China, Korea, and Japan are referred to as being in Northeast Asia. In government speak this region is simply called East Asia, but in the old days it was generally called the Far East. However, to avoid sounding too much behind times, I will refer to the region by the current name of Northeast Asia.
In many respects, Northeast Asia, more specifically China, was the center of all things, beginning of most cultural and scientific developments for that part of the world. There is, of course, South Asia, which refers mainly to the Indian sub continent, and Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia was influenced very much by Northeast Asian (Chinese) culture, whereas the South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other surrounding countries were mainly subjected to Indian culture. But even a country such as Burma, sorry, Myanmar today, as close as it is to India, has been influenced more by China.
Chinese culture is amazing. It is ancient, older than any other surviving culture in the world! I am always somewhat surprised whenever I run across information (usually dispensed by the media, not by academics), about something giving credit for a particular invention or development to some western/European origin, totally ignoring the Chinese contribution that precedes it by centuries! It is understandable. We live in a western culture and quite naturally are drawn to its sources, not something that essentially came out of an "unknown" source. Nevertheless, there are things that are generally understood and accepted by everyone as having been originated in Northeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan.
There are many things that originated in Northeast Asia that are world's firsts! The world's first known book of poetry, Chuchi, also called by the name of its lead poem Li Sao, was written in China around 300 BC. It is an amazing book that despite its ancient origin, reads as if it was written today! Of course there were probably early poems written in other cultures in other languages before Chinese, perhaps, but Chuchi/Li Sao was the first book of collected poems in the world. In fact, literature is something that has had a very early beginning in that part of the world.
China produced some great poets going back to the time when Chuchi/Li Sao was compiled. One of the greatest poets and essayist of classical China was a woman, Li Ching Chao. What is remarkable is that during that time, women were not taught how to read and write. It was considered wasteful to teach women to be literate! Li Ching Chao insisted on learning to read and write and became a great poet. She was always considered one of the best poets of ancient China, but in recent years scholars have elevated her status to being the best of all classical Chinese poets! Li Ching Chao lived from 1081 until about 1155. The exact time of her death is still debated! She was a great and an amazing romantic poet. If you are to read any of her poems, you would think that you are reading love poems of some young woman today! So, you could say that Li Ching Chao was the world's first great woman poet!
Although it is sometimes debated (since everyone appears to have a different definition of what constitutes a novel!), Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji is considered to be the world's first novel. The Tale of Genji, a sprawling (over 54 chapters) work about Heian court intrigues and romances was written by a Lady in Waiting for the Empress at the Heian court (modern Kyoto). Some claim that Murasaki Shikibu (Lady Murasaki), who lived from 978 to 1025, did not write the whole book, that her daughter finished it. Whatever the case, it is a remarkable piece of work that is given credit for being the world's first novel. What is even more remarkable is that it was written by a woman in 10th Century Japan when women in general, like in China, were not taught how to read and write! So, here we have the world's first novel, written centuries before Don Quixote (1605-1615) appeared as the first novel in the west, written by a woman, a double first - world's first novel and world's first woman novelist! Bear in mind that I am referring to a novel, not just a book. There were books written years, indeed centuries before The Tale of Genji, or Don Quixote in the west, but these two are considered to be the first novels in their respective regions.
Korea did not develop a great woman poet or novelist until much later. However, Korea too contributed very much to the development of literature in that part of the world. I know that our history books tell us that Gutenberg invented the first movable printing press in the world in 1439. However, there is proof that Gutenberg's invention was preceded by several hundred years in Korea when a movable metal printing press was made using copper and or brass blocks. Actually if "movable" printing press is used as criteria, as early as 7th Century Koreans had developed a movable printing press using wooden blocks during the Three Kingdom Period.
So, the Northeast Asian region has contributed heavily to the world of literature!
Finally, as the last tidbit, the last miscellany, the Korean script or written system, hangul, is considered by many to be the most scientific written system in the world. Edwin O. Reischauer, the former U.S. Ambassador to Japan and a respected Asia Scholar called hangul, "The most perfect phonetic system devised." The original name of this written system which was developed in 1443 was called Hunmin-Chung-um. However, in the modern times it took on the name of hangul in South Korea and chosungul in North Korea.
You might ask, why the same written system would have two different names in the same language. Well, for the same reason that South Korea calls itself Tae Han and North Korea calls itself Chosun. North Korea took its name from the last great Korean Dynasty, the Chosun Dynasty (1392-1897) while South Korea took its name from the very last Korea that existed before Japan annexed/colonized it in 1910. After the end of Chosun Dynasty in 1897 and until 1910, Korea was known as Tae Han Je Kug, The Tae Han (Korean) Empire. The South Korean flag, Tae Gug Kee is a slightly modified version of the original Tae Han Je Kug flag. So, South Korea has continued the legacy of Koreas of the past.
However, to confuse matters even more, the rest of the world calls Korea by a name that is taken from the Koryo Dynasty (935-1392) which preceded the Chosun Dynasty! To further complicate matters, South Koreans call themselves hanguk saram, North Koreans call themselves chosun saram, and Russian Koreans living in former Soviet Union, and the large population of ethnic Koreans in Manchuria call themselves koryo saram! Go figure! Of course you can't blame the Russian Koreans for not wanting to identify themselves with North Koreans!
At any rate, I thought I would throw in that last tidbit about why the different names for different Koreas and Koreans because I had been asked that question numerous times before.
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