The KOREAN Civilization: Things Every Civ Player Should Know

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

Originally posted by eric789
Ghengis Farb

CIA's World Factbook tells different story...



Maybe you were exposed to the most Christianised part of Korea while you're there. However, the figure still strikes me with surprise! Christian 49%? It's almost half of the population. I thought Buddihism was the dominant religion in Korea by big margin.

Wow, you're absolutely right. That's an amazing turn around since 1999. In 1999 the Military Intelligence briefing before Korean Deployment and CIA factbook listed it at 96%. The History Channel special also labeled it as having the largest Christian percentage of any nation.

Four years can make a lot of difference. I stand corrected. The US percentage is 84% Christian. I always was taken back by that large number I wonder if someone made an error and reported Korean's Christian population percentage wrong and that threw off everyone else.

By the way, don't you just love the CIA factbook! That's probably the greasted internet site I've ever found, outside of Apolyton of course!

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

Originally posted by Gangerolf
those figures must be from south korea, they're very eager to adapt western ways (including christianity).
i would guess religion is frowned upon by the commie government in the north.

All religion in the North is regulated by the government they have more than one type but its in name only to give the appearance of religious freedom.

North Korea is absolutely convinced that the US is out to get them. I am absolutely convinced they believe it. It's not a ruse or propaganda trick, their government really thinks the US has some plan to invade and assimilate their entire nation.

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

And how is Nguyen pronounced?

Originally posted by Ribannah
The way it is written.
I'm guessing that nobody told you that the English language has done a number on the original pronounciation / representation of vowels, which severely handicaps you when it comes to other languages that use the Roman alphabet. But this particular example should be no trouble for you.

"Na-gu-yin"? That's a new one on me. I always pronounced it "win"

[Gangerolf]

It's not a ruse or propaganda trick, their government really thinks the US has some plan to invade and assimilate their entire nation

I don't think it's pure paranoia, i mean the US wouldn't mind if the regime in the north came to an end, would they?

[Q Classic]

And how is Nguyen pronounced? Words/names like this are why the symbol system might not be such a bad idea, although the freedom to sound out words you don't know is very important. I would think Korea switching to the modern alphabet (a tech in Civ 3!) is a large credit to it.

but see, the vietnamese (nguyen is a viet name) use an alphabet system, and it's very easy for them to sound out how to spell it in their language. also: japanese uses a syllabary; and thus can sound out foreign words. korea, using an alphabet, can also do so.
chinese, which is based on symbols, can also sound out foreign words using symbols; it's just that a note has to be made to help people realize that it's a phonetic use of the characters, rather than the literal.

about what you said about christianity being more influential in the west...
so now you're agreeing with me? that's what i've been saying all along. because the east hasn't "influenced" the west enough, the western textbooks rarely give a moment's consideration to the east.
this is why you think asia is unfamiliar. but believe me, the reason why the east did not accept many western notions, such as christiantiy, was because the west was unfamiliar. and even today, asian historical textbooks focus less on the west than the east-- but at least the asians come up knowing a helluva lot more about the whole world than americans.

And there is no way any English speaker, or a speaker of any European language, could pronounce Nguyen as Win.

sure there is. all you have to do is ask, genius. barring that, actually trying to learn some of their written language. which is latin-based, mind you, from the french.

Do Asian people read from up to down? I have seen many examples of both left to right placement as well as up to down. I think it would be hard to write a language from right to left. It's a lot easier to make the simpler Roman figures.

again, you show your western bias and ignorance.
asian languages (j, k, c) can be written in left-to-right lines from top to bottom of pages; or from top to bottom lines, going right-to-left across the page.
and it's not hard to write like that. the jews did it with their hebrew. as do the arabs.
it's a simple fact. the way languages started getting written down was a rather arbitrary process.

[Ribannah]

Originally posted by GhengisFarb
I always pronounced it "win"

There! That wasn't so hard now, was it?

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

Originally posted by Ribannah
There! That wasn't so hard now, was it?

Huh? You said that was how NOT to pronounce it!

Originally posted by King of Rasslin
And there is no way any English speaker, or a speaker of any European language, could pronounce Nguyen as Win.

So that does that mean you pronounce Mr. Jones as Mr. "John-ese"? Or William as "Will I Am". I'd imagine a lot of people you know are very irritated that you don't know how to pronounce their names.

The Korean name "Kim" is a bit easier to grasp though. At the risk of over-exageration I think between Kim and Nguyen you've pretty much got down the names of half the Korean population.

[Gangerolf]

i'm pretty sure Nguyen is a Vietnamese name...

[Q Classic]

genghis, nguyen is vietnamese. no korean has nguyen as his or her last name.

kim, park, lee, and choi, yi are by far the most common korean surnames. nguyen, being vietnamese, doesn't even appear.

you can often tell who is what based on their last names.

multiple sylalbles, ending in su or ai sounds, usu. japanese.
one syllable, kim, park, choi, cho, lee, yi, often korean.
one syllable, often with us, often chinese.
nguyen? viet.
mutliple sylalbles, with th sounds, often thai.

say again.

nguyen is NOT korean. it's vietnamese.

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
kim, park, lee, and choi, yi are by far the most common korean surnames. nguyen, being vietnamese, doesn't even appear.

I've known quite a few Koreans by the name of Shin also.

[History Guy]

Ribannah-- Actually, in the late Middle Ages the majority of Chinese people were Christians until the Emperors banned the religion. Of course, now Christianity is the quickest growing religion in China. Indeed, the future of Christianity might be in the Far East.

[Drake Tungsten]

It will be interesting to see how Christianity will be adapted in Asian societies to meld with the existing cultures, especially the Confucian value system.

[Ribannah]

Originally posted by GhengisFarb
Huh? You said that was how NOT to pronounce it!

To people who pronounce Leicester as "Lester", it should be obvious that Nguyen should be pronounced as "Win".

History Guy, I think that 'majority' is somewhat exaggerated. In the cities that were open to western contact, yes. But there are a zillion of people in more remote parts of China that may not even have heard of Christianity yet.

I'm hoping that your prediction will not come true, I don't very much appreciate the aggressiveness and oppressiveness of religions like Christianity.

[Lord Merciless]

Originally posted by History Guy
Ribannah-- Actually, in the late Middle Ages the majority of Chinese people were Christians until the Emperors banned the religion. Of course, now Christianity is the quickest growing religion in China. Indeed, the future of Christianity might be in the Far East.

Any prove for your outrageous assertion? If you had said "Mongolian ruling class" instead of Chinese people, then you might have some credibility.

[History Guy]

Your Lordship, I ask you kindly to refer to Mr. Damascene's book 'Christ the Eternal Tao'. Odd title, I will admit, and some other bits as well that are sort of unusual, but it does provide a good history of Christianity in China, and the repression.