Exam 2 East Meets West

Buddha

The "Enlightened One," a title given to Siddhartha Gautama after he found the truth through meditation under the Great Tree.

Shakyamuni

A title for the historical Buddha

Samsara

The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth in Buddhist belief, where beings go through various forms of existence until achieving enlightenment.

Karma

The law of moral causation in Buddhism, where a person's actions (good or bad) influence their future experiences and rebirth.

Nirvana

 A state of liberation from samsara that brings an end to suffering and the cycle of rebirth.

Parinirvana

The final release from the cycle of rebirth, which the Buddha entered at his death.

The Four Noble Truths

The Buddha's foundational teachings: (1) life involves suffering, (2) suffering is caused by craving, (3) suffering can end, (4) the Eightfold Path leads to liberation.

The Four Sights

Old age, sickness, death, and a holy man — the observations that motivated Siddhartha to renounce his royal life and seek a path beyond suffering.

The First Sermon at Deer Park

The event at Sarnath where the Buddha first taught his five former companions and introduced the Four Noble Truths.

Turning the Wheel of Dharma

A phrase describing the dissemination of the Buddha's teachings, especially the Sermon at Deer Park.

Sutra

 Buddhist scriptures containing the preserved teachings of the Buddha.

Stupa

A monument originally built as a mound to cover the Buddha's relics, which became an important focus of worship and pilgrimage.

Theravada

"Teaching of the Elders" — a Buddhist tradition emphasizing monastic discipline, personal effo"Teaching of the Elders" — a Buddhist tradition emphasizing monastic discipline, personal effort, and the ideal of the arhat.rt, and the ideal of the arhat.A

Arhat

An enlightened disciple in the Hinayana/Theravada tradition who achieves personal nirvana and seeks liberation from samsara.

Mahayana

"The Great Vehicle" — a school of Buddhism emphasizing compassion, faith, and the bodhisattva ideal of helping all beings reach enlightenment.

Bodhisattva

An enlightened being in Mahayana Buddhism who compassionately stays in the world to help all beings achieve liberation rather than seeking personal nirvana.

Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin, Gwaneum, Kanon)

The Bodhisattva of Compassion who seeks to help all beings; known as Guanyin, "the compassionate listener," in China. Appearance changes by culture (gender, dress, pose) but the identity as Bodhisattva of Compassion remains.

Mudras

Symbolic hand gestures in Buddhist art that convey specific teachings, actions, and spiritual qualities: Earth-Touching (calling the earth to witness enlightenment), Teaching (Turning the Wheel of Dharma), Meditation (concentration), Fear-Not (reassurance), and Giving (generosity/compassion)

Urna

A superhuman mark representing spiritual insight, depicted as a dot on the forehead of the Buddha

Ushnisha

A superhuman mark denoting wisdom, depicted as a cranial bump on the head of the Buddha.

Mogao Caves

A complex of caves near Dunhuang initially built for meditation in 366 CE that expanded into a massive site of Buddhist worship, murals, and pilgrimage.

Library Cave

A sealed cave at Dunhuang discovered in 1900 containing approximately 50,000 manuscripts, paintings, and textiles dating from the 5th to 11th centuries.

The Black Death

A devastating disease that traveled along the interconnected networks of Eurasia, illustrating the risks of global connection.

The Journey to the West

A 16th-century Chinese novel inspired by the historical pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang.

Siddhartha Gautama

The historical Buddha (c. 563–483 BCE), born a prince in northern India, who renounced his royal life to find a path beyond suffering.

Emperor Han Wudi

Chinese emperor (r. 140–87 BCE) who extended the Great Wall and sent envoy Zhang Qian to seek an alliance with the Yuezhi.

Zhang Qian

A Han dynasty envoy sent westward by Emperor Wudi in 138 BCE whose reports transformed Chinese understanding of Central Asia.

King Kanishka

A Kushan ruler (c. AD 78–144) and great patron of Buddhism who issued coins featuring the Buddha's image.

Ferdinand von Richthofen

A German geographer who coined the term "Silk Road" in 1877.

Genghis Khan (Temüjin)

Born Temüjin (c. 1162–1227); united the Mongol tribes in 1206, proclaimed "Universal Ruler," and founded the vast Mongol Empire, which reached the Caspian Sea by his death.

Ögedei Khan

Genghis Khan's third son and successor; expanded the Mongol Empire into Eastern Europe, completed the conquest of the Jin, and built the capital city of Karakorum.

Kublai Khan

A Mongol ruler who conquered the Southern Song dynasty (completed 1279) and presided over the Yuan Empire from his capital at Dadu (Beijing) — the largest contiguous land empire in history.

Marco Polo

A Venetian merchant (1254–1324) who traveled across Eurasia (1271–1295), served at the court of Kublai Khan, and introduced Asia to Europe through his writings (Travels).

William of Rubruck

A French Franciscan monk (c. 1220–1293) who traveled to the Mongol capital of Karakorum.

Rabban Bar Sauma

A Christian monk from Beijing (c. 1220–1294) who traveled to Europe.

Ibn Battuta

A Moroccan Muslim traveler (1304–1368/1369) who visited Yuan China and traveled extensively across Eurasia.

Xuanzang

A Tang dynasty Buddhist monk (602–664) who traveled to India for 17 years (departed 629, returned 645) to collect authentic scriptures; deeply shaped East Asian Buddhism and inspired The Journey to the West.

Wang Yuanlu

The Taoist monk and guardian of the Mogao temples who discovered the hidden Library Cave in 1900 and re-sealed it in 1904.

Aurel Stein

An explorer from Britain/India who visited the Dunhuang caves in 1907.

Paul Pelliot

A French explorer who visited Dunhuang in 1908.

Otani Kōzui

A Japanese explorer who visited Dunhuang in 1911

Sergei F. Oldenburg

A Russian explorer who visited Dunhuang in 1914.

Seneca

A Roman philosopher who complained that imported silk fabrics were so thin they barely covered the body.

Pax Mongolica

The "Mongol Peace" — a period of unified political order that protected merchants and enabled the exchange of goods and ideas across Eurasia

The Yam System

An infrastructure network of relay stations spaced every 25–40 miles that provided fresh horses and lodging for travelers across the Mongol Empire

Paiza

A passport used during the Mongol Empire to guarantee access, provisions, and imperial protection within the Yam system.

Ortoq System (Ortoq Partnerships)

A system of commercial partnerships under Mongol rule where merchants served as state-backed contractors or partners, mobilizing capital and sharing long-distance risk.

The Church of the East (Nestorian Christianity)

A Christian sect concentrated in the Middle East that spread eastward along the Silk Roads to Mongol warriors and tribes.

The Kerait Tribe

A Mongol tribe whose chief converted to Nestorian Christianity around AD 1000 after a vision of Saint Sergius.

Silk Road(s)

A modern term coined in 1877 by Ferdinand von Richthofen for the complex, dynamic network of land and sea routes linking Eurasia for over a thousand years.

Seres

The term used by ancient Roman and Greek writers to describe the distant eastern people who produced silk.

Caravan

A trading team that transported goods across trade routes using pack animals like camels or carts.

Han Dynasty

A Chinese empire (206 BCE–220 CE) that extended the Great Wall to protect trade routes and utilized silk diplomacy.

Xiongnu

A powerful nomadic confederacy from the Mongolian steppe that warred with Han China and forced the Yuezhi to migrate westward.

Yuezhi

A nomadic people who migrated westward after being defeated by the Xiongnu, eventually settling in Bactria and founding the Kushan Empire.

Kushans

Originally nomadic peoples from the steppe (the Yuezhi) who conquered Bactria, established a powerful sedentary empire, and facilitated Silk Road trade.

Kushan Empire

A powerful, multicultural empire established by the Yuezhi connecting India, Central Asia, and China; patronized Mahayana Buddhism from the 1st–3rd centuries CE.

Parthians

A nomadic people who established an empire in Iran and frequently clashed with the Romans over control of Middle Eastern trade.

Sogdians

A Central Asian trading people who were central actors in Eurasian exchange.

Roman Empire

An expansive western empire whose demand for eastern luxury goods like silk and spices helped drive long-distance Eurasian trade.

Tang Dynasty

A Chinese empire (618–907) that fostered a period of cosmopolitan exchange across the Silk Roads.

The Umayyad Caliphate

An Islamic dynasty (661–750) that rose to power in the West during the era of cosmopolitan exchange.

The Abbasid Caliphate

An Islamic empire (ca. 850 AD) centered in Baghdad that acted as a major intermediary linking Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Mongol Empire

The largest contiguous land empire in history, uniting Eurasia and facilitating trade and travel under a single political order in the 13th–14th centuries.

Bactria

A fertile region in Central Asia (modern northern Afghanistan to Uzbekistan), originally conquered by Alexander the Great and later settled by the Yuezhi.

Caspian Sea

A geographic water body shaping the Silk Roads, noted by ancient writers describing the route to the East.

Gobi Desert

A major physical barrier that shaped the development of the northern Silk Road routes.

Hindu Kush Mountains

A perpetually snow-bound mountain range in Central Asia that posed a physical barrier along the Silk Roads.

Pamir Mountains

High mountain ranges in Central Asia that acted as geographic barriers shaping trade routes.

Taklamakan Desert

A harsh, vast desert in the Tarim Basin around which the northern and southern Silk Road oasis routes developed.

Tian Shan

A major mountain range in Central Asia that physically shaped the paths of the Silk Roads.

Gandhara

A region in modern Pakistan and Afghanistan that became a major center of Buddhist art, blending Greco-Roman naturalism with Buddhist imagery.

Samarkand

A prominent Central Asian city in Transoxiana that flourished as a center of trade, production, and agriculture.

Chang'an

The capital city of the Han and Tang dynasties; a major cosmopolitan hub on the Silk Road.

Dunhuang

A strategic oasis settlement and gateway between China and Central Asia that housed a large Buddhist community and the Mogao Caves.