have been wondering abt this for a long time... why does chinese (include china, taiwan, hongkong, singapore, malaysia) japanese and korean look alike? is it because they have the same ancestors long long time ago???

Well, if you changed your own question to "why do Europeans and white North Americans look the same" you would find the answer easily, right?

lemonlime wrote:

have been wondering abt this for a long time... why does chinese (include china, taiwan, hongkong, singapore, malaysia) japanese and korean look alike? is it because they have the same ancestors long long time ago???

Yes, they should be from the same ancestors.

Yes, both the Japanese and Korean people came from China a long time ago and developed their own country. You can see from their languages that they used to speak Chinese as well.

UWFShooter wrote:

Well, if you changed your own question to "why do Europeans and white North Americans look the same" you would find the answer easily, right?

, right on.

FierceStriker wrote:

Yes, both the Japanese and Korean people came from China a long time ago and developed their own country. You can see from their languages that they used to speak Chinese as well.

They didn't speak Chinese before making their own languages... they merely copied importan words from the script and incorporated them

lmao @ this crap
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UWFShooter wrote:

They didn't speak Chinese before making their own languages... they merely copied importan words from the script and incorporated them

I think they probably spoke Chinese before. From Korean documents, they were all written in Chinese. If you ask someone around the age of 80-90 year old now, they would know how to read Chinese. It was recently that the Korean has adapted their own set of words. Also, if you had notice, there are Japanese words that are similiar to the prounciation of Chinese words.

Smiley_18 wrote:

Also, if you had notice, there are Japanese words that are similiar to the prounciation of Chinese words.

The Japanese copied the Chinese pronunciations for compound words consisting of 2 or more Chinese characters, with a few one-character exceptions. Notable exceptions are surnames, most of which are pronounced with the Japanese word instead of the original Chinese one.

Don't know (or care for) Korean so I won't comment on that. But I'm sure someone would have an explanation that may put yours off base.

For any countries where borders and proximities are as close as they are.... especially WARRING nations...

similarities within the languages are not uncommon.

But to say Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans "all look the same" and trying to justify such a blunt and general comment is ridiculous.

http://alllooksame.com/ is silly as well... since these individuals are not randomly chosen and are picked in ORDER to confuse and throw you off.

Take into account the the emphasis on fashion as it's associated with particular countries and you've got a whole OTHER monster to ponder.


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you travel to and fro each and every area of China; are exposed to each and every one of the 53 different ethnic groups...

THEN make a website and a thread to ponder.

...just thought I'd throw that in. hehe
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Hmm this is somewhat of a racist thread

Anyways, as far as Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans go, they do have the same descent. In fact China is one of the oldest generations so it's very likely that Japan and Korea came from China. As you know, the Japanese use Chinese characters and yes, Korean's also used Chinese characters until like 30 years ago when they switched over. It used to be that you need to understand Chinese in order to read the Korean newspapers. The older generations know how to read Chinese and in fact they have Chinese names as well, (3 character names). My banker is Korean and she was the one who told me this since she's like 50 or something and grew up in Korea

As for as history goes, the Chinese do have a history that says the emperor of China sent a group of people to what is now the Japanese islands to search for the water of eternal life. I don't recall the exact emperor but the people were very scared of him and since a water of eternal life does not exist, they decided not to return and they tjhen colonized Japan and that was how Japan was formed. While I don't know the truth in this, this is something that's taught in Chinese schools and something that my relatives told me since they were born in China. I myself am Chinese and whether or not Korea or Japan came from China, I see them as different cultures and they should not be grouped in the same category. You have no idea how many times I have been mistaken for Korean (because of my last name and skin) or Japanese (no idea why ). Anyways, just my 2 cents on the matter

eltinator wrote:

Hmm this is somewhat of a racist thread

I don't know if it's truly racist, but it sure is an odd question to ask.

bmwracer wrote:

I don't know if it's truly racist, but it sure is an odd question to ask.

hehe yea, personally I can't tell the difference but that's me and I can't tell the difference between Europeans either

eltinator wrote:

Hmm this is somewhat of a racist thread As for as history goes, the Chinese do have a history that says the emperor of China sent a group of people to what is now the Japanese islands to search for the water of eternal life. I don't recall the exact emperor but the people were very scared of him and since a water of eternal life does not exist, they decided not to return and they tjhen colonized Japan and that was how Japan was formed. While I don't know the truth in this, this is something that's taught in Chinese schools and something that my relatives told me since they were born in China. I myself am Chinese and whether or not Korea or Japan came from China, I see them as different cultures and they should not be grouped in the same category. You have no idea how many times I have been mistaken for Korean (because of my last name and skin) or Japanese (no idea why ). Anyways, just my 2 cents on the matter

It was during the Qing (the first not the last one) dynasty, that the first emperor of China sent one of his concubine and dozens of virgins to search for that water of eternal life and worship the sun goddess. That's the origin of the Japanese people. There are a lot of Chinese and Japanese who look alike, especially lightly mixed ones (with Caucasian blood). Koreans have a more distinct look however. People always mistake me for Japanese, but never Korean. Koreans did use to speak Chinese, as most of the older generation (near extinct) read, write, and can speak Chinese. It is pretty normal for people to mistake one for another (how often can you tell a French from a German etc. in New York City?)

This thread is weird, because it came from someone in Singapore, not America.

FierceStriker wrote:

It is pretty normal for people to mistake one for another (how often can you tell a French from a German etc. in New York City?)

Therefore the question is not limited to chinese, japanese, and koreans as many have used to justify their racialist hypocrisies.

Quote:

This thread is weird, because it came from someone in Singapore, not America.

As if ignorance is limited to America in regards to Eastern Asians in general?

nonsense.
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I've seen Hungarians and Slavs who I thought were of East Asia...

only to be proven wrong and embarrassingly so for me being so sure of myself.
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Smiley_18 wrote:

I think they probably spoke Chinese before. From Korean documents, they were all written in Chinese. If you ask someone around the age of 80-90 year old now, they would know how to read Chinese. It was recently that the Korean has adapted their own set of words. Also, if you had notice, there are Japanese words that are similiar to the prounciation of Chinese words.

right on!! even one of my proessor's said so.
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<kizuna>

Well, one thing I have to make clear is that my intent of posting this topic is not that of racism, it's just a general discussion. You would have noticed that my question is phrased in a way that tries not to evoke any racist feelings (it's not meant to be). It's just tt I've been pondering over this for quite some time while watching dramas from the various countries and I respect these countries for their distinctiveness and individuality. So whoever is posting in this forum, please discuss with an open mind!!! Moreover, i did not say that they look the same, I merely said they look alike.

lemonlime wrote:

Well, one thing I have to make clear is that my intent of posting this topic is not that of racism, it's just a general discussion. You would have noticed that my question is phrased in a way that tries not to evoke any racist feelings (it's not meant to be). It's just tt I've been pondering over this for quite some time while watching dramas from the various countries and I respect these countries for their distinctiveness and individuality. So whoever is posting in this forum, please discuss with an open mind!!! Moreover, i did not say that they look the same, I merely said they look alike.

lol...

migration patterns and conquests throughout history.
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