Unit 1: East Asia

Dynasty System

Rulers would pass their rule to their sons, keeping the empire in the family - until another family overthrew them.

Mandate of Heaven

Those in power were given the right to rule from a divine source

Imperial Bureaucracy

A system of managing government through departments run by appointed officials - send out officials to far off places to govern.

Scholar-Officials

highly educated men who passed the civil service examinations

Province system

Ancient China was divided into political states, each with their own mini-rulers

Public infrastructure

the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, and power supplies) needed for the operation of a society. Chinese examples: Great Wall/Grand Canal

Tax collection

In ancient China, this was most often paid in rice or labor (corvee)

Civil service examination

a test given to qualify candidates for positions in the government; merit

Great Wall

A largely ineffective public work that discouraged raiding on China's northern border

Xiongnu- Northern nomads

Pastoral people north of China who were great horsemen. Invaded the northern regions of China repeatedly

Corvee Labor

A way to pay your taxes, or seasonal forced labor that required peasants to work for a month out of the year on public projects (grand canal, great wall)

Meritocracy

a system in which promotion is based on individual ability or achievement. IE-by taking the Civil Service Exam to qualify for a government position.

Grand Canal

Built in 7th century by the Sui dynasty but continually improved, designed to link the original centers of Chinese civilization on the north China plain with the Yangtze river basin to the south

Laozi

Former court official and Chinese philosopher who went with the flow; promoted harmony with nature

Confucius

Former court official and Chinese philosopher who really liked piety (not pie-eating)

Legalism

Chinese philosophy taught that humans are naturally evil and therefore need to be ruled by harsh laws

Daoism

philosophical system advocating a simple honest life and noninterference with the course of natural events

harmony with nature

There is a balance beneath the constant struggle, and one should seek to learn from that balance

Yin and yang

Masculine, light, and active balances with the feminine, dark, and passive to reach an equilibrium

Patriarchy

a form of social organization in which a men rule both government and family

Five relationships

Confucian social order in which everyone has a place - respect is paid up, and benevolence paid down

Song dynasty

During this Chinese dynasty (960 - 1279 AD) China saw many important inventions. There was a magnetic compass; had a navy; traded with india and persia (brought pepper and cotton); paper money, gun powder; landscape black and white paintings

Fillial piety

In Confucian thought, one of the virtues to be cultivated, a love and respect for one's parents and ancestors.

Social order in ancient china

Royal Family was on top. Followed by lesser nobles, warriors, few merchants, peasants and slaves.

buddhism in china

Spread by the Silk Roads, took form of Mahayana Buddhism. Blended with Daoism

Mahayana Buddhism

Buddhist sect that focuses on the compassion of the Buddha

Neo-confucianism

A philosophy that emerged in Song-dynasty China; it revived Confucian thinking while adding in Buddhist and Daoist elements.

Foot binding

Chinese practice of tightly wrapping girls' feet to keep them small, begun in the Tang dynasty; an emphasis on small size and delicacy was central to views of female beauty.

Champa rice

tributary gift from Vietnam to China, led to population increase

Gun powder

Invented within China during the 9th century, this substance was became the dominate military technology used to expand European and Asian empires by the 15th century.

Flying money

Chinese credit instrument that provided credit vouchers to merchants to be redeemed at the end of the voyage; reduced danger of robbery; early form of currency

Tribute

something done or given to show thanks or respect; a payment

Kowtow

a former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission

Printing press

A mechanical device for transferring text or graphics from a woodblock or type to paper using ink in China

Chinese trade goods

Silk, paper, and porcelain

Chinese influence in japan

Centralized government; Confucian ideals; Buddhism spread; literature, writing

Confucianism in japan

-adopted ideas of filial piety/five basic relationships/inferior persons

Buddhism in japan

Brought over by Korean travelers who adopted it in China. In the mid-700s, the Japanese court officially accepted Buddhism. Eventually spread through Japanese society.

Shinto

A Japanese religion whose followers believe that all things in the natural world are filled with divine spirits

Tale of Genji

Written by Lady Murasaki; first novel in any language; relates life history of prominent and amorous son of the Japanese emperor; evidence for mannered style of Japanese society.

Heian period

The era in Japanese history from A.D. 794-1185, arts and writing flourished during this time

Ancestor worship

religious practice of honoring the spirits of the dead

Silk road effect on china

Brought in Buddhism, mixed cultures