The Orient: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 100 - 600 L’Hermitage Hotel & Spa
 Set in a former monastery dating from the 16th century, this hotel and spa provides the ideal place to relax in a tranquil, rural setting.
Located in… MoreEUR 115 - 213 Finca Hotel Son Palou
 The country estate Son Palou goes back to the 14 century. It is
situated on a hill, it is covered with green apple trees, from which you can enjoy a m… More | ||||||||||||
The Orient: Guide
:Oriental redirects here. For information on the financial institution, see Oriental Financial Group, Inc.
The Orient is a term traditionally used in Western culture to refer to the Middle-East, South Asia, and Far-East.
Derivation
The term "Oriental" is derived from the Latin word oriens, which is the present participle of "orior": to rise. The implication is that it refers to the rising sun, hence the use of Orient to describe the "land of the rising sun", i.e. the Far East, and is exactly analogous with the Chinese term for Japan. Comparable terms are the French-derived "Levant" and "Anatolia" from the Greek anatole, two further locations for the direction in which the sun rises. The opposite term "Occident" - derived from the Latin word occidens, from the verb "occido": I fall - was once used to describe the western world, i.e. the "land of the falling (setting) sun", but is slowly falling into disuse.
The creation of a polarity oriens/occidens originated in Roman imperial administration from the time of Diocletian and was taken up in Christian Latin literature, but the term Orient did not enter Western European languages until the time of the CrusadesWalter Burkert, ''The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age (Harvard University Press) 1992 p. 1 and note.
Usage of term
Traditionally, the Orient referred primarily to the cultures and countries of what are now considered the Middle East. This particularly included regions that used to be known as Persian Empire|Persia, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Egypt. As awareness of the countries of Eastern Asia grew in Western European and American consciousness in the late 19th century, the term came to refer to China, Japan, Korea, and surrounding nations. Remnants of the older conception of the Orient still exist in the English language in such collocations as Oriental rug and Oriental harem, but these days the word Orient typically refers to that part of Asia where both Dharmic religons are dominant and the majority of natives have an epicanthic fold.
"Oriental" has been used by Western world|the West as a term to describe cultures, countries, peoples and goods from the Orient. Some usages of Oriental are still common, for example, Mizrahi Jews (native to the Middle East) are often referred to as Oriental Jews and it is common in older Universities: the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute and Oxford University's Faculty of Oriental Studies all focus on the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia. The American Oriental Society remains the premier body for the study of Oriental societies.
Oriental is also used as an adjective akin to "eastern", especially in the Spanish-speaking world. For example, the Philippines|Philippine island Mindoro is divided into two provinces whose titles include the words "oriental" and "occidental" respectively. Uruguay used to be known as the República Oriental del Uruguay because it was located to the east of the Rio de la Plata.
Perceptions & Connotations
Although oriental is generally considered a neutral term in the UK, other parts of the Commonwealth and most of Europe, there is some disagreement as to whether the word oriental has come to possess negative connotations in North America. It's not difficult to find discussion groups on the net debating the connotations from and perceptions implied by the term oriental.
In 34644| and Fair Housing http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/library/part109.pdf documents. According to the FBI, some Asian gangs refer to themselves as oriental. http://www.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel03/release121903.htmhttp://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2003/feb2003/feb03leb.htm Prominent Filipina commentator [[Michelle Malkin's official site uses the term repeatedly.http://michellemalkin.com/archives/000239.htm http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006107.htm?print=1 http://michellemalkin.com/archives/000239.htmhttp://www.altavista.com/web/results?itag=ody&pg=aq&aqmode=s&aqa=oriental&aqp=&aqo=&aqn=&aqb=&kgs=1&kls=0&dt=tmperiod&d2=0&dfr%5Bd%5D=1&dfr%5Bm%5D=1&dfr%5By%5D=1980&dto%5Bd%5D=4&dto%5Bm%5D=11&dto%5By%5D=2006&filetype=&rc=dmn&swd=michellemalkin.com&lh=&nbq=10
It is purported that there has been a gradual shift in academia toward alternative terminologies that supposedly are more politically proper than the term "Oriental" and that many American Universities will no longer accept the official use of the term "Oriental". But there is obviously some disagreement as to whether the term has negative connotations as the American Oriental Society and others continue to use the term in its publishings.
In non-academic circles there seem to be even fewer changes. This is evidenced by the fact that conservative commentators regularly employ the term in current usagehttp://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=16541. Businesses such as Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, Mandarin Oriental, Oriental Financial Group, Inc.,Orient Thai Airlines, Orient Steam Navigation Company, Orient Watch Co., Neptune Orient Lines are just a few of many successful enterprises to share this term as a part of their name.
Although the terms nigger or nigga have few parallels with the term "Oriental", there is a similarity in usage in that both words can take on a derogatory tone when used improperly or by someone who is not familiar with the subject. For this reason, the term "Oriental" is perhaps most awkward when used by someone who has little knowledge of the Orient and who might not perceive the differences between various Asian regions or cultures. "Oriental" is claimed to be considered offensive when it is used to imply that an Asian American is somehow "less American" than other Americans.http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003225.htm
Regional Variations
Major objections to the use of the word "Oriental" are chiefly limited to certain elements in the East's cuisine and goods, ancient culture, and religions, at times to denote an exotic quality with upmarket or mildly positive connotations. In the UK the term "Asian" has become almost exclusively tied to the Indian subcontinent, as evidenced through BBC Asian Network, a radio station of the BBC devoted to the British Asian community.
Alternative terminology
While the term oriental is not uncommon outside of academia and the media, it is increasingly common to use 'more neutral' (from an American-English viewpoint) geographical terms for people and places referred to by oriental, e.g., South Asia, East Asia, and South-East Asia. The term Far Eastern has occasionally been favored over oriental, but East Asian is more . The terms Asia and the Pacific or the Pacific Rim or the Pacific Basin are coming into favor as alternatives.
With regard to the now antiquated sense of the Orient, referring to the wider Islamic region, the Orientalist Marshall Hogdson tried to introduce several terms, including Nile-to-Oxus. None of these have stuck, however.
See also
Orientalism
Orientalizing Period of Archaic Greek art
Asian
Eastern world
Western world
Orient Express
Notes
References and further reading
at University of Chicago
Model Minority posting by Alan Hu
Typical discussion group with layman's arguments for and against the term Oriental
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "The Orient". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.