Chapter 16: The East Asian World (1400–1800)

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering political structures, cultural developments, economic changes, key historical figures, and foreign interactions in China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia between 1400 and 1800.

Ming Hong Wu

The founder of the Ming dynasty who took the title meaning "the Ming Martial Emperor" and ruled China from 1368 until 1398 after overthrowing the Mongol dynasty.

Yong Le

Ming emperor who succeeded Ming Hong Wu after a four-year campaign, built large monuments, strengthened the Great Wall, began construction of the Imperial City in Beijing in 1406, and launched the naval voyages of Zheng He.

Imperial City

An immense compound of palaces, stately halls, temples, and offices in Beijing surrounded by $6.5\,\text{miles}$ ($10.5\,\text{km}$) of walls; home to China's emperors for nearly five hundred years and known as the Forbidden City because entry without permission was illegal.

Zheng He

A Chinese court official who commanded seven voyages of exploration into the Indian Ocean between 1405 and 1433, sailing as far west as the eastern coast of Africa with fleets of up to 62 ships and nearly 28,000 men.

Li Zicheng

Leader of a major peasant revolt sparked by economic hardship and an epidemic in central China that captured Beijing in 1644, prompting the last Ming emperor to commit suicide.

Manchus

A farming and hunting people who lived northeast of the Great Wall in Manchuria; they defeated Li Zicheng's army, conquered Beijing, and established the Qing dynasty in 1644.

Qing Dynasty

The imperial dynasty created by the Manchus in 1644, meaning "pure," which remained in power in China until 1911.

Queue

A braided pigtail hairstyle with a shaved forehead that the Qing government required all Chinese males to adopt to identify rebels, enforced under the warning "Lose your hair or lose your head."

Banners

Separate military units into which Manchus were organized; their troops, known as "bannermen," formed the chief fighting force of the Qing Empire.

Kangxi

Renowned Qing emperor who ruled from 1661 to 1722 (a reign of 61 years), pacified northern and western frontiers by force, patronized arts and letters, and showed tolerance toward Christian missionaries.

Qianlong

Outstanding Qing emperor who ruled from 1736 to 1795, expanding China to its greatest physical size and overseeing a period of great prosperity before falling under the influence of corrupt court officials in his later years.

White Lotus Rebellion

A peasant revolt launched in central China from 1796 to 1804 in response to higher taxes and official corruption; its suppression severely drained Qing government finances.

Lord George Macartney

British diplomat who led a trade mission to Beijing in 1793 on behalf of King George III to seek more liberal trade policies, which Emperor Qianlong flatly rejected.

Commercial Capitalism

An economic system characterized by private business conducted for profit; unlike in Europe, it did not develop in China because trade and manufacturing remained under strict government control.

Clan

A kinship structure in traditional China consisting of dozens or hundreds of related families linked by a council of elders and common religious and social activities.

Footbinding

A painful traditional practice that painfully restricted women's feet to make them smaller; it served as a status and economic symbol of marriageability practiced by an estimated one-half to two-thirds of Chinese women.

Cao Xuein

Chinese author of The Dream of the Red Chamber, published in 1791, widely considered China's most distinguished popular novel.

Jingdezhen

A Chinese city known as the porcelain capital of the world, where blue-and-white porcelain was crafted by specialized artists and shipped across the globe.

Daimyo

Heads of noble families in feudal Japan who controlled their own private domains, commanded samurai, and engaged in intermittent civil warfare prior to national unification.

Oda Nobunaga

The first of Japan's three great unifiers, who seized the imperial capital of Kyoto and placed the reigning shogun under his control in the late sixteenth century.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

The second of Japan's three great unifiers; a farmer's son who rose to military commander, established his capital at Osaka, persuaded most daimyo to accept his authority by 1590, and invaded Korea.

Tokugawa Ieyasu

The powerful daimyo of Edo who took control of Japan following Hideyoshi's death, took the title of shogun in 1603, and established a dynasty of shoguns that governed until 1868.

Great Peace

The long era of political stability and peace in Japan maintained under Tokugawa shogunate rule from 1603 until 1868.

Hans

The approximately 250 separate territorial domains into which Japan was divided during the Tokugawa Era, each governed by an individual daimyo.

Hostage System

A Tokugawa political control system requiring daimyo to maintain residences both in their own lands and in Edo; when a daimyo departed Edo, his family had to remain as insurance of his loyalty.

Ronin

Masterless samurai warriors in Japan who traveled across the countryside seeking employment as hired fighters.

Eta

Japan's hereditary outcast class whose members were subjected to strict Tokugawa laws regulating their residences, dress, and hairstyles.

Matsuo Basho

A seventeenth-century Japanese literary figure recognized as the greatest Japanese poet, celebrated for writing exquisite poetry about nature.

Kabuki

A Japanese theatrical art form established around 1603 that combines drama, dance, and music; male actors portrayed all parts after women were forbidden from appearing on stage.

Hanamichi

A raised walkway in Kabuki theater stretching from the back of the auditorium through the audience to the stage, used for stylized actor entrances and exits.

Mie

A dramatic, fixed pose struck by a lead actor during a climactic moment in a Kabuki performance when all stage movement briefly halts.

Yi Song-gye

Renowned Korean military strategist who overthrew the Koryo dynasty in 1392 and mounted the throne, establishing the Yi dynasty.

Hangul

The unique, phonetically based Korean writing system developed during the Yi dynasty that uses individual characters for specific phonetic sounds.

Hermit Kingdom

The moniker given to Korea because its rulers pursued isolationist policies and limited contact with outsiders after suffering devastating Japanese and Manchu invasions.

Melaka

A strategic Muslim sultanate located along the Strait of Malacca that became the paramount regional power and gateway to the Southeast Asian spice trade in the fifteenth century.

Moluccas

An island cluster in eastern Indonesia known to European powers as the Spice Islands, serving as the main source of prized spices such as cloves and nutmeg.

Batavia

A coastal fort and port city established on the island of Java in 1619 that served as the regional headquarters for the Dutch East India Company.

Mainland States

States situated on the Southeast Asian continent—including Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam—which possessed defined political identities and strong monarchies that successfully resisted European domination.