Global Tapestry and Networks of Exchange Vocabulary

Flashcards for vocabulary review based on lecture notes.

Confucianism

A philosophy that taught human society is hierarchical by nature, composed of unequal relationships (e.g., father > sons, husbands > wives, rulers > subjects).

Filial piety

Practice of honoring one’s ancestors and parents.

Neo-Confucianism

The influence of Buddhist and Daoist philosophical ideas on Confucianism.

Foot Binding

A system where women had trouble walking due to having their foot made smaller than it started via binding.

Mahayana Buddhism

Buddhist teachings were available to all, emphasized compassion, and made the Buddha into an object of devotion.

Theravada Buddhism

The original form of Buddhism, restricted to monks only for a select few.

Four Noble Truths

Life is suffering, we suffer because we crave, we cease suffering when we cease craving, the eightfold path leads to the cessation of suffering and craving.

Eightfold Path

Principles and practices that a Buddhist must follow, including a moral lifestyle and the practice of meditation.

Champa Rice

Drought-resistant and high-yield crop that led to a population boom and increased agricultural output in China.

Islam

Religion founded by the Prophet Muhammad (7th century, Arabian Peninsula) that taught salvation through righteous actions.

Sharia Law

Code of laws established in the Quran.

Sufism

Emphasized mystical experience and was available to anyone, a significant force for the spread of Islam worldwide.

Hinduism

Polytheistic belief system dominant in South Asia (India) where the ultimate goal is to reunite individual souls to the all-pervasive world soul (Brahman) through reincarnation.

Bhakti Movement

A movement that encouraged believers to worship one particular god in the Hindu pantheon and rejected the hierarchy of Hinduism.

Angkor Wat

A prosperous Khmer state that created a Hindu building representing the entire Hindu universe.

Maya Civilization

Built urban centers, had a good writing system, math (concept of zero). Their state structure was a decentralized collection of city-states that were often at war with one another.

Mexica

Semi-nomadic people who migrated south and built their military prowess, eventually establishing the Aztec empire.

Mit’a System

Required the labor of everyone for a period of time each year to work on state projects (mining or military service) in the Inca Empire.

Mississippian Culture

Represented the first large-scale civilization in North America, developed around agriculture, thoroughly hierarchical, and known for their mound-building projects.

Swahili Civilization

Collection of city-states on Africa’s east coast, popular due to their location giving them access to the Indian Ocean trade.

Feudalism

System of allegiances between powerful lords, monarchs, and knights in Europe.

Manorialism

Peasants (serfs) were bound to land and worked in exchange for protection from the lord and his military forces in Europe.

Silk Roads

A network of roads and trails that facilitated trade and the spread of culture and ideas (cultural diffusion) across Eurasia in and before the period 1200-1450.

Proto-Industrialization (China)

Process where China produced more goods than their own population could consume and sold the extra goods in distant markets.

Caravanserai

Series of guest houses on the Silk Road routes, used as rest areas, provided safety, and were centers of cultural diffusion.

Pastoral Nomads

Traveling people who moved depending on the season.

Mandate of Heaven

Ruler who brings peace must be the rightful ruler.

Yam System

A series of communication and relay stations spread across the Mongol empire.

Indian Ocean Trade network

A network of sea routes that connected the various states throughout Afro-Eurasia through trade.

Diasporic Communities

Group of people from one place who establish a home in another place while retaining their cultural customs.

Trans-Saharan Trade Network

A series of trade routes that connected North Africa and the Mediterranean world with the interior of West Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.

Syncretism

The blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system.

Indulgences/Simony

A practice during the 1500s when the Catholic Church began selling promised forgiveness of sins/high church positions up for sale.

Columbian Exchange

The series of transfers of new diseases, food, plants, and animals between the Eastern and Western hemispheres.

Mercantilism

This philosophy promotes the accumulation of mineral wealth by maintaining a favorable balance of trade.

Joint-Stock Companies

It is a limited liability business chartered by the state funded by a group of investors. EX: Dutch East India Company

Casta System

People are organized based on race and heredity.

Militarism

The belief that states ought to build up strong militaries and employ them aggressively to protect their interests

Alliances (WW1)

balance of power was expressed through two major alliances: Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungarian empire) and Triple Entente (Britain, France, and Russia)

WW1 Propaganda

a motivation for everyone to make sacrifices and join war efforts, overall used to boost morale and nationalism