World History 3 - Classical China and Monotheistic Religions in Afro-Eurasia

monotheism

Belief in one God

polytheism

Belief in many gods

Zoroastrianism

system of religion founded in Persia in the 6th century BC by Zoroaster

Second Temple Judaism

A term often used to refer to the span of Jewish history from the building of the second temple during the Persian period (515 BCE) to the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70 CE.

Christianity

A monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior.

Paul of Tarsus

A Jew from Asia Minor that played the most influential role in the spread of Christianity.

Analects

a record of the words and acts of the central Chinese thinker and philosopher Confucius and his disciples

Confucianism

A philosophy that promotes a stable government and an orderly society in the present world and stresses a moral code of conduct.

Warring States Period

time of warfare between regional lords following the decline of the Zhou dynasty in the 8th century B.C.E.

Qin Dynasty

(221-207 BCE) The first centralized dynasty of China that used Legalism as its base of belief.

Han Dynasty

imperial dynasty that ruled China (most of the time) from 206 BC to 221 and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy

Xiongnu Confederacy

A confederation of nomadic peoples living beyond the northwest frontier of ancient China. Chinese rulers tried a variety of defenses and stratagems to ward off these 'barbarians,' as they called them, and dispersed them in 1st Century

Emperor Wu of Han

emperor under the Han Dynasty that adopted Confucianism as the official state philosophy; wanted to create a stronger central government by taking land from the lords, raising taxes and places the supply of grain under the government's control

Emperor Shi Huangdi

Emperor of the Qin Dynasty who unified all of China under one ruler and created the first ancient imperial Chinese dynasty

Legalism

A political philosophy that emphasized the unruliness of human nature and justified state coercion and control. Rigorous laws. Legalism was invoked by the Qin ruling class to validate the authoritarian nature of their regime