Qing China, Europe, and Tokugawa Japan in 1750

Vocabulary flashcards covering key historical concepts, governance systems, economic practices, and cultural developments in Qing China, Europe, and Tokugawa Japan around 1750.

Manchu Rule

Rule established when the Manchus conquered China in 1644 and created the Qing Dynasty, governing the much larger Han Chinese population while preserving some Manchu traditions.

Civil Service Examinations

Examinations testing candidates on Confucian texts and government principles, allowing passing men to enter the scholar-official class and receive government positions.

Tribute System

A diplomatic and trade arrangement in which neighboring states acknowledged the Chinese emperor’s authority in exchange for gifts, protection, and permission to trade with China.

Agricultural Expansion

The expansion of farming land in Qing China, aided by American crops like maize and sweet potatoes that allowed farming in areas where traditional crops grew poorly.

Centralised government

A political system where power and major decisions are concentrated in a single national authority, like an Emperor.

Confucianism

A philosophical tradition emphasizing social order, education, family loyalty, and proper behavior, utilized by Qing officials to support government authority and the social hierarchy.

Banner System

A system organizing the Manchu military and their families into hereditary social and military units that received privileges and protected the Qing government.

Trade Policies

Qing policies that restricted most European trade to the port of Canton, placing foreign merchants under close supervision and limiting direct foreign influence.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement emphasizing reason, observation, and individual rights, leading thinkers to question traditional authority and debate government and society.

Absolute Monarchy

A form of government in which a ruler claims extensive authority over the state, often using centralized administrations and standing armies to strengthen control.

Constitutional Monarchy

A system in which a monarch shares power with a constitution and representative institutions, as developed in England where Parliament limited royal authority.

Mercantilism

An economic system based on government control of trade and increasing national wealth by exporting more than importing, utilizing trade regulations and colonies.

Agricultural Revolution

A period of improved farming methods, tools, and crop production in Europe—including enclosure, crop rotation, and selective breeding—that increased food supplies while displacing some rural workers.

Cottage Industry

A system where families produced goods, especially textiles, in their homes using raw materials supplied by merchants who sold the finished products in markets.

Balance of Power

A diplomatic principle in which European states used alliances and wars to prevent any single country from becoming too powerful.

Colonial Empires

Territories controlled outside Europe by European states such as Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands to supply raw materials, provide markets, and increase power.

Shogunate System

A government system in Japan where the shogun held real political and military power while the emperor was a symbolic figure; ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate from 1603 to 1868.

Daimyo

Powerful landowning lords in Japan who controlled domains and employed samurai, carefully monitored by the Tokugawa shogunate to prevent rebellion.

Samurai Class

Members of Japan’s warrior class serving daimyo or the shogun who increasingly became administrators and bureaucrats during a long period of peace.

Rice Economy

An economic system in Tokugawa Japan where rice served as the main measure of wealth and taxation, assessing daimyo based on their domain's rice production.

Edo

The capital of the Tokugawa shogunate (now called Tokyo) that became Japan's political center and grew into one of the world's largest cities.

Dutch Learning

Also known as rangaku, the study of European knowledge—such as medicine, science, geography, and technology—through Dutch books and contacts.

Urbanization

The growth of towns and cities as people move into or work in urban areas, leading to the expansion of Japanese cities like Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto.