IMPORTANT GEOGRAHICAL/CLIMATIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN EAST ASIA · North: (largely) flat, dry, cool; a grain-producing region · South: mountainous, wet, warm “land of rice and fish.” · Few river systems in the North (excl. Japan); many river systems in the South · Monsoon seasons have little effect in the North; monsoons have strong effect on agricultural and mercantile activity in the South
PREHISTORY OF ASIA: THE MYTHICAL PAST
CHINA	VIETNAM	JAPAN	KOREA
Pan Gu: roughly translated "coiled antiquity," the original creature, born of a cosmic egg. Fu Xi and Nu Wa: the Chinese "Adam and Eve" Shen Nong: "the divine farmer," taught men agriculture. Huang Di: the Yellow Emperor; first sage Chinese ruler. Yao and Shun: wise rulers who exemplify virtue in government and the observance of filial piety. Duke of Zhou: regent of young King Wu; hero of Confucius.	Ong Troi: "Elder Heaven " Lac Long Quan: Dragon Lord of the Lac People Au Co: Lac Long Quan's wife and leader of the Au people	Izanagi: central deity, along with his spouse, in the Japanese creation myth. Izanami: Shinto primordial deity and embodiment of the Earth and darkness; fatally wounded when giving birth to the fire god Kagutsuchi. Senbiki no iwa: the rock that divides the underworld and this world Amaterasu: Izanagi’s daughter and Shinto sun goddess, ruler of Heaven, whose name means 'shining heaven.'	King Hwan-ung: god who was sent from Heaven to rule mankind from Mt. T'aebaek. Hwan-ung bore a child with a she-bear in human form. That child was Tan-gun Wanggom, who would found the ancient Choson Kingdom. Yuhwa: goddess who was impregnated by the sun and produced an egg from which was born Chumong, the founder of Koguryo.