(Postone, 1993) Habermas, a contemporary social historian contributor, was also very influenced by Weberian thinking in regarding rhetoric as an action rather than creating truth. As Weber or Habermas, or Marx or any other philosopher of history, among others, puts it, social history is a complex science and can have many facets. As Soon Won Park presents, connected with the colonial history of Korea, "history is now understood not simply

East Asia Ideal and Reality: Cultural Revolution in East Asia In recent history in East Asia, the laws, ideals, and models of government and culture have produced a reality that is somewhat different from that hoped for and proposed by these arbitrary systems. As Dong Zhongshu notes, the ancient Han dynasty erected an empire that lasted 2000 years based on a Confucian "vision of an omnipotent but disciplined sovereign, who sought to

shifting gender roles within Chinese history: Connections, differentiations, and articulations of Chinese women within the ideology of Confucianism The common stereotype of the East Asian female in the West is that of a frail flower: the most popular Westernized conceptions which leap to mind are that of the bound feet of a Chinese woman. However, the reality in early Chinese history was far more complex. As in the West, Chinese women

Neo-Confucianism: Reframing the tenants of Confucianism for a new era Neo-Confucianism arose as a synthesis of Buddhism and Taoism in China. Although there is often a tendency to elide the ideological orientations of all the so-called 'Eastern' religions together in Western thinking, the fact that such a fusion occurred is quite surprising in retrospect. Buddhism initially faced a campaign of official persecution and only gradually became an accepted part of the Chinese

history of Japan. First, it will describe the masculinization of Japanese culture during the Kamakura Shogunate period and explore why masculinization happened. Second, the changing roles and relationships with each Buddhism and Shinto in Japan from Nara through the Kamakura period will be explored. Third, Korea's relationship with China and Japan up until the 1600's will be compared and contrasted. Fourth, the kinds of social, political and cultural climate

Some cultural traditions exist in complete isolation from neighboring regions. For instance, Korea and China do not have the well-developed geisha role for women or the Samurai class of warriors. Japan's indigenous Shinto religion is not practiced on the Korean peninsula or in China. Taoism, an indigenous Chinese philosophical tradition, did not take root in Korea or Japan. Geography is a factor in why Korea, Japan, and China have evolved different