East Asian arts Visual, literary, and performing arts of China, Korea, and Japan. Painting and calligraphy are considered the only true fine arts in China because they alone require no physical labour and have no physi¬ cal function. Sculpture is considered to be a craft, as are bronze casting, carving, and the making of pottery, textiles, metalwork, and lacquerware. Chinese architecture is characterized by timber buildings, and a building typically consists of a platform, a post-and-lintel frame, a system of roof¬ supporting brackets, and a heavy, sloping roof. Japanese visual arts have been strongly influenced by three elements: Chinese visual arts, indig¬ enous themes and traditions, and Buddhist iconography. The Horyu Temple (7th century) initiated the distinctive Japanese architectural approach: asymmetrical layouts following the contours of the land. Japa¬ nese artists’ fascination with abstraction from nature is most notable in screen and panel paintings of the 16th-18th centuries and the polychrome woodcut, which evolved into the popular ukiyo-e print. Among the remarkable features of Korean art might be noted the use of stone in architecture and sculpture and the development of an outstanding celadon glaze. Chinese literature has the longest continuous history of any litera¬ ture in the world (more than 3,000 years). It is inextricably bound to the development of the characters of the written language it has shared with both Korea and Japan. Korean literature includes an oral tradition of bal¬ lads, legends, mask plays, puppet-show texts, and p'ansori (“story sing¬ ing”) texts and a strong written tradition of poetry (notably hyangga and sijo forms). Like Korean literature, Japanese literature owes a debt to Chinese, since neither country had its own written language (though Japa¬ nese syllabary systems emerged about 1000, and Korean Hangul was developed in the 15th century). The earliest Japanese literature dates to the 7th century; in addition to its several literary monuments such as The Tale of Genji, Japanese poetry (particularly in the haiku form) is known throughout the world for its exquisite delicacy. Despite a different basis for its establishment, the East Asian music system, like Western music, developed a pentatonic scale based on a 12-tone vocabulary. The preferred size of the East Asian ensemble is small, and compositions emphasize melody and rhythm over harmonics. In the related categories of East Asian dance and theatre, it is noteworthy that in the East Asian countries, music, dance, and drama are typically linked, and there is little evidence of sepa¬ rate evolution of form. The several forms of East Asian performing arts include both masked and unmasked dances, masked dance theatre (as in Japanese no and Korean sandae ), danced processionals, dance opera ( jingxi , or “Peking,” and other forms of Chinese opera), shadow theatre, puppet theatre, and dialogue plays with music and dance (e.g., Japanese kabuki). See also Fujiwara style; ikebana; Jogan style paper folding; scroll painting; shinden-zukuri; shoin-zukuri; sukiya style; Tempyo style; Tori style; as well as individual artists such as Basho; Bo Juyi; Du Fu; Hiroshige Ando; Lu Xun; Murasaki Shikibu.
East China Sea See China Sea
East India Co. or English East India Co. English chartered com¬ pany formed for trade with East and Southeast Asia and India, incorpo¬ rated in 1600. It began as a monopolistic trading body, establishing early trading stations at Surat, Madras (now Chennai), Bombay (Mumbai), and Calcutta (Kolkata). Trade in spices was its original focus; this broadened to include cotton, silk, and other goods. In 1708 it merged with a rival
and was renamed the United Co. of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies. Becoming involved in politics, it acted as the chief agent of British imperialism in India in the 18th—19th century, exercising substan¬ tial power over much of the subcontinent. The company’s activities in China in the 19th century served as a catalyst for the expansion of Brit¬ ish influence there; its financing of the tea trade with illegal opium exports led to the first Opium War (1839—42). From the late 18th century it gradu¬ ally lost both commercial and political control; its autonomy diminished after two acts of Parliament (1773, 1774) established a regulatory board responsible to Parliament, though the act gave the company supreme authority in its domains. It ceased to exist as a legal entity in 1873. See also Dutch East India Co., French East India Co.
East India Co., Dutch Trading company founded by the Dutch in 1602 to protect their trade in the Indian Ocean and to assist in their war of inde¬ pendence from Spain. The Dutch government granted it a trade monopoly in the waters between the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magel¬ lan. Under the administration of forceful govemors-general, it was able to defeat the British fleet and largely displace the Portuguese in the East Indies. It prospered through most of the 17th century but then began to decline as a trading and sea power; it was dissolved in 1799. See also East India Co., French East India Co.
East India Co., French Trading company founded by Jean-Baptiste Colbert in 1664, and its successors, established to oversee French com¬ merce with India, East Africa, and other territories of the Indian Ocean and the East Indies. In constant competition with the already-established Dutch East India Co., it mounted expensive expeditions that were often harassed by the Dutch. It also suffered in the French economic crash of 1720, and by 1740 the value of its trade with India was half that of the English East India Co. Its monopoly over French trade with India was ended in 1769, and it languished until its disappearance in the French Revolution.
East Pacific Rise Submarine linear mountain range on the floor of the South Pacific Ocean, roughly paralleling the western coast of South America. The main portion of the rise lies generally about 2,000 mi (3,200 km) off the coast, and it lies about 6,000-9,000 ft (1,800-2,700 m) above the surrounding seafloor. The East Pacific Rise has a generally smooth and flatfish surface, and it drops sharply away at the sides. It is composed largely of basic igneous crust, overlain or abutted by more or less flat- lying sediments.
East Prussia German Ostpreussen \'6st-,pr6is- 3 n\ Historical region and former Prussian province, east of Pomerania. From 1815 it was known as East Prussia, part of the kingdom of Prussia, and in the 19th century it was a stronghold of Prussian Junkers, a military aristocracy. It was the scene of successful resistance against the Russians in World War I. Fol¬ lowing the war, it was separated from the rest of Germany by the Polish Corridor (1919); it was reunited with the Reich by the German conquest of Poland in 1939. Between World War I and World War II, it was bounded to the north by the Baltic Sea, east by Lithuania, and south and west by Poland and the free city of Danzig (now Gdansk, Pol.). Overrun by Soviet armies at the end of World War II, in 1945 it was divided between the Soviet Union and Poland.
East River Navigable tidal strait in the U.S. linking Upper New York Bay with Long Island Sound in New York City. It separates Manhattan and the Bronx from Brooklyn and Queens. About 16 mi (26 km) long and 600-4,000 ft (200-1200 m) wide, it connects with the Hudson River via the Harlem River and Spuyten Duyvil Creek at the northern end of Man¬ hattan Island. Roosevelt (formerly Welfare), Wards, Randalls, and Rikers islands are in the East River, which has numerous port facilities.
East Saint Louis Race Riot (July 1917) Outbreak of violence in East St. Louis, Ill., sparked by the employment of African Americans in a fac¬ tory holding government contracts. It was the worst of several attacks during World War I on African Americans newly employed in war indus¬ tries. Some 6,000 African Americans were driven from their homes and 40 were killed; 8 whites were killed.