It wasn't too long ago that the list of world's richest, the billionaires, contained hardly any Asian names. However, it seems that in the last quarter of a century or so, the list of Asian billionaires has grown significantly. There are estimated 600 or so Asian billionaires today. When I say Asian, I am not referring to those Asians who made their fortunes in Europe or America, but rather those who got rich in Asia. If you look at today's list of world's richest 250 people, a list which is headed by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, Asians are now sprinkled throughout, surprisingly led by Chinese. Less than two decades ago, there was not a single Chinese on that list. Today, among Asians, Chinese have the largest number of billionaires!
Japan has always had some super rich represented since the 1970s. South Korea, as well as Taiwan and Singapore jumped into the fray around the 1980s. But it was the Chinese that appeared seemingly out of nowhere, now dominating the Asian rich list!
Aristocracy, as such, died out in Asia many years ago. With the exception of Japan and Thailand, and some small sultanates in Southeast Asia, there are no monarchies in Asia to speak of, and even Japan and Thailand, despite their long standing constitutional monarchies, seem to have shed most of their aristocracy along the way! Japan began the process during the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th Century when modernization brought about a drastic change in social structure and hierarchy of Japanese society. The end of the Second World War was the final nail in the coffin, the death knell of the Japanese aristocracy. What happened in Japan thereafter was that the industrialists who prospered after the war, became the new aristocracy. They had the money and means to live lavishly, to travel abroad, and purchase power and influence! In China aristocracy died with the disappearance of the Ching Dynasty in the early 20th Century. For a short while the various warlords who ruled the splintered land were like the old aristocracy. But the Second World War and the rise of Mao and the Chinese Communists changed all that. From about 1949 until the 1980s, for a period of about 40 years it was the Chinese Communist Party bosses who were more or less the aristocracy. But that changed with the new free economy and opening of trade world wide. The new rich appeared almost overnight and now the new aristocracy are the rich CEOs and Presidents of various companies and corporations.
Korean aristocracy disappeared when Japan annexed and colonized Korea in 1910. Unlike Japan, even after the Second World War, there was no chance for Korea to develop a new aristocracy. The country was divided, and within five years a war broke out which devastated the entire peninsula. It wasn't until the 1970s when South Korea began to make a slow come back and some successful business enterprises began to enter the world market, like hat and sneaker manufacturers. Then in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the so-called "Han River Miracle" took place. The South Korean industry, particularly in electronics, literally exploded on the world scene. By the new century, South Korea was competing with Japan in many areas and had overtaken Japan as the leader in steel and ship building in the world! It isn't difficult to see the effect of Korean industry, both electronic and automotive, on the world. Samsung and LG have become a major competitors to Japanese electronics in the U.S., and in some parts of the world, they have taken the lead. The same applies to Hyundai and KIA automobiles. In Egypt, and many other parts of North Africa and Middle East, Korean electronics and cars have dominated the market beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In the new century, China has almost completely taken control in so many areas that it is hard to list all. Basically, just about all of the consumer goods, especially textiles, sold in the U.S. today are made in China. It is only the high-end products that are still made elsewhere! Chinese economy has become a monster! Take for example General Motors. Remember how it had to be bailed out by the government earlier only a decade or so ago? Today it is the leader in U.S. automotive industry. Toyota is still the leading seller in the world and even in the U.S. in some areas. But as a company, GM has outsold other U.S. makers because of its Chinese market! For the first time in the history of GM (or any other company for that matter!) more GM cars were sold in China than anywhere else in the world, including the U.S.! In short, it is the Chinese market that is keeping GM afloat! China has an astounding number of millionaires and billionaires, and there are new ones popping up each day!
So, now these new rich, the so-called nouveau riche, are the new aristocracy of Asia! They have replaced the old Mandarins of China, the Daimyo and Samurai of Japan, and the Yangban of Korea!
The Japanese were first to create this new aristocracy. They began by applying some ancient principles of warrior culture and philosophy to motivate their businessmen. Since Japan has a warrior tradition, yet the post war Japan was de-militarized, the Japanese simply transferred the warrior traditions to businessmen. Their aspiring executives became "new" samurai! They studied various concepts and philosophies of samurai tradition and applied them in the modern business world. Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings and Sun Tzu's The Art of War became bibles for Japanese executives! They exercised warrior discipline and practiced ancient tactics in their business ventures, and it worked! The Koreans did the same thing and revived some of the ancient traditions and brought them into their modern business practices, particularly philosophical aspects. Chinese, on the other hand, being the most practical of all, simply did whatever made them successful. There was no attempt on the part of the new Chinese rich to revive any old traditions or customs or apply any ancient philosophy or tactics in their businesses. The Japanese turned their executives into modern "samurai," the modern warrior who fought the financial and industrial battles. The Koreans mostly revived their ancient social customs and began to apply them in their daily lives as the new "yangban," the new rich and privileged class! The Chinese simply did whatever was necessary to make more money!
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