No. 120 • Issue 5/2016
CONTENTS
timeless
1
Chinese Couplet (dui lian)
PICTURESQUE
12 Faces of Asia
“A portrait is a landscape
of emotions”
What do the diversity of faces in
Asia say about the people who live
on this continent?
BY MANUEL LIBRES LIBRODO JR.
reflections
22
Most Spoken Languages
in the World
24
On the Edge of Extinction
revealed
A look at several Asian languages
that are endangered.
28
science
100
86
CULTURE
The Future of Language
How technology and globalisation
are changing language as we know it.
Memories
The languages of Edo
BY SOPHIE IBBOTSON
DMZ: The Great Divide
What impact has the deep split in
the once-unified kingdom had on the
Korean language?
Arabian Nights
86
ON ASSIGNMENT
36
Namasté
The Mongolian Gold Wars
Gold mining has sparked a clash
between illegal diggers, artisanal
mining associations and large
multinationals.
BY ZIGOR ALDAMA
HERITAGE
94
The mass pilgrimage of faith unites
all Hindus in a splendid showcase
of devotion.
Icon
112
Revisiting the Samurai
The warrior clans of medieval Japan,
the samurai have been immortalised
in art and literature. We study some
of the influences from the Edo period,
when this military class was at the
peak of its power.
BY OLIVER JARVIS
108
ENVIRONMENT
Last Words
The extinct languages of Asia
Many languages have become extinct
over time. We follow the timeline in
which some Asian languages have
fallen out of currency.
BY SHIRIN BHANDARI
PHOTOS GUNTHER DEICHMANN
Chairman
LIM Geok Khoon
Publisher/Editorial Director
Senior Manager
John THET • [email protected]
Victor OW • [email protected]
Contributing Editor
Operations Executive
Jocelyn LAU • [email protected]
Kaero TEO • [email protected]
Accounts Manager (Regional)
Marketing/Circulation Manager
Desmond HO • [email protected]
Kelvin POON • [email protected]
Senior Designer
Editorial Intern
Zoey LIM • [email protected]
Amanda YAP
Field Editors
Yd Bar-Ness • Australia, Jim Neale • Philippines, Oleg Zartdinov • Russia
contributors
Zigor ALDAMA, Shirin BANDARI, Gunther DEICHMANN,
Sophie IBBOTSON, Oliver JARVIS, Alex CAMPBELL
Editorial Submissions • [email protected]
Subscriptions • [email protected]
Feedback • [email protected]
ASIAN Geographic is published bi-monthly by Asian Geographic Magazines Pte Ltd 20 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469277
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