West

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West

Symbolic meaningsIn Chinese BuddhismBuddhism Summary

Buddhism is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, a way of life, a practical philosophy, and arguably a form of psychology....
, the West represents movement toward the Buddha or enlightenment (see Journey to the West

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Timeline

500 BC Bantu-speaking people migrate into south-west Uganda from the west. (approximate date)

1542 The first contact of Japan with the West occurs when a Portuguese ship, blown off its course to China, lands in Japan.

Encyclopedia

Symbolic meanings

In Chinese BuddhismBuddhism Summary

Buddhism is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, a way of life, a practical philosophy, and arguably a form of psychology....
, the West represents movement toward the Buddha or enlightenment (see Journey to the WestJourney to the West

Journey to the West is one of the Four Classical Novels of Chinese literature....
). The ancient AztecAztec

The Aztecs were a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries....
s believed that the West was the realm of the great goddess of waterWater Summary

Water is a tasteless, odorless substance that is essential to all known forms of life and is known as the universal solve...
, mist, and maizeFacts About Maize

Maize , also known as corn, is a cereal grain that was domesticated in Mesoamerica....
. In Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was a long-lived ancient civilization in north-eastern Africa....
, the West was considered to be the portal to the netherworld, and is the cardinal direction regarded in connection with deathDeath

Death is the full cessation of vital functions in the biological life....
, though not always with a negative connotation. Ancient Egyptians also believed that the GoddessGoddess

A goddess is a female deity, in contrast with a male deity known as a "god"....
AmunetAmunet Summary

In Egyptian mythology, Amunet was originally the female form of the originally androgynous god Amun....
was a personification of the West. The Celts believed that beyond the western sea off the edges of all maps lay the Otherworld, or Afterlife.

In American literatureAmerican literature

American literature refers to written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America....
(eg. The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American novelist F....
), moving west symbolizes gaining freedom, perhaps as an association with the settling of the Old West (see also Manifest DestinyManifest Destiny Summary

Manifest Destiny is a phrase that expressed the belief that the United States had a mission to expand, spreading its form of...
).