Write a 3 pages paper on cntemporary asian societies. For a long tine, Asian countries isolated themselves from the rest of the world trying to keep untouched old traditions and values (Metcalf, pg 6)

Write a 3 pages paper on cntemporary asian societies. For a long tine, Asian countries isolated themselves from the rest of the world trying to keep untouched old traditions and values (Metcalf, pg 6). Thus, since the beginning of the XX century, they have experienced a strong influence on their cultural traditions and building practices. This influence had a negative impact on Asian societies spreading alien cultures and the building crafts (Hawkes, pg 9). The main issue against modern building practices is that Asian societies developed unique building traditions and distinct practices which comply with their needs and regional differences.

Asian societies should stick to their own building traditions because they reflect cultural uniqueness and religious beliefs followed by generations. Hinduism, Aryans, Dravidians, Islamic, Christian, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism developed building styles which reflect their unique and distinct beliefs and values. For instance, the earliest surviving monuments of architecture date from the tenth century. Perhaps the first shrine is the Nat Hlaung Gyaung at Pagn, a temple traditionally dated in 931 and one of the few Hindu monuments in the history of Burmese architecture. Even this structure has certain characteristics of Burmese architecture of all periods (Metcalf, pg 23).