AsiaCountries & Culture

Asia• Population: 4,164,252,000 (Source: 2010 United Nations) 

Area: 17,212,000 square miles 

Ranking: It is the largest and most populous continent 

Major Biomes: desert, grasslands, temperate forest, taiga 

Bordering Bodies of Water: Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, South China Sea, Yellow Sea, Bering Sea 

Major Rivers and Lakes: Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Aral Sea, Qinghai Lake, Yangtze River, Yellow River, Ganges River, Indus River 

Major Geographical Features: Himalayas, Ural Mountains, Kunlun Mountains, Arabian Desert, Gobi Desert, Takla Makan Desert, Thar Desert, Island of Japan, Mount Everest, Siberia

Map of Asia

Country-Population• According to OMB, “Asian” refers to a person having origins in

any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Asian population includes people who indicated their race(s) as “Asian” or reported entries such as “Asian Indian,” “Chinese,” “Filipino,” “Korean,” “Japanese,” and “Vietnamese” or provided other detailed Asian responses.

Population by Religion

Interesting Facts• Asia contains around 30% of the world's land area and 60% of the world's

population. 

The highest point on earth, Mt. Everest, is in Asia. The lowest point on land, the Dead Sea, is also in Asia. 

Asia is the only continent that shares borders with two other continents; Africa and Europe. It sometimes joins with a third continent, North America, in the winter by ice forming in the Bering Sea. 

Asia is home to two of the three largest economies in the world: China (2nd largest) and Japan (3rd largest). Russia and India are also top 10 world economies. 

Asia is home to many interesting animals including the giant panda, Asian elephant, tiger, Bactrian camel, komodo dragon, and the king cobra. 

China and India are the two largest countries in the world by population. China is number one with over 1.3 billion people. India is number two with over 1.2 billion. The third largest country in the world, the United States, only has just over 300 million people.

China

Chinese Poetry

Traits of Classical Chinese Poetry• Fairly simple on the surface• Usually about agrarian imagery, courtship and

marriage, or dynastic concerns• Usually 4 syllables per line• Organized around contrast• Often relies on alliteration, repetition, and

onomatopoeia

Shih Ching

1. Feng (folk-songs)2. Minor Odes3. Major Odes4. Dynastic Songs

Shih Ching – A Very Handsome GentlemanA very handsome gentlemanWaited for me in the lane;I am sorry I did not go with him.

A very splendid gentlemanWaited for me in the hall;I am sorry I did not keep company with him.

I am wearing my unlined coat, my coat all of brocadeI am wearing my unlined skirt, my skirt all of brocade!Oh uncles, young and old,Let me go with him to his home!

Song of the Bronze StatueGone that emperor of Maoling,Rider through the autumn wind,Whose horse neighs at nightAnd has passed without trace by dawn.The fragrance of autumn lingers stillOn those cassia trees by painted galleries,But on every palace hall the green moss grows.As Wei’s envoy sets out to drive a thousand liThe keen wind at the East Gate stings the statue’s eyes…From the ruined palace he brings nothing forthBut the moonshaped disk of Han,True to his lord, he sheds leaden tears, And withered orchids by the Xianyang RoadSee the traveler on his way.Ah, if Heaven had a feeling heart, it, too, must grow old!He bears the disk off aloneBy the light of the desolate moon,The town far behind him, muted its lapping waves.

Japan

Japanese PoetryHaiku and Tanka

The Haiku• Three lines • Set syllables (5-7-5)• Nature as the subject• Kigo• Kireji

The snowy morningThat Black Crow I hate so much…But he’s beautiful!

~Basho

The Tanka• Five lines• Defined syllables (5-7-5-7-7)• Reflects ideas of culture and society• Sometimes used as love letters• Uses imagery

On the white sandOf the beach of a small isleIn the Eastern Seal, my face streaked with tears,Am playing with a crab – Ishikawa Takuboku[4]

Your Turn• Write one haiku and one tanka• Place your haiku and tanka in Padlet (create new

Padlet and title it Asian Literature)• Email Padlet link – do not share, it does not work

all of the time• bchadwell@gcsd.k12.sc.us