably from the 7th to the 14th centuries, China stood as East Asia's most advanced civilization and foremost military and economic power, exerting its influence as the transmission of advanced Chinese cultural practices and ways of thinking greatly shaped the region up until the 19th century. From the 3rd century through the 18th century, diplomatic and trade relations between China and other East Asian countries and the steppe kingdoms was governed through a tributary system. Under this system, the Chinese emperor received tribute from other rulers and in return received political benefits (like recognition or non-aggression agreements) or physical gifts, like porcelain and silks. Through this system, the Chinese emperor conferred legitimacy on other rulers.

As East Asia's connections with Europe and the Western world strengthened during the late 19th century, China's power began to decline. By the mid-19th century, the weakening Qing dynasty became fraught with political corruption, obstacles and stagnation that was incapable of rejuvenating itself as a world power in contrast to the industrializing Imperial European colonial powers and a rapidly modernizing Japan. The United States Commodore Matthew C. Perry would open Japan to Western influence, and the country would expand in earnest after the 1860s. Around the same time, the Meiji Restoration in Japan sparked rapid societal transformation from an isolated feudal state into East Asia's first industrialised nation. The modern and militarily powerful Japan would galvanise its position in the Orient as East Asia's greatest power with a global mission poised to advance to lead the entire world. By the early 1900s, the Empire of Japan succeeded in asserting itself as East Asia's most dominant geopolitical force.

With its newly found international status, Japan began to challenge the European colonial powers and took on a more active role within the East Asian geopolitical order and world affairs at large. Flexing its political and military might, Japan soundly defeated the Qing dynasty during the First Sino-Japanese War as well as defeating Russia in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905; the first major military victory in the modern era of an East Asian power over a European one.

During World War I, European military presence in East Asia decreased. Japan viewed this as an opportunity to increase its power in China and shortly after the war began, occupied Germany's concessions in Shandong. In December 1914, Japan made its Twenty-One Demands to China. The Republic of China under Yuan Shikai conceded to most of the demands in 1915, and subsequent treaties and agreements further increased Japan's semi-colonial power in China.

Japan hegemony was the heart of an empire that would include Taiwan and Korea. During World War II, Japanese expansionism with its imperialist aspirations through the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere would incorporate Korea, Taiwan, much of eastern China and Manchuria, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia under its control establishing itself as a maritime colonial power in East Asia.

Contemporary era

After a century of exploitation by the European and Japanese colonialists, post-colonial East Asia saw the defeat and occupation of Japan by the victorious Allies. The end of World War II did not result in east Asian countries obtaining independence or national unification. Independence and national unification were primary concerns for the first generation of east Asian post-World War II leaders.

The Chinese Civil War resumed after the defeat of the Japanese, with the Communists defeating the Nationalist Republic of China government. The government of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan and the People's Republic of China was proclaimed on 1 October 1949.

Post-war, the Korean peninsula was partitioned, leading to the development of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). The Korean War (1950–1953) increased regional and international tensions. The northeast part of East Asia hardened along communist and anti-communist lines. South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States have increased their ties.

During the latter half of the 20th century, the region would see the post war economic miracle of Japan, which ushered in three decades of unprecedented growth, only to experience an economic slowdown during the 1990s, but nonetheless Japan continues to remain a global economic power. East Asia would also see the economic rise of Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan, in addition to the respective handovers of Hong Kong and Macau near the end of the 20th century.

The onset of the 21st century in East Asia led to the integration of China into the global economy through its entry in the World Trade Organization while also enhancing its emerging international status as a potential world power reinforced with its aim of restoring its historical established significance and enduring international prominence in the world economy.

As of at least 2022, the region is more peaceful, integrated, wealthy, and stable than at any time in the previous 150 years.