ASIAN WORLDS FINAL DRAFT OF FINAL 2024

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A river that runs through northern China, "River of Sorrow" becuase of frequent flooding.

Yellow River (Huang He)

A plateau area near a river with yellow-brown soil and built up sediment.

Loess

Barriers composed of sediments made on either side of a river due to flooding.

Levees

-longest & largest river in China (longest river in Asia)

yangtze river

-Territory between 2 rivers holds most of China's population & is VERY FERTILE

Yangtze River (Chang Jiang)

Man-made waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers. Built because of the need of north to south transport and connection.

Grand Canal

China's southernmost major river. Provided fertile land for rice agriculture.

Pearl River

Region of China called the "Roof of the World", is very rocky, is surrounded by mountain ranges, and is located in the Himalayan Mt. Range

Tibetan Plateau

a region in the Huang He River valley, where Chinese civilization began

North China Plain

access to silk road, buffer zone

Gobi Desert

Taklamakan Desert

Manchuria

Treeless plains, especially the high, flat expanses of China. They are good lands for nomads and their herds.

Steppes

A type of agricultural activity based on nomadic animal raising of livestock to provide food, clothing, and shelter. In China, these nomads primarily lived in the steppes.

Pastoralism

A way of life, forced by a scarcity of resources, in which groups of people continually migrate to find pastures and water.

Nomadism

(adj.) characterized by or calling for continued sitting; remaining in one place

Sedentary

a vast Chinese defensive fortification begun in the 3rd century B.C. and running along the northern border of the country for 2,400 km. (Artificial buffer zone)

Great Wall

The process of supplying water to areas of land to make them suitable for growing crops. (Wet-rice farming)

Irrigation

the cultivation of rice by planting on dry land, transferring the seedlings to a flooded field, and draining the field before harvesting. Was essential to economic life in late imperial China and relied on skill and manual labor, not advanced technology.

Wet Rice Agriculture

To the west of the line, there is not enough rainfall to support agriculture. To the east there is. Historically the west side was populated by mostly non-agricultural peoples, the west by agricultural. Currently the west side has 2/3 of China's area and 6% of its population. The east side has 1/3 of the area and 94% of the population.

Hu Line

South China Hills

Separates Korean Peninsula and China, Yellow river runs into it

Yellow Sea

South China Sea

East China Sea

A transitional area between two areas of different predominant land uses. (ex: mountains, desserts, or man-made structures).

Buffer zones

A river in South Asia that flows from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea.

Indus River

A river of South Asia that flows southeast from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal.

Ganges River

lowland, northeastern India, farming, rich alluvial soil

Gangetic Plain

a mountain range extending west of the Himalayas

Hindu Kush

The world's highest mountain range, forming the northern border of the Indian subcontinent and acting as a buffer zone between China and South Asia.

Himalayas

buffer zones: west is higher

Eastern and Western Ghats

A high area of land at the center of the Indian subcontinent. Tilts northward.

Deccan Plateau

a mountain pass of great strategic and commercial value between the Hindu Kush and Himalayas.

Khyber Pass

Sri Lanka

Bay of Bengal

Indian Ocean

Arabian Sea

A dominant seasonal wind and rain pattern that causes wet and dry seasons. Supports rich agricultural economy and dense populations. Double edged sword: the swift fluctuations in climate leave some areas of South Asia flooding and some too dry. Summer monsoons go into South Asia. Winter the monsoons flow out of South Asia.

Monsoons

Harrapan civ, extreme weather and was a buffer zone

Thar Desert

also known as Harappan civilization, located in India along the Indus River, near the Indus River, Thar Desert, and the Himalayas Mountains. This civilizations collapse is still uncertain, though it is thought to be cause by multiple factors, not just one thing.

Indus Valley Civ/Harappa

the stage of human social development and organization that is considered most advanced.

Civilization

nomads from Europe and Asia who migrated to India and finally settled; vedas from this time suggest beginning of caste system

Aryans

The coming of Aryans marks the beginning of a historic period in India. A possible factor to the decline of Harappan civilization

Aryan Migration

(Dharma like) elaborates on the social and economic obligations of Varnas, and consequentially, Jati

Laws of Manu

Specific sub-castes jobs and professions within the broader caste system

Jati

How to act based on the caste system. Four main social classes in Vedic society.

Varnas

Priests and teachers who teach the Vedas, highest caste in Vedic culture.

Brahmins

Politicians, soldiers, they study the Vedas, second caste in hierarchy.

Kshatriya

Merchants and farmers, they study the Vedas, third caste in hierarchy.

Vaisya

"Slaves" of Brahmins, physical labor and service providers, do not study the Vedas, lowest caste.

Sudra

"Inhumane" manual labor, slaves, marginalized group in caste system, lowest of the low.

Dalits (untouchables)

One's place in the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Samsara

Liberation or "release" from the cycle of Samsara.

Moksha

Ultimate reality or "world soul," core of the universe

Brahman

Individual soul or essence of a person who is at one with Brahman.

Atman

Consequences of one's actions affecting future lives.

Karma

the concept that reality is just an illusion

Maya

Vedic text, deep philosophical texts exploring spiritual concepts

Upanishads

Aryans moving to India, influencing the Indus Civilization's collapse, and influencing the Vedas

Aryan Migration

"That which is known" in Vedic Sanskrit, pieces of oral literature, constructed Vedic religion/Brahmanism/Vedism (jus synonyms), a precursor to Hinduism, passed down through Brahmins.

Vedas

Ancient religious practices associated with the Vedas, more transactional and to the gods.

Vedism

Evolutionary phase of Vedism, emphasizing individual religious practice (less priests) and the Upanishads.

Brahmanism

Indigenous people of South Asia with distinct languages. (there before Aryan Migration)

Adivasi

an ethnolinguistic group of people who have language and culture derived from _____ and are native to South Asia.

Dravidians

Founder of Buddhism, kshatriya prince, decided against ruling to strive for a life of fulfillment after seeing the Four Passing Sights.

Siddhartha Gautama

Led Siddhartha to seek Enlightenment,

1. an old man

passing sights

2. a sick man

passing sights

3. a dead man

passing sights

4. a Sramana Monk (path to Enlightenment)

Four Passing Sights

Ultimate enlightenment and freedom from suffering, state achieved by Siddhartha under the fig tree, (basically moksha)

Enlightenment/Nirvana

Siddhartha founds it by achieving Enlightenment/Moksha/becoming the Buddha, reforming aspects of Vedic culture and "challenging the deadness of Brahmin society" (40)

Buddhism

as taught by the Buddha, the four basic beliefs that form the foundation of Buddhism.

The Four Noble Truths

In Buddhism, the basic rules of behavior and belief leading to an end of suffering, subsets of the Four Noble Truths

The Eightfold Path

Path of unselfish action aligned with dharma.

Karma Yoga

Path of knowledge through studying and learning the Vedas.

Jnana Yoga

Path of loving devotion to a deity.

Bhakti Yoga

King of meditation, combining goal and method. (Important tot Buddhism, least important to Hinduism)

Raja Yoga

a religion counter-reformed to Buddhism, goals: re-popularize, re-model, refine the Vedic tradition, used Sanskritization, individual worship without the need of a priest.

Hinduism

Assimilation of local cultures into Hindu practices, more social mobility.

Sanskritization

Duties associated with age-specific caste roles.

varna-ashrama-dharma

a summery of an epic, important Hindu text; dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna.

Bhagavad Gita

Main Hindu Gods (Dr. Chang's class idk if we need to know this bc we never really took notes on this)

Brahma, Vishnu, Krishna, Shiva

a Sanskrit word that refers to a natural tendency or quality that drives activity

Rajas

Amalgamation of diverse Chinese rituals and beliefs, like ancestor veneration and the 3 domains after death, Golden vs. Silver Bridge, etc.

Chinese Folk Religion

System of hierarchical government administration rather than elected reps; delegation for efficiency, not as tied to religion as other systems of governance.

Bureaucracy

Buddhist concepts of afterlife pathways.

Golden vs. Silver Bridge

Supreme deity in Chinese folk religion.

Jade Emperor

Philosophical system founded by Lao Tzu in China, says that humans must go on a path to harmonizing w/ the universe by wu-wei (action without intent), yin-yang, etc.

Daoism

Founder of Daoism, emphasized natural order.

Lao Tzu

Adaptation of foreign elements to Chinese culture.

Sinicization

Accessible form of Buddhism emphasizing community welfare, emotion and acting on that leads to a pure heart

Mahayana Buddhism

Enlightened beings who reach nirvana but stay "worldly" to help others achieve enlightenment.

Bodhisattvas

Broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism, focuses on rebirth in a blissful, pure realm.

Pure Land Buddhism

Original teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, focusing on meditation.

Theravada Buddhism

in Buddhism, a way of life, neither too strict nor too easy, (avoids extremes)

The Middle Way

After the collapse of the Han, China entered a period of instability during which 30 dynasties rose and fell

Period of Division

• recentralized trade throughout China and ended 300 year Period of Division

• golden age in arts and culture

• Emperor Gaozu

Tang Dynasty