Tang Dynasty
Chinese dynasty that lasted from 618 - 907 which extended Chinaās borders into Mongolia and Vietnam, as well as expanded the civil service and the empireās bureaucracy.
Song Dynasty
Chinese Dynasty that lasted from 960 to 1279 which was supported by Neo-Confucian teachings and shaped the social classes as well as how the family was organized at the time.
Imperial Bureaucracy
A vast organization in which appointed officials carry out the empireās policies.
Meritocracy
Form of bureaucracy in which the holding of power by people is selected on the basis of their ability
Civil Service Exams
Tests taken by young men in China that were based on knowledge of Confucian teachings and determined if a young man could obtain a highly desired job in the bureaucracy.
Grand Canal
An inexpensive and efficient internal waterway transportation system that extended over 30,000 miles and allowed China to become the most populous trading area in the world after expansion of the canal under the Song.
Champa Rice
A strain of rice from the Champa kingdom in Vietnam developed through experimentation which was drought-resistant and fast-ripening; could grow twice a year as a summer crop and a winter crop.
Proto-industrialization
A set of economic changes in which people in rural areas make more goods than they could sell.
Tributary States
Countries outside of China (Korea, Japan, Vietnam) which were required to pay money or provide goods to honor the Chinese emperor.
Scholar Gentry Class
New social class created after bureaucratic expansion in rural areas.
Foot Binding
Practice common with aristocratic families during the Song Dynasty which had young girls wrap their feet so tightly that the bones wouldnāt grow naturally; signified social status and beauty.
Theravada Buddhism
Form of Buddhism focused on personal spiritual growth through silent meditation and self-discipline; became strongest in Southeast Asia.
Woodblock Printing
Printing system using wooden blocks which drastically increased the availability of books.
Mahayana Buddhism
Form of Buddhism focused on spiritual growth through silent meditation and self-discipline; became strongest in China and Korea.
Tibetan Buddhism
Form of Buddhism focused on chanting; became strongest in Tibet.
Syncretic Beliefs
Beliefs that are formed when two religions are combined.
Chan Buddhism
Form of Buddhism created by the Chinese government that combines Buddhist doctrines with Daoist traditions.
Zen Buddhism
Alternate term for Chan Buddhism.
Neo-Confucianism
A syncretic system which combined rational thought with the more abstract ideas of Daoism and Buddhism.
Filial Piety
The duty of family members to subordinate their desires to those of the male head of the family and to the ruler.
Japanese Feudalism
Daimyos- Land-owning aristocrats; battled for control for land
Bushido- The codex of Samurai during feudal Japan which promoted the importance of loyalty, honor, and martial arts
Samurai- Born into roles as protectors of the emperor
Nuclear Families
Families that consist of only the mother, the father, and their children; excludes extended family.
Polygyny
The practice of having more than one wife at the same time.
House of Wisdom
Place in which scholars in and around the Dar-al-Islam could go to learn
Mamluk Sultanate
Sultanate that lasted from 1250-1517 which was created after Mamluks, Turkic Muslims from central Asia, seized control of the Egyptian government. Prospered by facilitating the trade of cotton and sugar between the House of Islam and Europe.
Seljuk Turks
Turkic Muslims who in the 11th century began conquering parts of the Middle East and consolidated power as far as Western China.
Abbasid Caliphate
Caliphate led by both Arabs and Persians that was constantly invaded by groups of Turkic Muslims from Central Asia; saw many contributions in medicine, literature, and several cultural continuities.
Sufism
Spiritual form of Islam which focused on internal reflection rather than the study of the Quran.
Delhi Sultante
Sultanate which lasted from the 13th century to the 16th century; made up of Turkic Muslims who brought Islam to India.
Vijayanagara Empire
Empire which lasted from 1336 - 1646 that was founded by two brothers from the Delhi Sultanate
Rajput Kingdom
Hindu kingdoms headed by numerous clam leaders which fought often; no centralized government due to constant competition between kingdoms which left them vulnerable to Muslim attack.
Bhakti Movement
Movement started in Southern India where Hindus begin to focus on building relationships with one deity rather than multiple deities; became popular due to not being patriarchal or discriminatory against low social classes.
Srivijaya Empire
Buddhist kingdom located in Sumatra which became a religious center in Southeast Asia and augmented its wealth by taxing ships traveling between India & China.
Majapahit Empire
Empire which lasted from 1293 - 1520 that was a Hindu Kingdom based in Java; augmented its wealth through a tributary system with 98 tributary states; consolidated power through the facilitating of sea trade in the Indian Ocean.
Khmer Empire (Angkor Kingdom)
Located near the Mekong river; augmented its wealth through the construction of complex irrigation systems/drainage systems; Incorporated Buddhist influences into its architecture (Angkor Wat)
Mayan Empire
Empire in the Americas that saw its golden age between 250 - 900 C.E. and stretched over the southern part of Mexico and much of what is now Belize, Honduras, and Guatemala.
Aztec Empire
Also known as the Mexicas; migrated to central Mexico from the north to central Mexico in the 1200s and founded Tenochtitlan in modern-day Mexico City, their capital, in 1325.
Chinampas
Floating lakes built by the Aztecs over Lake Texcoco used to increase the amount of space available for food production.
Theocracy
Form of government in which rule is placed in the hands of religious leaders; main form of government in the Aztec Empire
Incan Empire
Empire formed after Pachacuti began conquering the tribes living near modern-day Cuzco, Peru; combined conquered tribes to form an official state
Mitāa System
System in which conquered men between the ages of 15 - 50 performed labor such as farming and road construction for the Aztec Empire
Royal Ancestor Veneration
Practice in which dead rulers were mummified and continued to āruleā as if they had never died; intended to extend the rule of a leader
Carpa Nan
Massive roadway system constructed through the mitāa system in the Incan Empire which spanned over 25,000 miles and aided in the transport of goods, government, and military
Kin-Based Networks
Form of government in Sub-Saharan Africa where families govern themselves; have a male head who handles all political affairs.
Hausa Kingdoms
Seven states formed by the Hausa people in Sub-Saharan Africa before 1000 A.D. benefited from trans-Saharan trade and lacked a central authority which led to constant invasion from neighboring forces.
Trans-Saharan Trade Routes
Network of trade routes across the Sahara desert; allowed the Hausa Kingdoms to benefit from internal trade when no water was around.
Ghana Kingdom
Kingdom nestled between the Sahara and the tropical rainforests along the West African coast; reached its golden age in the 700s and sold gold and ivory to Muslim merchants in exchange for salt, copper, cloth, and tools.
Mali Kingdom
Most powerful trading society in Sub-Saharan Africa which replaced Ghana and had its founding ruler Sundiata establish trading relations with North African and Arab merchants and create a thriving gold trade in Mali.
Zimbabwe Kingdom
Situated between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers in modern-day Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Built its prosperity on a mixture of agriculture, grazing, trade, and, above all, gold. tied into the Indian Ocean trade, which connected East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia. In East Africa, traders blended Bantu and Arabic to develop a new language, Swahili.
Swahili
Syncretic language created by traders which blended both Bantu and Arabic; spoken by lots of people in the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa.
Great Zimbabwe
30-feet-tall, 15-feet thick wall that circled the capital of Zimbabwe; over farming within the Great Zimbabwe caused the abandoning of the capital at the end to the 1400s.
Axum Kingdom
Christianity had spread from its origins along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea south into Egypt and beyond. In what is today Ethiopia, the kingdom of _______ developed. It prospered by trading goods obtained from India, Arabia, the Roman Empire, and the interior of Africa. Beginning in the 7th century, the spread of Islam made the region more diverse religiously.
European Feudalism
Lord- Figure given land by a king and owed allegiance to said king.
Vassal- Person who owed service to another person of higher status.
Fiefs- Tracts of land given to lords by kings or to knights by lords.
Code of Chivalry- Code which focused on honor, bravery, and the protection of women but gave no rights to women in practice.
Manorial System
The system made up of large tracts of land which provided economic self-sufficiency and defense to serfs.
Three-Field System
Form of agriculture in the manorial system in which crops were rotated through three fields; one contained wheat or rye, the second contained legumes, and the third lied fallow; led to a food surplus meaning a growth in the population.
Estates-General
Body to advise the king that included representatives from all three legal classes in France: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners; had little power due to Frankish kings not collecting taxes from the clergy and nobility, leading to those groups feeling no obligation towards it.
Lay Investiture Controversy
Dispute that occurred in the 11th and 12th centuries over whether a secular leader, rather than the Pope, could invest bishops with the symbols of office'; resolved in the Concordat of Worms in 1122.
Magna Carta
Document that English nobles forced King John to sign which forced him to respect certain rights, such as the right to a jury trial before prison, and for their opinions to be considered on scutage, or taxes.
English Parliament
First of its kind formed in 1265 where the House of Lords represented the nobles and Church hierarchy, while the House of Commons was made up of elected representatives of wealthy townspeople.
The Great Schism
The division of the Christian Church in Europe in 1054 into the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe, and the Eastern Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe.
Primogeniture
Rules under which the eldest son in a family inherited the entire estate; younger sons were left with nothing and left home to join the Crusades.
Crusades
A series of European military campaigns in the Middle East between 1095 and the 1200s.
Marco Polo
Venetian native whose trips to the Kublai Khan in Dadu caused curiosity about Asia in Europe to increase significantly which increased interest in map-making.
Burghers (Bourgeoisie)
Middle class formed in Europe in the late Middle Ages due to growth in long-distance commerce which included shopkeepers, merchants, craftspeople, and small landholders.
Little Ice Age
Five-century cooling of the climate that started around 1300 which decreased agricultural productivity, meaning people had less to trade and increased disease and unemployment; cities grew more slowly.
Antisemitism
Sentiment towards Jews in Europe stemming from blame for things going wrong in the world which led to mass diaspora of Jews to other parts of the world form the 13th century to the 15th century.
Renaissance
Period characterized by a revival of interest in classical Greek and Roman literature, art, culture, and civic virtue.
Humanism
Idea of the Renaissance which consisted of the focus on individuals rather than a specific God. Led to the writing of secular literature, the development of vernacular language, the development of strong monarchies, political centralization, and the development of nationalism.