EAST ASIAN PEOPLE

inhabitants of East Asia, often defined as the Sinitic World. It consists of, first, the Chinese and groups that are closely related to the Chinese ethnically or culturally and, second, those cultures that were greatly influenced by China at the time that they became states. Among the first category, of course, are the Chinese themselves, the Taiwanese, and, with some equivocation, the Miao and Yao. The second category consists of such peoples as the Japanese, Koreans, Manchu, and Pai (or Min-chia). Various other peoples have also been influenced by the Chinese, but, because they have not formed states of their own, this influence is difficult to determine and is often not emphasized. This is the case among, for example, the Na-hsi (Naxi) of southwest China and the Ainu of Hokkaido in northern Japan. Recognition of ties with China is the most characteristic feature of East Asian cultures. It unites peoples as disparate in many aspects of life as the Hui (Chinese Muslims) of China's northwest, the Japanese, and the Manchu. As a consequence, the area has a special significance for many of the peoples themselves. It is to the south that it is most difficult to determine the boundary of East Asia. Here groups escaping the domination of Chinese power fled through China and finally into what are now designated as the states of Southeast Asia. Some of these peoples are closely related to others still within China. In addition, some peoples such as the Tai and Tibetans have been influenced by the Chinese to a significant degree; however, at the same time, they both have also been greatly influenced by the Indians. The Vietnamese are not only the most Sinified of the Southeast Asians but probably give the Chinese undue credit for the beginnings of civilization in the Red River delta of northern Vietnam as well. Vietnam is generally discussed in Western accounts in the context of the Southeast Asian culture area (see Southeast Asian people: Traditional culture patterns: The Vietnamese ). To the north, the traditional border of the East Asian cultural area long was marked by the Great Wall of China (which passes within 35 miles of Peking), although this has not been the caseparticularly in northeastern Chinafor some time. Additional reading Albert Kolb, East Asia: China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam: Geography of a Cultural Region (1971; originally published in German, 1963), is a detailed introduction. China's peoples and cultures are considered by Nathan Sivin (ed.), The Contemporary Atlas of China (1988); Caroline Blunden and Mark Elvin, Cultural Atlas of China (1983); Brian Hook (ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China, 2nd ed. (1991); Leo J. Moser, The Chinese Mosaic: The Peoples and Provinces of China (1985); Judith Banister, China's Changing Population (1987); and Albert Herrmann, An Historical Atlas of China, new ed. (1966). Minority relations are examined by June Teufel Dreyer, China's Forty Millions: Minority Nationalities and National Integration in the People's Republic of China (1976); and Wolfram Eberhard, China's Minorities: Yesterday and Today (1982). Family structure and organization in China and Taiwan are surveyed by William L. Parish and Martin King Whyte, Village and Family in Contemporary China (1978); Hugh D.R. Baker, Chinese Family and Kinship (1979); and Myron L. Cohen, House United, House Divided: The Chinese Family in Taiwan (1976). Emily Martin Ahern and Hill Gates (eds.), The Anthropology of Taiwanese Society (1981), is a collection of essays on various societal organization systems. Korean society, culture, and religion are discussed in James Hoare and Susan Pares, Korea: An Introduction (1988). Works on Japanese society and culture include Chie Nakane, Japanese Society (1970, reissued 1984; originally published in Japanese, 1967); Edwin O. Reischauer, The Japanese (1977, reprinted 1981); H. Paul Varley, Japanese Culture, 3rd ed. (1984); and Martin Collcutt, Marius Jansen, and Ksao Kumakura, Cultural Atlas of Japan (1988). Frank Bagnall Bessac The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica