Intercultural Knowledge and Competency

China, India and Japan are ancient Asian countries. The enormous lands of China and India are bordered on one side by the? Ocean, while Japan is composed of thousands of small islands. Religion and philosophy both are integral to all three of these countries. Religions that may be found practiced in China, India and Japan are Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Jingoism Hinduism, Islam and Shintoism. Many of their religions favor greatly in that they all recognize a variety of diverse philosophies and religious beliefs. Tranquility with nature for example, is a common thread among them. A look at each country’s religions will show many similarities.

In China, Buddhism has been practiced for over 2,000 years, but Islam, Taoism, Protestantism and Catholicism are other dominant religions in the country. In order of introduction into Chinese religious society is Taoism, over 17,000 years ago, Islam and Catholicism in the 7th century, and Protestantism in the 19th century. In October 1997, the Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China stated that “the Citizens of China may freely choose and express their religious beliefs, and make clear their religious affiliations. According to incomplete statistics, there are over 100 million followers of various religious faiths.” (1)

Culturally, for decades, China has implemented one child policy for families. Only recently has the contentious policy been somewhat relaxed. An announcement came from Beijing that couples would now be allowed to have two children if one of the parents is an only child. Previously, if couples violated the harsh policy, could easily expect to lose their employment, pay enormous fines and have their property seized....

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...ny common traits throughout Japanese culture, some of which are, “a specific setting; love and acceptance; service to the emperor; family dependency; modesty; and spiritual beauty.”

Works Cited

http://chineseculture.about.com/library/china/whitepaper/blsreligion.htm http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/reforms-11152013205815.html http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1391659/china-formally-abolishes-re-education-labour-camps-eases-one-child-policy http://www.ibiblio.org/chineseculture/contents/arts/p-arts-c03s01.html http://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/focus/section2/1997/06/indian-cultural-values-and-the-promotion-of-human-rights.html http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Tribal-art-has-influenced-the-society/articleshow/16733859.cms http://www.japan-guide.com/topic/0002.html

http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/ojs/index.php/tlg/article/view/101/97