6 replies to this topic

[Kalimaster]

Do you think that some statues of say Budda, who is a historical figure could be used on a map denoting Asian themes?

This topic is posted as a question and does not relate to the religious practice associated with this individual.

[Hex Pallett]

Short answer: Not really.

Long answer: Buddhism is only one of the Asian religions that reflects some of the cultural entities in Asia. On one hand, Buddhism is indeed the most wide-spread religion in Asia - South Asian countries, the great Tibetan area, China, Japan, India, all have their own branch of Buddhism. On the other hand, India has Sikhism, China has Daoism, Japan has Shinto, not mentioning the whole Mongolian mythology - and those are just the ones I could come up on the fly. So yeah, using Buddha to denote Asians is about as accurate as using Jesus to denote white people (I know you're talking about cultures not races, but you get the idea).

[Kalimaster]

Helmstif, if you would notice, I put a piece in my post to keep this thread away from religion. I choose the Budda statue image because it is easily recognized and associated with the cultures of Japan, China, and Korea, not to mention Tibet.

[Hex Pallett]

Well then your OP is contradicting itself a bit, ain't it? Because Buddha is a religious figure. I was sticking to referring religions as geographically influential cultural entities instead of personal belief practices.

Besides, I personally associate myself a bit more with this:



And this scenery appears in virtually every single Japanese high-school themed anime:



And I'm gonna go out on a limb and say most Indians probably feel more associated with this image:



So yeah, if you insist that for you "westerners" Buddha is the most Asian culture figure of all Asia, while completely ignorant of the fact that it is not the prominent religious entity in most parts of Asia, then yeah, you could use him to denote Asian theme. But it's only a few pages of a whole encyclopedia.

We Asians are a bit more diverse than you may imagine.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Unfortunately - he has a point.

Buddha is a religious figure - as much as Jesus is.

You cannot really bring him into the discussion without bringing religion into it any more than you could with Jesus.

So be careful fellas, cause that is risky ground here.
(Banned by the EULA / COC and all)

[Nightmare1]

Why would we want it?

Edit: Last thing I want to see when battling for my life is an image of a roly poly fat man.

Edited by Nightmare1, 23 February 2015 - 12:50 PM.

[xengk]

As a Buddhist, I find no problem with that.

To me, it is no different that seeing cross and status of saints and Jesus on a Rome/Vatican theme map.
Or elves and Santa Claus in a Christmas themed shopping mall map.
Or motive of Che Guevara on a Cuban theme map.