Download Three Gorges Dam

Three Gorges Dam
©2012, TESCCC
3 Gorges Dam
Statistics
• Type of Dam: Gravity
• Materials: Concrete
• Location: The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, longest river in Asia, 3,900 miles long
• Completed: 2006; fully operational 2011
• Cost: $25 billion, estimates vary
• Benefits: decrease flooding, improved shipping, hydroelectric power
• Impact: costs may outweigh its benefits, large expanse of land was cleared to create a reservoir,
1.5 million people displaced, cultural sites underwater, endangering animal habitat
• Alternative: building smaller dams and using newer technology to produce energy
©2012, TESCCC
©2012, TESCCC
3 Gorges Dam
• Where  Yangtze River (China)
• Why  To prevent flooding
…., a key lesson of the Three Gorges
Project is that dams can have serious
geological impacts. The fluctuating water
levels of the reservoir on the Yangtze
have destabilized hundreds of miles of
slopes and triggered massive landslides.
Most of the projects discussed under the
new Five-Year Plan would be built in
China’s mountainous Southwestern
region, which is seismically active. The
devastating earthquake of 2008 in
Sichuan Province, which damaged
hundreds of dams may have been
triggered by a reservoir, further
illustrated the risk of building
hydropower projects on fault lines.
©2012, TESCCC
Landslide on the Three
Gorges reservoir
Statement from the Embassy of the People’s
Republic of China in the U.S.
About 1 million people will be relocated owing to the construction
of the project. The government has attached great importance to
the issue and decided to appropriate large sums of money for the
resettlement program. The guiding principle of the program is
that the life of the relocatees can only be improved. For this
purpose, the government has adopted development-oriented
resettlement, in other words, to combine resettlement with local
economic development. The relocatees find higher-paying jobs in
the newly set up businesses, which are usually located within the
same country or city. Therefore, they feel quite at home and
enjoy a better living in their new homes.
©2012, TESCCC
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUo8hrA0CEU
Land Reclamation
©2012, TESCCC
Article: South Korea Undergoes Controversial Wetlands Reclamation Project
Environmentalists say South Korea could be heading towards a major
ecological blunder as it begins a multi-billion dollar land reclamation
project about seven times the size of Manhattan that the country
believes will lift its economy.South Korea’s Saemangeum land
reclamation project uses a 20.5 mile sea dyke to reclaim an area of 155
sq miles, turning coastal tidelands that are key feeding areas for globally
threatened birds into land for factories, golf courses and water
treatment plants.Park Hyoungbae, an official with the Saemangeum
development authority project, said the reclamation was not about
protecting the environment, but about economic development.
©2012, TESCCC
Land reclamation project underway in Bingzhou Peninsula in China
©2012, TESCCC
Bullet Trains
©2012, TESCCC
Japan’s main islands are served by a network of bullet trains. They are called shinkansen and
operated by Japan Railways.
©2012, TESCCC
Bullet Train line in Japan
©2012, TESCCC
Confucianism
Origins & History
• Founded by
Confucius (551–479
BC), China
Confucianism
Adherents Worldwide (approx.)
• 5-6 million
Confucianism
God(s) and Universe
• God is not addressed. Centers on human behavior.
• Confucius regarded Heaven (T'ien) as a positive and personal force in
the universe; he was not, as some have supposed, an agnostic or a
skeptic.
Confucianism
Human Situation and
Life's Purpose
• Purpose of life is to
fulfill one's role in
society with
propriety, honor,
and loyalty.
Student learning confucianism.
Confucianism
Practices
• Honesty, politeness, propriety, humaneness, perform correct role in
society, loyalty to family, nation
Confucianism
Texts
• Analects - The sacred text
is simply a book that is
written by Confucius
himself, and includes the
words that he spoke
throughout his teachings
and his aims to spread the
word to his disciples.
Many of his teachings and
beliefs are listed and
explained through this
sacred text.
Confucianism
Afterlife
• Not addressed.
Confucianism
Other Information
• Confucianism has been followed by the Chinese for more than two
millennia. It has deeply influenced spiritual and political life in China;
its influence has also extended to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. East
Asians may profess themselves to be Shintoists, Taoists, Buddhists,
Muslims, or Christians - but seldom do they cease to be Confucians.
Shintoism
Origins & History
• Indigenous religion of Japan.
Shintoism
Adherents Worldwide (approx.)
• 3-4 million
Shintoism
God(s) and Universe
• Polytheism based on the kami, ancient gods or spirits.
Shintoism
Human Situation and Life's Purpose
• Humans are pure by nature and can keep away evil through
purification rituals and attain good things by calling on the kami.
Shintoism
Afterlife
• Death is bad and impure. Some humans become kami after death.
Shintoism
Practices
• Worship and offerings to kami at shrines and at home. Purification
rituals.
Shintoism
Texts
• Important texts are Kojiki or 'Records of Ancient Matters' and
Nihon-gi or 'Chronicles of Japan'
Shintoism
Other Information
• Shinto (also Shintoism) is the term for the indigenous religious
beliefs and practices of Japan. Shinto has no founder, no official
sacred scriptures, and no fixed creeds, but it has preserved its main
beliefs and rituals throughout the ages.
Buddhism
Origins & History
• Founded by Siddharta Gautama (the Buddha) in c. 520 BC, NE India.
Buddhism
Adherents Worldwide
(approx.)
• 360 million
Buddhism
God(s) and Universe
• Varies: Theravada atheistic; Mahayana more polytheistic. Buddha
taught nothing is permanent.
Buddhism
Human Situation and Life's Purpose
• Purpose is to avoid suffering and gain enlightenment and release
from cycle of rebirth, or at least attain a better rebirth by gaining
merit.
Buddhism
Afterlife
• Reincarnation (understood differently than in Hinduism, with no
surviving soul) until gain enlightenment
Buddhism
Practices
• Meditation, mantras, devotion to deities (in some sects), mandalas
(Tibetan)
Buddhism
Texts
• Tripitaka (Pali Canon); Mahayana sutras like the Lotus Sutra; others.
Buddhism
Other Information
• Founded in India 2,500 years ago, Buddhism remains the dominant religion of
the Far East and is increasingly popular in the West. Over its long history
Buddhist has developed into a wide variety of forms, ranging from an emphasis
on religious rituals and worship of deities to a complete rejection of both rituals
and deities in favor of pure meditation. But all share in common a great respect
for the teachings of the Buddha, "The Enlightened One."
Difference between Hinduism and Buddhism
• Buddhists- do not believe that the soul is unchanging. Seeking one’s
individual self is counterproductive. It is not necessary to believe in a
god, or that God created man. They believe that the purpose of
reincarnation is to gain enlightenment and live in Nirvana. They do
NOT believe in a caste system. [Goal - getting rid of one’s self]
• Hindus – believe you are born into a caste level and your goal is to
perfect the soul at this level and move to a better life. They believe
that when you have perfected your soul, you live in harmony with
Brahman, the creator. [Goal - perfecting one’s self]