1.
K-pop
–
K-pop is a music genre originating in South Korea that is characterized by a wide variety of audiovisual elements. The more modern form of the genre emerged with one of the earliest K-pop groups, Seo Taiji and Boys and their experimentation with different styles of music reshaped Koreas music scene. As a result, the integration of foreign musical elements has now become common practice with K-pop artists, K-pop entered the Japanese market at the turn of the 21st century and rapidly grew into a subculture among teenagers and young adults of East and Southeast Asia. Although K-pop generally refers to South Korean popular music, some consider it to be an all-encompassing genre exhibiting a vast spectrum of musical and visual elements, the French Institut national de laudiovisuel defines K-pop as a fusion of synthesized music, sharp dance routines and fashionable, colorful outfits. Songs typically consist of one or a mixture of pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, Management agencies in South Korea offer binding contracts to potential artists, sometimes at a young age. Trainees live together in an environment and spend many hours a day learning music, dance, foreign languages. This robotic system of training is often criticized by Western media outlets, in 2012, The Wall Street Journal reported that the cost of training one Korean pop idol under S. M. K-pop is a product that features “values, identity and meanings that go beyond their strictly commercial value. ”It is characterized by a mixture of Western sounds with an Asian aspect of performance. It has been remarked that there is a vision of modernization inherent in Korean pop culture, for some, the transnational values of K-pop are responsible for its success. Many agencies have presented new idol groups to an audience through a debut showcase, groups are given a name and a concept, along with a marketing hook. Sometimes sub-units or sub-groups are formed among existing members, an example subgroup is Super Junior-K. R. Y. Which consists of members Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, and Yesung, and Super Junior-M, online marketing includes music videos posted to YouTube in order to reach a worldwide audience. Prior to the video, the group releases teaser photos. Promotional cycles of subsequent singles are called comebacks even when the musician or group in question did not go on hiatus, modern K-pop is marked by its use of English phrases. In 1995, the percentage of song titles using English in the top 50 charts was 8% and this fluctuated between 30% in 2000, 18% in 2005, and 44% in 2010. Similarly, increasing numbers of K-pop bands use English names rather than Korean ones and this allows songs and artists to be marketed to a wider audience around the world. An example of a Korean song with a proportion of English lyrics is Kara’s Jumping. Increasingly, foreign songwriters and producers are employed to work on songs for K-pop idols, such as will. i. am, musicians, including rappers such as Akon, Kanye West, Ludacris, and Snoop Dogg, have also featured on K-pop songs
2.
Korean Americans
–
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean heritage or descent, mostly from South Korea, with a very small minority from North Korea. The U. S. is home to the second largest Korean diaspora community in the world after the Peoples Republic of China. The ten states with the largest estimated Korean American populations were California, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Texas, Washington, Illinois, Georgia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Hawaii was the state with the highest concentration of Korean Americans, at 1. 8%, the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area ranks third, with approximately 93,000 Korean Americans clustered in Howard and Montgomery Counties in Maryland and Fairfax County in Virginia. Southern California and the New York City metropolitan area have the largest populations of Koreans outside of the Korean Peninsula. Among Korean Americans born in Korea, the Los Angeles metropolitan area had 226,000 as of 2012, New York had 153,000 Korean-born Korean Americans, and Washington had 60,000. The percentage of Korean Americans in Bergen County, New Jersey, between 1990 and 2000, Georgia was home to the fastest-growing Korean community in the U. S. growing at a rate of 88. 2% over that decade. There is a significant Korean American population in the Atlanta metropolitan area, mainly in Gwinnett County, in a 2005 United States Census Bureau survey, an estimated 432,907 ethnic Koreans in the U. S. were native-born Americans, and 973,780 were foreign-born. Korean Americans that were naturalized citizens numbered at 530,100, since the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 allowed North Korean defectors to be admitted as refugees, about 130 have settled in the U. S. under that status. He became a citizen in 1890 and earned a degree in 1892 from what is now George Washington University. Throughout his life, he strove to educate Koreans in the ideals of freedom and democracy and he died during the Korean War. His home is now a museum, cared for by a social organization founded in his name in 1975. A prominent figure among the Korean immigrant community is Ahn Chang Ho, pen name Dosan and he came to the United States in 1902 for education. He founded the Friendship Society in 1903 and the Mutual Assistance Society and he was also a political activist during the Japanese occupation of Korea. There is a built in his honor in downtown Riverside, California. The City of Los Angeles has also declared the nearby intersection of Jefferson Boulevard, the Taekwondo pattern Do-san was named after him. Another prominent figure among the Korean immigrant community was Syngman Rhee and he came to the United States in 1904 and earned a bachelors degree at George Washington University in 1907, a masters degree at Harvard University, and a Ph. D. from Princeton University in 1910. In 1910, he returned to Korea and became a political activist and he later became the first president of the Republic of Korea
3.
Los Angeles
–
Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
4.
Fredericksburg, Virginia
–
Fredericksburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 24,286, the city population was estimated at 28,118 in 2015. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Fredericksburg with neighboring Spotsylvania County for statistical purposes, located near where the Rappahannock River crosses the Fall Line, Fredericksburg was a prominent port in Virginia during the colonial era. Fredericksburg is home to major commercial centers including Central Park and Spotsylvania Towne Centre. Major employers include the University of Mary Washington, Mary Washington Healthcare, many Fredericksburg-area residents commute to work by car, bus, and rail to Washington and Richmond, as well as Fairfax, Prince William, and Arlington counties. At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that became Fredericksburg were a Siouan-speaking tribe called the Manahoac, english colonists recorded the name of the Manahoac village there as Mahaskahod. Located on the Rappahannock River near the head of navigation at the fall line, the land on which the city was founded was part of a tract patented in 1671. The Virginia General Assembly established a fort on the Rappahannock in 1676, in 1714, Lt. Gov. Named for Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of King George II, the colonial towns streets bore the names of members of the royal family. The county court was moved to Fredericksburg in 1732, and the served as county seat until 1780. In 1781, Fredericksburg was incorporated as a town, with its own court, council and it received its charter as a city in 1879, and under Virginia law was separated from Spotsylvania County. The city adopted its present city manager/council form of government in 1911, the city has close associations with George Washington, whose family moved to Ferry Farm in Stafford County just off the Rappahannock River opposite Fredericksburg in 1738. Washingtons mother Mary later moved to the city, and his sister Betty lived at Kenmore, other significant early residents include the Revolutionary War generals Hugh Mercer and George Weedon, naval war hero John Paul Jones, and future U. S. president James Monroe. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in Fredericksburg, during the 19th century, Fredericksburg sought to maintain its sphere of trade, but with limited success. It promoted the development of a canal on the Rappahannock and construction of a turnpike, by 1837, a north-south railroad, which became the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, linked the town to Richmond, the state capital. A much-needed railroad joining the town to the region to the west was not finished until after the Civil War. During the Civil War, Fredericksburg gained strategic importance due to its location midway between Washington and Richmond, the capitals of the Union and the Confederacy. During the Battle of Fredericksburg, December 11–15,1862, the town sustained significant damage from bombardment, a Second Battle of Fredericksburg was fought in and around the town on May 3,1863, in connection with the Chancellorsville campaign. The battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House were fought nearby in May 1864, after the war, Fredericksburg recovered its former position as a center of local trade and slowly grew beyond its prewar boundaries
5.
Taekwondo
–
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art, characterized by its emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping and spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques. Gyeorugi, a type of sparring, has been an Olympic event since 2000. The body known for taekwondo in the Olympics is the World Taekwondo Federation, beginning in 1945, shortly after the end of the occupation of Korea by Imperial Japan, new martial arts schools called kwans were opened in Seoul. These schools were established by Korean martial artists who had studied primarily in Japan during the Japanese rule, during this time taekwondo was also adopted for use by the South Korean military, which increased its popularity among civilian martial arts schools. After witnessing a martial arts demonstration by the military in 1952, beginning in 1955 the leaders of the kwans began discussing in earnest the possibility of creating a unified style of Korean martial arts. The name Tae Soo Do was used to describe this notional unified style and this name consists of the hanja 跆 tae to stomp, trample, 手 su hand and 道 do way, discipline. Choi Hong Hi advocated the use of the name Tae Kwon Do, i. e. replacing su hand by 拳 kwon fist, the new name was initially slow to catch on among the leaders of the kwans. In 1959 the Korea Taekwondo Association was established to facilitate the unification of Korean martial arts, in 1966, Choi established the International Taekwon-Do Federation as a separate governing body devoted to institutionalizing a common style of taekwondo. Cold War politics of the 1960s and 1970s complicated the adoption of ITF-style taekwondo as a unified style, the South Korean government wished to avoid North Korean influence on the martial art. Conversely, ITF president Choi Hong Hi sought support for the art from all quarters. In response, in 1973 South Korea withdrew its support for the ITF, after Chois retirement the ITF split in 2001 and then again in 2002 to create three separate federations each of which continues to operate today under the same name. In 1973 the South Korean governments Ministry of Culture, Sports, Kukkiwon now served many of the functions previously served by the KTA, in terms of defining a government-sponsored unified style of taekwondo. In 1973 the KTA supported the establishment of the World Taekwondo Federation to promote taekwondo specifically as an international sport, since 2000, taekwondo has been one of only two Asian martial arts that are included in the Olympic Games. It became an event at the 1988 games in Seoul. In 2010, taekwondo was accepted as a Commonwealth Games sport, Taekwondo is characterized by its emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping and spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques. In fact, World Taekwondo Federation sparring competitions award additional points for strikes that incorporate spinning kicks, to facilitate fast, turning kicks, taekwondo generally adopts stances that are narrower and hence less-stable than the broader, wide stances used by martial arts such as karate. The tradeoff of decreased stability is believed to be worth the increase in agility. The emphasis on speed and agility is a characteristic of taekwondo and has its origins in analyses undertaken by Choi Hong Hi
6.
Japan
–
Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
7.
Hong Kong
–
Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour, literally means Little Hong Kong)—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour
8.
Shinee
–
Shinee is a South Korean boy group formed by S. M. The group is composed of five members, Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, the group gained attention for starting a fashion trend amongst students, which the media dubbed the Shinee Trend. In August,2008, the released their first Korean studio album The Shinee World. Shinee further consolidated their popularity on the South Korean music scene with follow-up singles Ring Ding Dong, Ring Ding Dong charted on top of several Korean music charts and gained popularity all over Asia. Lucifer was nominated for the Best Dance Performance Award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2010 for its outstanding choreography, in 2012 the group released Sherlock, which became the fifth most sold album of the year with over 180,000 copies sold. The group has also included in the Forbes list of Korea Power Celebrity multiple times, once in 2014. In mid-2011, Shinee signed with EMI Records Japan to venture into the Japanese music scene. Their Japanese version of their single Replay sold over 100,000 copies and it was followed by their first Japanese studio album, The First, on December 7,2011 — both were certified Gold by RIAJ for selling over 100,000 copies. In 2011 the group held their Japan Debut Premium Reception at Abbey Road Studios in London making them the first Asian artists to perform there. Two years later released their second Japanese album Boys Meet U, followed by Im Your Boy, D×D×D. Shinees signature musical style is contemporary R&B but the group is known for their sound, incorporating various genres including funk rock, hip hop. The groups popularity in their native country South Korea has earned numerous accolades and titles like Princes of K-pop. Prior to the debut, the label company, SM Entertainment, introduced an upcoming contemporary R&B boy group with its goal to be trendsetters in all areas of music, fashion. The groups Korean name, Shinee is a new coined word and explained as a combination of shine meaning light, and the suffix ee, therefore meaning one who receives the light. On May 22,2008, the groups first EP, Replay, was released, in May 2008, Shinee had their first stage performance on SBSs Inkigayo with their single Replay. In the same month, Shinee subsequently released their first full-length album, The Shinee World, which debuted at number three, selling 30,000 copies. Its title track Sanso Gateun Neo is a cover of Show the World by Martin Hoberg Hedegaard, originally written by the Danish songwriting and production team of Thomas Troelsen, Remee and Lucas Secon. On September 18,2008, the song won first place on M. Countdown making it the groups first win on Korean music shows since debut
9.
Thailand
–
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total area of approximately 513,000 km2, Thailand is the worlds 51st-largest country and it is the 20th-most-populous country in the world, with around 66 million people. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and has switched between parliamentary democracy and military junta for decades, the latest coup being in May 2014 by the National Council for Peace and Order. Its capital and most populous city is Bangkok and its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. The Thai economy is the worlds 20th largest by GDP at PPP and it became a newly industrialised country and a major exporter in the 1990s. Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are leading sectors of the economy and it is considered a middle power in the region and around the world. The country has always been called Mueang Thai by its citizens, by outsiders prior to 1949, it was usually known by the exonym Siam. The word Siam has been identified with the Sanskrit Śyāma, the names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word. The word Śyâma is possibly not its origin, but a learned, another theory is the name derives from Chinese, Ayutthaya emerged as a dominant centre in the late fourteenth century. The Chinese called this region Xian, which the Portuguese converted into Siam, the signature of King Mongkut reads SPPM Mongkut King of the Siamese, giving the name Siam official status until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand. Thailand was renamed Siam from 1945 to 11 May 1949, after which it reverted to Thailand. According to George Cœdès, the word Thai means free man in the Thai language, ratcha Anachak Thai means kingdom of Thailand or kingdom of Thai. Etymologically, its components are, ratcha, -ana- -chak, the Thai National Anthem, written by Luang Saranupraphan during the extremely patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as, prathet Thai. The first line of the anthem is, prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai, Thailand is the unity of Thai flesh. There is evidence of habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today. Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire, later Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava dynasty and north Indian Gupta Empire. The Menam Basin was originally populated by the Mons, and the location of Dvaravati in the 7th century, the History of the Yuan mentions an embassy from the kingdom of Sukhothai in 1282
10.
Mario Maurer
–
Mario Maurer is a Thai model and actor. Starting off a career as a model at age 16, he became best known for his lead role in the 2007 film, The Love of Siam. He also the star of Thailands highest grossing film of all time. He is also part of a group called 4+1 Channel 3 Superstar with Nadech Kugimiya, Prin Suparat, Pakorn Chatborirak, when Maurer was 16 years old, he was approached at Siam Square to try out modeling. From there on, he started doing photo shoots, commercials, in 2007, he made his feature film debut in a leading role in The Love of Siam, written and directed by Chukiat Sakweerakul. The role Tong brought him accolades and instant fame far beyond Thailands borders. Commenting on his fame, I didnt want to do it. He decided to do the movie because he trusted the director Chukiat, hed be making money to help his family. He became famous in film because of his gay role. He won the Best Actor award in Starpics Thai Films Awards and also nominated in Bangkok Critics Assembly, director Bhandit Rittakol had approached Maurer for Boonchu 9, but he was tied up with other projects. He has been cast in the 2008 film by Chatchai Naksuriya, the film is set around 1983. Maurer starring opposite Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, as 12th grade student, Maurer gained popularity after he starred in the 2010 film First Love. His brother Marco, teamed up in a hip-hop duo PsyCho & Lil’Mario with Mario and they have released their debut PsyCho & Lil’Mario, Dem Crazy Boyz on October 31,2007. He worked as a hypeman in this album, but Maurer later described It was just for fun. I know myself – Im not a singer and he also signed a one movie picture contract with Star Cinema, a Philippine film production company. He will be paired with Erich Gonzales in the film that is due to release in 2012 entitled Suddenly Its Magic, on October 29, he hit the runway at the Philippine Fashion Week held at SMX Convention Center. As expected, thousands of fans in attendance for continuing support for both stars of the 2010 hit movie First Love, maurers interests include skateboarding, hip-hop, and cars. Although he is of Thai Chinese and German descent, he cannot speak German and he is a native speaker of Thai and also speaks English
11.
Hangul
–
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul in South Korea and as Chosŏngŭl/Chosŏn Muntcha in North Korea is the alphabet that has been used to write the Korean language since the 15th century. It was created during the Joseon Dynasty in 1443 by King Sejong the Great, in South Korea, Hangul is used primarily to write the Korean language as using Hanja in typical Korean writing had fallen out of common usage during the late 1990s. In its classical and modern forms, the alphabet has 19 consonant and 21 vowel letters, however, instead of being written sequentially like the letters of the Latin alphabet, Hangul letters are grouped into blocks, such as 한 han, each of which transcribes a syllable. That is, although the syllable 한 han may look like a single character, each syllabic block consists of two to six letters, including at least one consonant and one vowel. These blocks are arranged horizontally from left to right or vertically from top to bottom. Each Korean word consists of one or more syllables, hence one or more blocks, of the 11,172 possible Hangul syllables, the most frequent 256 have a cumulative frequency of 88. 2%, with the top 512, it reaches 99. 9%. The modern name Hangul was coined by Ju Sigyeong in 1912, han meant great in archaic Korean, and geul is the native Korean word for script. Taken together, then, the meaning is great script, as the word han had also become one way of indicating Korea as a whole the name could also potentially be interpreted as Korean script. Korean 한글 is pronounced, and in English as /ˈhɑːn. ɡʊl/ or /ˈhɑːŋɡʊl/, when used as an English word, it is often rendered without the diacritics, hangul, and it is often capitalized as Hangul, as it appears in many English dictionaries. Hankul in the Yale romanization, a system recommended for technical linguistic studies, North Koreans call it Chosŏngŭl, after Chosŏn, the North Korean name for Korea. Because of objections to the names Hangeul, Chosŏngŭl, and urigeul by Koreans in China, until the early 20th century, Hangul was denigrated as vulgar by the literate elite, who preferred the traditional hanja writing system. They gave it such names as these, Achimgeul, in the original Hanja, it is rendered as 故智者不終朝而會，愚者可浹旬而學。 Gugmun Eonmun Amgeul. Am is a prefix that signifies a noun is feminine Ahaetgeul or Ahaegeul Hangul was promulgated by Sejong the Great, the Hall of Worthies, a group of scholars who worked with Sejong to develop and refine the new alphabet, is often credited for the work. The project was completed in late December 1443 or January 1444, the publication date of the Hunmin Jeong-eum, October 9, became Hangul Day in South Korea. Its North Korean equivalent, Chosongul Day, is on January 15, various speculations about the creation process were put to rest by the discovery in 1940 of the 1446 Hunmin Jeong-eum Haerye. This document explains the design of the consonant letters according to articulatory phonetics, to assuage this problem, King Sejong created the unique alphabet known as Hangul to promote literacy among the common people. However, it entered popular culture as Sejong had intended, being used especially by women, the late 16th century, however, saw a revival of Hangul, with gasa literature and later sijo flourishing. In the 17th century, Hangul novels became a major genre, by this point spelling had become quite irregular
12.
Beijing
–
Beijing is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China and the worlds third most populous city proper. It is also one of the worlds most populous capital cities, the city, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by population after Shanghai and is the nations political, cultural. It is home to the headquarters of most of Chinas largest state-owned companies, and is a hub for the national highway, expressway, railway. The citys history dates back three millennia, as the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political centre of the country for much of the past eight centuries. Beijing was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium A. D, the city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates. Its art treasures and universities have made it centre of culture, encyclopædia Britannica notes that few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of an area as immense as China. Siheyuans, the traditional housing style, and hutongs, the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are major tourist attractions and are common in urban Beijing. The city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, many of Beijings 91 universities consistently rank among the best in China, of which Peking University and Tsinghua University are ranked in the top 60 universities in the world. Beijings Zhongguancun area is known as Chinas Silicon Valley and Chinas center of innovation. According to the 2016 InterNations Expat Insider Survey, Beijing ranked first in Asia in the subcategory Personal Finance Index, expats live primarily in urban districts such as Dongcheng and Chaoyang in the east, or in suburban districts such as Shunyi. Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had other names. The name Beijing, which means Northern Capital, was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming Dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing, the English spelling is based on the pinyin romanisation of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin. Those dialects preserve the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 京 as kjaeng, the single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京, which appears on automobile license plates in the city. The official Latin alphabet abbreviation for Beijing is BJ, the earliest traces of human habitation in the Beijing municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived more recently, about 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout the municipality, including in Wangfujing, the first walled city in Beijing was Ji, a city from the 11th to 7th century BC
