1.
Shiga Prefecture
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Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan, which forms part of the Kansai region in the western part of Honshu island. It encircles Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in Japan, Shiga was known as Ōmi Province or Gōshū before the prefectural system was established. Omi was a neighbor of Nara and Kyoto, at the junction of western and eastern Japan, during the period 667 to 672, Emperor Tenji founded a palace in Otsu. In 742, Emperor Shōmu founded a palace in Shigaraki, in the early Heian Period, Saichō was born in the north of Otsu and founded Enryaku-ji, the center of Tendai and one a UNESCO World Heritage Site and monument of Ancient Kyoto now. In the Medieval Period, the Sasaki clan ruled Omi, and afterward the Rokkaku clan, Kyōgoku clan, in the 1570s, Oda Nobunaga subjugated Omi and built Azuchi Castle on the eastern shores of Lake Biwa in 1579. Tōdō Takatora, Gamō Ujisato, Oichi, Yodo-dono, Ohatsu, in those times, Ninja were active in Kōka. In 1600, Ishida Mitsunari, born in the east of Nagahama and based in Sawayama Castle, made war against Tokugawa Ieyasu in Sekigahara, after the battle, Ieyasu made Ii Naomasa a new lord of Sawayama. Naomasa established the Hikone Domain, later famous for Ii Naosuke, Ii Naosuke became the Tokugawa shogunates Tairō and concluded commercial treaties with the Western powers and thus ended Japans isolation from the world in the 19th century. Besides the Hikone Domain, many domains ruled Omi such as Zeze, with the abolition of the han system, eight prefectures were formed in Omi. They were unified into Shiga Prefecture in September 1872, Shiga Prefecture was named after Shiga District because Otsu belonged to the district until 1898. From August 1876 to February 1881, southern Fukui Prefecture had been incorporated into Shiga Prefecture, Shiga borders Fukui Prefecture in the north, Gifu Prefecture in the east, Mie Prefecture in the southeast, and Kyoto Prefecture in the west. Lake Biwa, Japans largest, is located at the center of this prefecture and it occupies one-sixth of its area. The Seta River flows from Lake Biwa to Osaka Bay through Kyoto and this is the only natural river that flows out from the lake. Most other natural rivers flow into the lake, there were many lagoons around Lake Biwa, but most of them were reclaimed in 1940s. One of the lagoons is the wetland in Omihachiman. The lake divides the prefecture into four different areas, Kohoku centered Nagahama, Kosei centered Imazu, Kotō centered Hikone, plains stretch to the eastern shore of Lake Biwa. The prefecture is enclosed by mountain ranges with the Hira Mountains and Mount Hiei in the west, the Ibuki Mountains in the northeast, Mount Ibuki is the highest mountain in Shiga. In Yogo, a lake is famous for the legend of the heavenly robe of an angel
2.
Tendai
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Tendai is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school. David W. Philosophically, the Tendai school did not deviate substantially from the beliefs that had created by the Tiantai school in China. However, what Saichō transmitted from China was not exclusively Tiantai, but also included Zen, the esoteric Mikkyō, the tendency to include a range of teachings became more marked in the doctrines of Saichōs successors, such as Ennin and Enchin. However, in years, this range of teachings began to form sub-schools within Tendai Buddhism. By the time of Ryōgen, there were two groups on Mt. Hiei, the Sammon Mountain Group who followed Ennin and the Jimon Temple Group who followed Enchin. The Tendai sect flourished under the patronage of the Imperial House, in 794, the Imperial capital was moved to Kyoto. Tendai Buddhism became the dominant form of mainstream Buddhism in Japan for many years, nichiren, Hōnen, Shinran and Dōgen—all famous thinkers in non-Tendai schools of Japanese Buddhism—were all initially trained as Tendai monks. Japanese Buddhism was dominated by the Tendai school to a greater degree than Chinese Buddhism was by its forebearer. Due to its patronage and growing popularity among the classes, the Tendai sect became not only respected. Enryaku-ji, the complex on Mt. Hiei, became a sprawling center of power, attended not only by ascetic monks. As a result, in 1571 Enryaku-ji was razed by Oda Nobunaga as part of his campaign to unify Japan, Nobunaga regarded the Mt. Hiei monks as a potential threat or rival, as they could employ religious claims to attempt to rally the populace to their side. The temple complex was rebuilt, and continues to serve as the head temple of the Tendai school today. Chih-i, founder of Tien-tai philosophy and practice attempted this synthesis on the basis of the doctrine of the Lotus Sutra. Tendai Buddhism has several philosophical insights which allow for the reconciliation of Buddhist doctrine with aspects of Japanese culture such as Shinto and it is rooted in the idea, fundamental to Mahayana Buddhism, that Buddha-hood, the capability to attain enlightenment, is intrinsic in all things. Also central to Mahayana is the notion that the phenomenal world and this notion poses the problem of how we come to have many differentiated experiences. Tendai Buddhism claims that each and every sense phenomenon just as it is is the expression of Dharma, for Tendai, the ultimate expression of Dharma is the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, the nature of all sense experiences consists in the Buddhas preaching of the doctrine of Lotus Sutra. The existence and experience of all unenlightened beings is fundamentally equivalent, more specifically, Shimaji used original enlightenment thought to designate the intellectual mainstream of medieval Japanese Tendai Buddhism
3.
Deity
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A deity is a concept conceived in diverse ways in various cultures, typically as a natural or supernatural being considered divine or sacred. A male deity is a god, while a female deity is a goddess, the Oxford reference defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. Various cultures have conceptualized a deity differently than a monotheistic God, a plain deity need not be omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, or eternal, however an almighty monotheistic God generally does have these attributes. Monotheistic religions typically refer to God in masculine terms, while other religions refer to their deities in a variety of ways – masculine, feminine, androgynous, some Avestan and Vedic deities were viewed as ethical concepts. In Indian religions, deities have been envisioned as manifesting within the temple of every living beings body, as sensory organs, but in Indian religions, all deities are also subject to death when their merit runs out. The English language word deity derives from Old French deité, the Latin deitatem or divine nature, deus is related through a common Proto-Indo-European language origin to *deiwos. Deva is masculine, and the feminine equivalent is devi. Etymologically, the cognates of Devi are Latin dea and Greek thea, in Old Persian, daiva- means demon, evil god, while in Sanskrit it means the opposite, referring to the heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of high excellence, exalted, shining ones. The closely linked term god refers to supreme being, deity, which states Douglas Harper, is derived from Proto-Germanic *guthan, from PIE *ghut-, guth in the Irish language means voice. The term *ghut- is also the source of Old Church Slavonic zovo, Sanskrit huta-, from the root *gheu- An alternate etymology for the term god traces it to the PIE root *ghu-to-, the term *gheu- is also the source of the Greek khein to pour. Originally the German root was a noun, but the gender of the monotheistic God shifted to masculine under the influence of Christianity. In contrast, all ancient Indo-European cultures and mythologies recognized both masculine and feminine deities, the term deity often connotes the concept of sacred or divine, as a god or goddess, in a polytheistic religion. However, there is no accepted consensus concept of deity across religions and cultures. Huw Owen states that the deity or god or its equivalent in other languages has a bewildering range of meanings. Some engravings or sketches show animals, hunters or rituals, the Venus of Willendorf, a female figurine found in Europe and dated to about 25,000 BCE has been interpreted as an exemplar of a prehistoric divine feminine. In Buddhist mythology, devas are beings inhabiting certain happily placed worlds of Buddhist cosmology and these beings are mortal and numerous. It is also common for iṣṭadevatās to be called deities, although the nature of Yidams is distinct from what is meant by the term. Buddhism does not believe in a creator deity, however, deities are an essential part of Buddhist cosmology, rebirth and Saṃsāra doctrines
4.
Bhaisajyaguru
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Bhaiṣajyaguru, formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabhā-rāja, is the Buddha of healing and medicine in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Commonly referred to as the Medicine Buddha, he is described as a doctor who cures dukkha using the medicine of his teachings, bhaiṣajyagurus original name and title was rāja, but Xuanzang translated it as Tathāgata. Subsequent translations and commentaries followed Xuanzang in describing him as a Buddha, the image of Bhaiṣajyaguru is usually expressed with a canonical Buddha-like form holding a gallipot and, in some versions, possessing blue skin. Though also considered to be a guardian of the East, in most cases Akshobhya is given that role, as an exceptional case, the honzon of Kōya-san Kongōbu-ji was changed from Akshobhya to Bhaiṣajyaguru. Bhaiṣajyaguru is described in the eponymous Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabhā-rāja Sūtra, commonly called the Medicine Buddha Sutra, on achieving Buddhahood, he became the Buddha of the eastern pure land of Vaiḍūryanirbhāsa Pure Lapis Lazuli. The manuscripts in this find are dated before the 7th century, the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang visited a Mahāsāṃghika monastery at Bamiyan, Afghanistan, in the 7th century CE, and the site of this monastery has been rediscovered by archaeologists. Birchbark manuscript fragments from several Mahāyāna sūtras have been discovered at the site, to awaken the minds of sentient beings through his light of lapis lazuli. To provide the sentient beings with whatever needs they require. To correct heretical views and inspire beings toward the path of the Bodhisattva, to help beings follow the Moral Precepts, even if they failed before. To heal beings born with deformities, illness or other physical sufferings, to help relieve the destitute and the sick. To help women who wish to be reborn as men achieve their desired rebirth, to help heal mental afflictions and delusions. To help the oppressed be free from suffering, to relieve those who suffer from terrible hunger and thirst. To help clothe those who are destitute and suffering from cold, in the Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabhā-rāja Sūtra, the Medicine Buddha is described as having entered into a state of samadhi called Eliminating All the Suffering and Afflictions of Sentient Beings. From this samadhi state he spoke the Medicine Buddha Dharani, namo bhagavate bhaiṣajyaguru vaiḍūryaprabharājāya tathāgatāya arahate samyaksambuddhāya tadyathā, oṃ bhaiṣajye bhaiṣajye bhaiṣajya-samudgate svāhā. The last line of the dharani is used as Bhaisajyagurus short form mantra, there are several other mantras for the Medicine Buddha as well that are used in different schools of Vajrayana Buddhism. In the sutra, he is described by his aura of lapis lazuli-colored light. In Chinese depictions, he is holding a pagoda, symbolising the ten thousand Buddhas of the three periods of time. He is also depicted standing on a Northern Wei stele from approximately 500 AD now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, within the halo are depicted the Seven Bhaiṣajyaguru Buddhas and seven apsaras
5.
Monastery
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A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone. A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church or temple, a monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary. These may include a hospice, a school and a range of agricultural and manufacturing such as a barn. In English usage, the monastery is generally used to denote the buildings of a community of monks. In modern usage, convent tends to be applied only to institutions of female monastics, historically, a convent denoted a house of friars, now more commonly called a friary. Various religions may apply these terms in specific ways. The earliest extant use of the term monastērion is by the 1st century AD Jewish philosopher Philo in On The Contemplative Life, in England the word monastery was also applied to the habitation of a bishop and the cathedral clergy who lived apart from the lay community. Most cathedrals were not monasteries, and were served by canons secular, however, some were run by monasteries orders, such as York Minster. Westminster Abbey was for a time a cathedral, and was a Benedictine monastery until the Reformation. They are also to be distinguished from collegiate churches, such as St Georges Chapel, in most of this article, the term monastery is used generically to refer to any of a number of types of religious community. In the Roman Catholic religion and to some extent in certain branches of Buddhism, there is a more specific definition of the term. Buddhist monasteries are generally called vihara, viharas may be occupied by males or females, and in keeping with common English usage, a vihara populated by females may often be called a nunnery or a convent. However, vihara can also refer to a temple, in Tibetan Buddhism, monasteries are often called gompa. In Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, a monastery is called a wat, in Burma, a monastery is called a kyaung. A Christian monastery may be an abbey, or a priory and it may be a community of men or of women. A charterhouse is any monastery belonging to the Carthusian order, in Eastern Christianity, a very small monastic community can be called a skete, and a very large or important monastery can be given the dignity of a lavra. The great communal life of a Christian monastery is called cenobitic, as opposed to the life of an anchorite. In Hinduism monasteries are called matha, mandir, koil, or most commonly an ashram, jains use the Buddhist term vihara
6.
Mount Hiei
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Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by Saichō in 788, hōnen, Nichiren, and Shinran all studied at the temple before leaving to start their own practices. The temple complex was razed by Oda Nobunaga in 1571 to quell the rising power of the Tendais warrior monks, Mount Hiei has featured in many folk tales over the ages. Originally it was thought to be the home of gods and demons of Shinto lore, although it is predominantly known for the Buddhist monks that come from the temple of Enryaku-ji. John Stevens wrote the book The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei, chronicling the practice of walking long distances – up to 52 miles a day for 100 straight days, the practice of walking is known as the kaihōgyō. A2010 US National Public Radio report described the sennichi kaihōgyō as.1,000 days of walking meditation, walked 26 miles a day for periods of either 100 or 200 consecutive days — a total distance about the same as walking around the Earth. Beyond the mountain itself, its forests, and the views it affords – of Kyoto, of Ohara, of lake Biwa, the temple complex spreads out over the mountain, but is concentrated in three areas, connected by foot trails. There are also more minor temples and shrines, the mountain is busiest during the daytime, but has some visitors in the evenings, for light-up displays and to see the night view of the surrounding towns. The mountain is an area for hikers and a toll road provides access by automobile to the top of the mountain. The attractions on the mountain are quite out, so there are regular buses during the daytime connecting the attractions. The center for these is the bus center, in front of the entrance to the temple complex at Tō-tō. Hiei Area JAPAN, the Official Guide Holly Schmid, Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei Photos of Mount Hiei and the three precincts of Enryakuji Temple Hieizan Enryakuji
7.
Kyoto
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Kyoto is a city located in the central part of the island of Honshu, Japan. It has a close to 1.5 million. Kyoto is also known as the thousand-year capital, in Japanese, the city has been called Kyō, Miyako, or Kyō no Miyako. In the 11th century, the city was renamed Kyoto, after the Chinese word for capital city, after the city of Edo was renamed Tokyo in 1868, and the seat of the Emperor was transferred there, Kyoto was known for a short time as Saikyō. Obsolete spellings for the name include Kioto, Miaco and Meaco. Another term commonly used to refer to the city in the period was Keishi. His last choice for the site was the village of Uda, the new city, Heian-kyō, a scaled replica of the then Tang capital Changan, became the seat of Japans imperial court in 794, beginning the Heian period of Japanese history. The city suffered destruction in the Ōnin War of 1467–1477. Battles between samurai factions spilled into the streets, and came to involve the court nobility and religious factions as well, nobles mansions were transformed into fortresses, deep trenches dug throughout the city for defense and as firebreaks, and numerous buildings burned. The city has not seen such widespread destruction since, Hideyoshi also built earthwork walls called odoi encircling the city. Teramachi Street in central Kyoto is a Buddhist temple quarter where Hideyoshi gathered temples in the city, throughout the Edo period, the economy of the city flourished as one of three major cities in Japan, the others being Osaka and Edo. The Hamaguri rebellion of 1864 burnt down 28,000 houses in the city, the modern city of Kyoto was formed on April 1,1889. The construction of Lake Biwa Canal in 1890 is one taken to revive the city. The population of the city exceeded one million in 1932, stimson, Secretary of War in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, the city was removed from the list of targets and replaced by Nagasaki. The city was spared from conventional bombing as well, although small-scale air raids did result in casualties. As a result, the Imperial City of Kyoto is one of the few Japanese cities that still have an abundance of prewar buildings, however, modernization is continually breaking down the traditional Kyoto in favor of newer architecture, such as the Kyōto Station complex. Kyoto became a city designated by government ordinance on September 1,1956, in 1997, Kyoto hosted the conference that resulted in the protocol on greenhouse gas emissions that bears the citys name. Kyoto is located in a valley, part of the Yamashiro Basin, in the part of the mountainous region known as the Tamba highlands
8.
Heian period
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The Heian period is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism, the Heian period is also considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially poetry and literature. Although the Imperial House of Japan had power on the surface, the power was in the hands of the Fujiwara clan. Many emperors actually had mothers from the Fujiwara family, the Heian period was preceded by the Nara period and began in 794 A. D. after the movement of the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō, by the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu. Kanmu first tried to move the capital to Nagaoka-kyō, but a series of disasters befell the city, prompting the emperor to relocate the capital a second time, a rebellion occurred in China in the last years of the 9th century, making the political situation unstable. The Japanese missions to Tang China was suspended and the influx of Chinese exports halted, therefore the Heian Period is considered a high point in Japanese culture that later generations have always admired. The period is noted for the rise of the samurai class. Nominally, sovereignty lay in the emperor but in power was wielded by the Fujiwara nobility. However, to protect their interests in the provinces, the Fujiwara and other noble families required guards, police, the warrior class made steady political gains throughout the Heian period. Still, a military takeover of the Japanese government was centuries away. The entry of the class into court influence was a result of the Hōgen Rebellion. At this time Taira no Kiyomori revived the Fujiwara practices by placing his grandson on the throne to rule Japan by regency and their clan, the Taira, would not be overthrown until after the Genpei War, which marked the start of the shogunate. The Kamakura period began in 1185 when Minamoto no Yoritomo seized power from the emperors, Nara was abandoned after only 70 years in part due to the ascendancy of Dōkyō and the encroaching secular power of the Buddhist institutions there. Kyōto had good access to the sea and could be reached by land routes from the eastern provinces. The early Heian period continued Nara culture, the Heian capital was patterned on the Chinese Tang capital at Changan, as was Nara, Kanmu endeavoured to improve the Tang-style administrative system which was in use. Known as the ritsuryō, this attempted to recreate the Tang imperium in Japan. Despite the decline of the Taika–Taihō reforms, imperial government was vigorous during the early Heian period, Kanmus avoidance of drastic reform decreased the intensity of political struggles, and he became recognized as one of Japans most forceful emperors
9.
Mahayana
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Mahayana is one of two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. The Buddhist tradition of Vajrayana is sometimes classified as a part of Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva who has accomplished this goal is called a samyaksaṃbuddha, or fully enlightened Buddha. A samyaksaṃbuddha can establish the Dharma and lead disciples to enlightenment, Mahayana Buddhists teach that enlightenment can be attained in a single lifetime, and this can be accomplished even by a layperson. The Mahāyāna tradition is the largest major tradition of Buddhism existing today, with 53. 2% of practitioners, major traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism today include Chan Buddhism, Korean Seon, Japanese Zen, Pure Land Buddhism, and Nichiren Buddhism. It may also include the Vajrayana traditions of Tiantai, Tendai, Shingon Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism, according to Jan Nattier, the term Mahāyāna was originally an honorary synonym for Bodhisattvayāna — the vehicle of a bodhisattva seeking buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. The term Mahāyāna was therefore formed independently at a date as a synonym for the path. The earliest Mahāyāna texts often use the term Mahāyāna as a synonym for Bodhisattvayāna, the presumed dichotomy between Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna can be deceptive, as the two terms were not actually formed in relation to one another in the same era. Among the earliest and most important references to the term Mahāyāna are those that occur in the Lotus Sūtra dating between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE. Seishi Karashima has suggested that the term first used in an earlier Gandhāri Prakrit version of the Lotus Sūtra was not the term mahāyāna, the origins of Mahāyāna are still not completely understood. The earliest Western views of Mahāyāna assumed that it existed as a school in competition with the so-called Hīnayāna schools. The earliest textual evidence of Mahāyāna comes from sūtras originating around the beginning of the common era. There is also no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a formal school or sect of Buddhism, but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals. Membership in these nikāyas, or monastic sects, continues today with the Dharmaguptaka nikāya in East Asia, therefore, Mahāyāna was never a separate rival sect of the early schools. Paul Harrison clarifies that while monastic Mahāyānists belonged to a nikāya, from Chinese monks visiting India, we now know that both Mahāyāna and non-Mahāyāna monks in India often lived in the same monasteries side by side. Those who venerate the bodhisattvas and read the Mahayana sūtras are called the Mahāyānists, much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comes from early Chinese translations of Mahāyāna texts. These Mahāyāna teachings were first propagated into China by Lokakṣema, the first translator of Mahāyāna sūtras into Chinese during the 2nd century CE. Guang Xing states, Several scholars have suggested that the Prajñāpāramitā probably developed among the Mahāsāṃghikas in southern India, in the Āndhra country, warder believes that the Mahāyāna originated in the south of India and almost certainly in the Āndhra country. They note that the ancient Buddhist sites in the lower Kṛṣṇa Valley, including Amaravati, Nāgārjunakoṇḍā and Jaggayyapeṭa can be traced to at least the third century BCE, akira Hirakawa notes the evidence suggests that many Early Mahayana scriptures originated in South India
10.
Japan
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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
11.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
