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52-638: The Eastern world , also known as the East or historically the Orient , is an umbrella term for various cultures or social structures , nations and philosophical systems , which vary depending on the context. It most often includes Asia , the Mediterranean region and the Arab world , specifically in historical ( pre-modern ) contexts, and in modern times in the context of Orientalism . The Eastern world

104-575: A pejorative , particularly when used as a noun. John Kuo Wei Tchen , director of the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program and Institute at New York University , said the basic criticism of the term began in the U.S. during a cultural shift in the 1970s. He has said: "With the U.S.A. anti-war movement in the '60s and early '70s, many Asian Americans identified the term 'Oriental' with a Western process of racializing Asians as forever opposite 'others ' ", by making

156-418: A betrayal of their pure truth. By this reasoning, adding an incompatible belief corrupts the original religion, rendering it no longer true. Indeed, critics of a syncretistic trend may use the word or its variants as a disparaging epithet, as a charge implying that those who seek to incorporate a new view, belief, or practice into a religious system pervert the original faith. Non-exclusivist systems of belief, on

208-606: A cultural term, large parts of Asia— Siberia most notably—were excluded from the scholarly notion of "the Orient". Equally valid terms for the Orient still exist in the English language in such collocations as Oriental studies (now Asian Studies in some countries). The adjectival term Oriental has been used by the West to mean cultures, peoples, countries, Asian rugs, and goods from the Orient. "Oriental" means generally "eastern". It

260-563: A culture is conquered, and the conquerors bring their religious beliefs with them, but do not succeed in entirely eradicating the old beliefs or (especially) practices. Religions may have syncretic elements to their beliefs or history, but adherents of so-labeled systems often frown on applying the label, especially adherents who belong to "revealed" religious systems, such as the Abrahamic religions , or any system that exhibits an exclusivist approach. Such adherents sometimes see syncretism as

312-549: A distinction between "Western" and "Eastern" ancestral origins. This is particularly relevant when referring to lands and peoples not associated with the historic "Orient": outside of the former Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and Sasanian Empire (Persia), including the former Diocese of the Orient , as well as others lands sharing cultural legacies with the Oriental Orthodox churches and Oriental Catholic Churches . In contrast, regions of Asia further East, outside of

364-442: A factor that has recommended it to rulers of multiethnic realms . Conversely, the rejection of syncretism, usually in the name of " piety " and " orthodoxy ", may help to generate, bolster or authenticate a sense of uncompromised cultural unity in a well-defined minority or majority. All major religious conversions of populations have had elements from prior religious traditions incorporated into legends or doctrine that endure with

416-511: A meaning in Western thought that transcends geography. By the mid-20th century, Western scholars generally considered "the Orient" as just East Asia, Southeast Asia, and eastern Central Asia. As recently as the early 20th century, the term "Orient" often continued to be used in ways that included North Africa. Today, the term primarily evokes images of China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Mongolia, and peninsular Southeast Asia. "The Orient" being largely

468-523: A migration of ideas is generally successful only when there is a resonance between both traditions. While, as Bentley has argued, there are numerous cases where expansive traditions have won popular support in foreign lands, this is not always so. In the 16th century, the Mughal emperor Akbar proposed a new religion called the Din-i Ilahi ("Divine Faith"). Sources disagree with respect to whether it

520-772: A pictograph of the sun rising behind a tree ) and " The Land of the Rising Sun " to refer to Japan. In Arabic, the Mashriq literally means "the sunrise", "the east", the name is derived from the verb sharaqa (Arabic: شرق "to shine, illuminate, radiate" and "to rise"), from sh-r-q root (ش-ر-ق), referring to the east, where the sun rises. Historically, the Mashriq was the southern part of the Eastern Roman Empire. Many ancient temples, including pagan temples , Hindu temples , Buddhist temples , Jain temples , and

572-663: A result of its prolonged use in the region, since the 18th century it was used in reference to the inhabitants of the Banda Oriental , the historical name of the territories that now compose the modern nation of Uruguay. In German, Orient is usually used synonymously with the area between the Near East and East Asia, including Israel , the Arab world , and Greater Persia . The term Asiaten (English: Asians) means Asian people in general. Another word for Orient in German

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624-540: A single Greco-Roman pantheon , and then identifying members of that pantheon with the local deities of various Roman provinces. Some religious movements have embraced overt syncretism, such as the case of melding Shintō beliefs into Buddhism or the amalgamation of Germanic and Celtic pagan views into Christianity during its spread into Gaul, Ireland, Britain, Germany and Scandinavia. In later times, Christian missionaries in North America identified Manitou ,

676-512: A whole make up approximately 9.3% of the population within the United Kingdom, and people of an ethnically South Asian background comprise the largest group within this category. "Orientals" refers exclusively to people of East and Southeast Asian origin, who constitute approximately 0.7% of the UK population as a whole. Of these, the majority are of Chinese descent. Orient is also a word for

728-484: Is Morgenland (now mainly poetic), which literally translates as "morning land". The antonym "Abendland" (rarely: "Okzident") is also mainly poetic, and refers to (Western) Europe. Syncretism The English word is first attested in the early 17th century It is from Modern Latin syncretismus , drawing on the [[[:wikt:συγκρητισμός|συγκρητισμός]]] Error: {{Langx}}: invalid parameter: |labels= ( help ) , supposedly meaning "Cretan federation"; however, this

780-592: Is a product of European cultural history and of the distinction between Christian Europe and the cultures beyond it to the East. With the European colonization of the Americas , the East-West dichotomy became global. The concept of an Eastern, "Indian" ( Indies ) or " Oriental " sphere was emphasized by ideas of racial as well as religious and cultural differences. Such distinctions were articulated by Westerners in

832-689: Is a spurious etymology from the naive idea in Plutarch 's 1st-century AD essay on "Fraternal Love (Peri Philadelphias)" in his collection Moralia . He cites the example of the Cretans , who compromised and reconciled their differences and came together in alliance when faced with external dangers. "And that is their so-called Syncretism [Union of Cretans]". More likely as an etymology is sun- ("with") plus kerannumi ("mix") and its related noun, "krasis", "mixture". Overt syncretism in folk belief may show cultural acceptance of an alien or previous tradition, but

884-648: Is a traditional designation (especially when capitalized) for anything belonging to the Orient or "East" (for Asia), and especially of its Eastern culture . It indicated the eastern direction in historical astronomy, often abbreviated "Ori". In contemporary American English, Oriental usually refers to things from the parts of East Asia traditionally occupied by East Asians and most Central Asians and Southeast Asians racially categorized as " Mongoloid ". This excludes Jews , Indians, Arabs , and most other South or West Asian peoples. Because of historical discrimination against Chinese, Korean and Japanese, in some parts of

936-580: Is also accepted that the policy of sulh-i-kul , which formed the essence of the Dīn-i Ilāhī, was adopted by Akbar as a part of general imperial administrative policy. Sulh-i-kul means "universal peace". The syncretic deism of Matthew Tindal undermined Christianity's claim to uniqueness. The modern, rational, non-pejorative connotations of syncretism arguably date from Denis Diderot 's Encyclopédie articles Eclecticisme and Syncrétistes, Hénotiques, ou Conciliateurs . Diderot portrayed syncretism as

988-475: Is more widely used to refer to the works of the many 19th-century artists who specialized in "Oriental" subjects and often drew on their travels to North Africa and Western Asia. Artists, as well as scholars, were already described as "Orientalists" in the 19th century. In 1978, the Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said published his influential and controversial book, Orientalism , and used

1040-483: Is often seen as a counterpart to the Western world . The various regions included in the term are varied, hard to generalize, and do not have a single shared common heritage. Although the various parts of the Eastern world share many common threads, most notably being in the " Global South ", they have never historically defined themselves collectively. The term originally had a literal geographic meaning, referring to

1092-441: Is often used to describe the product of the large-scale imposition of one alien culture, religion, or body of practices over another that is already present." Others such as Jerry H. Bentley , however, have argued that syncretism has also helped to create cultural compromise. It provides an opportunity to bring beliefs, values, and customs from one cultural tradition into contact with, and to engage different cultural traditions. Such

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1144-1278: The Far East . The term oriental is often used to describe objects and people coming from the Orient/eastern Asia. The term "Orient" derives from the Latin word oriens , meaning "east" (lit. "rising" < orior " rise"). The use of the word for "rising" to refer to the east (where the sun rises) has analogues from many languages: compare the terms "Arevelk" in Armenian : Արեւելք (Armenian Arevelk means "East" or "Sunrise"), " Levant " (< French levant "rising"), "Vostok" Russian: Восток (< Russian voskhod Russian: восход "sunrise"), " Anatolia " (< Greek anatole ), "mizrah" in Hebrew ("zriha" meaning sunrise), "sharq" Arabic : شرق (< Arabic yashriq يشرق "rise", shurūq Arabic : شروق "rising"), "shygys" Kazakh : шығыс (< Kazakh shygu Kazakh : шығу "come out"), Turkish : doğu (< Turkish doğmak to be born; to rise), "xavar" Persian : خاور (meaning east), Chinese : 東 ( pinyin : dōng ,

1196-603: The Philippines , which are geographically located in the Eastern world, may be considered Western in some aspects of their society, culture and politics due to immigration and historical cultural influences from the United States and Europe. As with other regions of the world, Asia consists of many different, extremely diverse countries, ethnic groups and cultures. This concept is further debated because in some English-speaking countries , common vernacular associates

1248-788: The Twenty-fifth Dynasty in Manetho's Aegyptiaca , developed a syncretic worship identifying their own god Dedun with the Egyptian Osiris . They maintained that worship even after they had been driven out of Egypt. A temple dedicated to this syncretic god, built by the Kushite ruler Atlanersa , was unearthed at Jebel Barkal . Syncretism was common during the Hellenistic period, with rulers regularly identifying local deities in various parts of their domains with

1300-508: The Western world . In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the continent of Asia – loosely classified into Southwest Asia , Southeast Asia , South Asia , Central Asia , East Asia , and sometimes including the Caucasus . Originally, the term Orient was used to designate only the Near East , but later its meaning evolved and expanded, designating also Central Asia, Southwest Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, or

1352-625: The "Asian" identity to people of East Asian origin and Southeast Asian origin, while in some countries the "Asian" identity is associated with people of South Asian origin, and in other contexts, Asian regions such as the Indian subcontinent are included with East Asia. West Asia (which includes Israel , part of the Arab world , Iran , etc.), which may or may not see themselves part of the Eastern world, are sometimes considered "Middle Eastern" and separate from Asia. The division between 'East' and 'West', formerly referred to as Orient and Occident ,

1404-635: The "oriental" and "occidental" provinces of Mindoro and Negros in the Philippines, and the French département of Pyrénées-Orientales . Since the 19th century, "orientalist" has been the traditional term for a scholar of Oriental studies ; however, the use in English of "Orientalism" to describe academic "Oriental studies" is rare: the Oxford English Dictionary cites only one such usage, by Lord Byron in 1812. " Orientalism "

1456-472: The "other" cult may survive or infiltrate without authorized syncresis . For example, some conversos developed a sort of cult for martyr-victims of the Spanish Inquisition , thus incorporating elements of Catholicism while resisting it. The Kushite kings who ruled Upper Egypt for approximately a century and the whole of Egypt for approximately 57 years, from 721 to 664 BCE, constituting

1508-515: The 1800s, India, and to a lesser extent China, began to displace the Levant as the primary subject of Orientalist research, while the term also appears in mid-century works to describe an appearance or perceived similarity to "Oriental" government or culture, such as in Tolstoy 's 1869 novel War and Peace , in which Napoleon , upon seeing the "oriental beauty" of Moscow, calls it "That Asiatic city of

1560-591: The Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, were built with their main entrances facing the East. This tradition was carried on in Christian churches . The opposite term " Occident " derives from the Latin word occidens , meaning west (lit. setting < occido fall/set ). This term meant the west (where the sun sets) but has fallen into disuse in English, in favour of " Western world ". Territorialization of

1612-654: The Orient , corresponding roughly to the region of Syria . Over time, the common understanding of "the Orient" has continually shifted eastwards, as European people travelled farther into Asia. It finally reached the Pacific Ocean, in what Westerners came to call "the Far East". These shifts in time and identification sometimes confuse the scope (historical and geographic) of Oriental Studies. Yet there remain contexts where "the Orient" and "Oriental" have kept their older meanings (e.g., "Oriental spices" typically are from

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1664-702: The Roman term Orient occurred during the reign of emperor Diocletian (284–305), when the Diocese of the Orient ( Latin : Dioecesis Orientis ) was formed. Later in the 4th century, the Praetorian prefecture of the Orient ( Latin : Praefectura Praetorio Orientis ) was also formed, including most of the Eastern Roman Empire , from the Thrace eastwards; its easternmost part was the original Diocese of

1716-469: The United Kingdom have been issued with guidelines to encourage political correctness where oriental should be avoided because it is imprecise and may be considered racist or offensive. "Asian" in Great Britain sometimes refers to people who come specifically from South Asia (in particular Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Iran, and Afghanistan), since British Asians as

1768-540: The United States, some people consider the term derogatory. For example, Washington State prohibits the word "Oriental" in legislation and government documents and prefers the word "Asian" instead. In more local uses, "oriental" is also used for eastern parts of countries such as Morocco's Oriental Region . "Oriental" may also be used as an synonym of "eastern", especially in Romance languages . Examples include

1820-588: The Western world despite being geographically closer to the Eastern world, while the Central Asian nations of the former Soviet Union , even with significant Western influence, are grouped in the East. Other than much of Asia and Africa , Europe has absorbed almost all of the societies of North Asia , the Americas , and Oceania into the Western world because of settler colonization . Countries such as

1872-790: The added benefit or aim of reducing inter-religious discord. Such chapters often have a side-effect of arousing jealousy and suspicion among authorities and ardent adherents of the pre-existing religion. Such religions tend to inherently appeal to an inclusive, diverse audience. Sometimes the state itself sponsored such new movements, such as the Living Church founded in Soviet Russia and the German Evangelical Church in Nazi Germany , chiefly to stem all outside influences. According to some authors, "Syncretism

1924-789: The concordance of eclectic sources. Scientific or legalistic approaches of subjecting all claims to critical thinking prompted at this time much literature in Europe and the Americas studying non-European religions such as Edward Moor's The Hindu Pantheon of 1810, much of which was almost evangelistically appreciative by embracing spirituality and creating the space and tolerance in particular disestablishment of religion (or its stronger form, official secularisation as in France) whereby believers of spiritualism , agnosticism , atheists and in many cases more innovative or pre-Abrahimic based religions could promote and spread their belief system, whether in

1976-492: The cultural domination of Abrahamic religions, do not share these same historical associations, giving way for the term "oriental" to have different connotations. In 2016, President Obama signed New York Congresswoman Grace Meng 's legislation H.R. 4238 replacing the word with Asian American in federal law. The Chinese word 东方 is translated as "oriental" in the official English names of several entities, e.g. Oriental Art Center , Oriental Movie Metropolis . In other cases,

2028-518: The eastern part of the Old World , contrasting the cultures and civilizations of Asia with those of Europe (or the Western world). Traditionally, this includes East Asia , Southeast Asia , South Asia , Central Asia and West Asia . Conceptually, the boundary between east and west is more cultural, rather than geographical, as a result of which Australia and New Zealand , which were founded as British settler colonies , are typically grouped with

2080-584: The innumerable churches, holy Moscow!", while in 1843 the American historian William Prescott uses the phrase "barbaric pomp, truly Oriental" to describe the court life of Aztec nobility in his history of the conquest of the Aztec Empire . As late as 1957 Karl Wittfogel included Rome and the Incan Empire in his study of what he called Oriental Despotism , demonstrating the term still carries

2132-462: The lustre of a fine pearl . Hong Kong, a former British colony, has been called "Pearl of the Orient" along with Shanghai. In the UK, and much of the commonwealth, it is not considered a pejorative term, with many East Asian people choosing to use it themselves - notably in the names of East Asian businesses such as restaurants and takeaway outlets. People in the United Kingdom from Southwest Asia , Asia Minor and Near East are often referred to by

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2184-403: The newly converted laity . Religious syncretism is the blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions. This can occur for many reasons, and the latter scenario happens quite commonly in areas where multiple religious traditions exist in proximity and function actively in a culture, or when

2236-545: The other hand, may feel quite free to incorporate other traditions into their own. Keith Ferdinando notes that the term "syncretism" is an elusive one, and can refer to substitution or modification of the central elements of a religion by beliefs or practices introduced from elsewhere. The consequence under such a definition, according to Ferdinando, can lead to a fatal "compromise" of the original religion's "integrity". In modern secular society, religious innovators sometimes construct new faiths or key tenets syncretically, with

2288-675: The regions extending from the Middle East to sub-continental India to Indo-China). Travellers may again take the Orient Express train from Paris to its terminus in the European part of Istanbul , a route established in the early 20th century. In European historiography , the meaning of "the Orient" changed in scope several times. Originally, the term referred to Egypt, the Levant , and adjoining areas as far west as Morocco. During

2340-587: The relevant god or goddess of the Greek Pantheon as a means of increasing the cohesion of their kingdom. This practice was accepted in most locations but vehemently rejected by the Jews , who considered the identification of Yahweh with the Greek Zeus as the worst of blasphemy. The Roman Empire continued the practice, first by the identification of traditional Roman deities with Greek ones, producing

2392-472: The same word is more literally translated as "eastern", e.g. China Eastern Airlines . The official name of Uruguay is Oriental Republic of Uruguay, the adjective Oriental refers to the geographic location of the country, east of the Uruguay River . The term Oriental is also used as Uruguay's demonym , usually with a formal or solemn connotation. The word also has a deep historical meaning as

2444-475: The scholarly tradition known as Orientalism , which is notable in being a Western conception of a unified Eastern world not limited to any specific region(s), but rather all of Asia together. While there is no singular Eastern culture of the Eastern world, there are subgroups within it, such as countries within East Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia, as well as syncretism within these regions. These include

2496-883: The spiritual and fundamental life force in the traditional beliefs of the Algonquian groups , with the God of Christianity . Similar identifications were made by missionaries at other locations in the Americas and Africa who encountered a local belief in a Supreme God or Supreme Spirit of some kind. Indian influences are seen in the practice of Shi'i Islam in Trinidad . Others have strongly rejected it as devaluing and compromising precious and genuine distinctions; examples include post- Exile Second Temple Judaism , Islam , and most of Protestant Christianity. Syncretism tends to facilitate coexistence and unity between otherwise different cultures and world views ( intercultural competence ),

2548-467: The spread of Eastern religions such as Buddhism or Hinduism , the usage of Chinese characters or Brahmic scripts , language families, the fusion of cuisines, and traditions, among others. Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe , traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world . It is the antonym of the term Occident , which refers to

2600-489: The term to describe a pervasive Western tradition, both academic and artistic, of prejudiced outsider interpretations of the Arab and Muslim worlds that has been shaped by the attitudes of European imperialism in the 18th and the 19th centuries. In British English , the term Oriental is sometimes still used to refer to people from East and Southeast Asia (such as those from China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore). Judges in

2652-500: The term, "Middle Eastern". These can include Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Assyrians, West Asian Armenians, Yezidis, Egyptians (including Copts), Syriac Arameans, Mandeans, Shabakis and Turvomans among others. In some specific contexts, for example the carpet and rug trade, the older sense of "oriental" to cover not just East Asia but Central Asia , South Asia and Turkey may still be used; an Oriental rug may come from any of these areas. The term Oriental may sound dated or even be seen as

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2704-400: Was one of many Sufi orders or merged some of the elements of the various religions of his empire. Din-i Ilahi drew elements primarily from Islam and Hinduism but also from Christianity , Jainism , and Zoroastrianism . More resembling a personality cult than a religion, it had no sacred scriptures, no priestly hierarchy, and fewer than 20 disciples, all hand-picked by Akbar himself. It

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