Set 3: China, the Silk Road, the Chinese Tributary System, the Mongol Empire

Daoism/Toaism

Religion based on finding harmony with the universe

Confucianism

A philosophy that adheres to the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. It shows the way to ensure a stable government and an orderly society in the present world and stresses a moral code of conduct.

Five Key Relationships

taught by Confucianists; father to son, ruler to subject, husband to wife, older brother to younger brother, friend to friend

Ancestor Worship

honoring ancestors through rituals, such as offering food and wine to the dead

Venerate

to respect deeply

Filial Piety

In Confucian thought, one of the virtues to be cultivated, a love and respect for one's parents and ancestors.

Foot Binding

Practice in Chinese society to mutilate women's feet in order to make them smaller; produced pain and restricted women's movement; made it easier to confine women to the household.

Women in Confucian Society

expected to be submissive to men, viewed as lesser and given limited rights, foot binding

Mandate of Heaven

a political theory of ancient China in which those in power were given the right to rule from a divine source

Dynastic Cycle

the historical pattern of the rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties

Codify

to arrange or set down in writing

Song Dynasty

(960-1279 CE) The Chinese dynasty that placed much more emphasis on civil administration, industry, education, and arts other than military.

Chinese Golden Age

Major advances in technology like paper money, ships, made trade much easier along the silk road.

Commercialized

designed principally for financial gain; profit-orientated

Bureaucracy

A large, complex organization composed of appointed officials

Scholar Gentry

Chinese class created by the marital linkage of the local land-holding aristocracy with the office-holding shi; superseded shi as governors of China.

Mandarins

members of the elite class of civil servents in Chinese government

Civil Service Exam

In Imperial China starting in the Han dynasty, it was an exam based on Confucian teachings that was used to select people for various government service jobs in the nationwide administrative bureaucracy.

Paper

the material that is used in the form of thin sheets for writing

Moveable Type

Individual characters made of wood or metal that can be arranged to create a job for printing and then used over again

Magnetic Compass

Chinese invention that aided navigation by showing which direction was north

Great Wall of China

world's longest man made structure built to keep invaders from the north out of China, started by the Qing Dynasty, expanded by the Han Dynasty,

Grand Canal

The 1,100-mile (1,700-kilometer) waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers. It was begun in the Han period and completed during the Sui Empire.

Corvee Labor

type of annual tax that is payable by labor. Used to complete state projects and to maintain roads and public facilities. Originally used in feudal societies.

Coerced Labor

a system where the workers were forced to work based on threats, pressure, or intimidation.

Artisans

skilled workers who make goods by hand

Merchants in China

Typically oppressed and exploited, since they "contribute nothing" directly, but occasionally become very wealthy and raise respectable sons.

Tea

The product taxed under the Townshend Acts that generated the greatest colonial resistance

Silk

a valuable cloth, originally made only in China from threads spun by caterpillars called silkworms

Porcelain

a thin, beautiful pottery invented in China

Gunpowder

The formula, brought to China in the 400s or 500s, was first used to make fumigators to keep away insect pests and evil spirits. In later centuries it was used to make explosives and grenades and to propel cannonballs, shot, and bullets.

Flying Cash

Enabled merchants to deposit good or cash at one location and draw the equivalent in cash or merchandise elsewhere in China.

Bills of Exchange

a written order to a person requiring the person to make a specified payment to the signatory or to a named payee; a promissory note.

Banking Houses 600 CE to 1450 CE

Places to store money or exchange foreign currencies, borrow money; help to increase trade

Sakk

Letters of credit that were common in the medieval Islamic banking world.

Chinese Junk

A very large flat-bottom sailing ship produced in the Tang and Song Empires, specially designed for long-distance commercial travel.

Silk Road

An ancient trade route between China and the Mediterranean Sea extending some 6,440 km (4,000 mi) and linking China with the Roman Empire. Marco Polo followed the route on his journey to Cathay.

Chang'an

Capital of Tang dynasty; population of 2 million, larger than any other city in the world at that time.

Kashgar and Samarkand

Major trade cities along the silk road which began as caravanserai.

Uyghurs

Muslims of Turkish descent living in Xinjiang, very close to borders with Pakistan, militants want to create separate ISlamic state, have used violence, riots broke out sparked by dissatisfaction with Chinese government's handling of deaths by workers

Neo-Confucianism

term that describes the resurgence of Confucianism and the influence of Confucian scholars during the T'ang Dynasty; a unification of Daoist or Buddhist metaphysics with Confucian pragmatism

Chinese Tributary System

form of conducting diplomatic and political relations with China before the fall of the Qing Dynasty.

Sinification/Sinicization

extensive adaptation of Chinese culture in other regions

Goryeo

The dynasty that started the middle ages of Korea and closed the ancient times

Shinto

A Japanese religion whose followers believe that all things in the natural world are filled with divine spirits

Champa Rice

tributary gift from Vietnam to China, led to population increase

Bananas (into Africa)

plantains brought to the east coast of Africa across the Indian Ocean by 1000 BC

Citrus in the Mediterranean

Citrus fruits originated in Southeast Asia. They arrived in the Mediterranean Region around the 4th or 5th century BCE.

Little Ice Age

A century-long period of cool climate that began in the 1590s. Its ill effects on agriculture in northern Europe were notable.

Genghis (Chinggis) Khan

Founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. He came to power by uniting the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia and his empire became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. The empire also stabilized the Silk Road and facilitated trade along it

Steppe

A large area of flat unforested grassland in southeastern Europe or Siberia.

Mongol Empire

an empire founded in the 12th century by Genghis Khan, which reached its greatest territorial extent in the 13th century, encompassing the larger part of Asia and extending westward to the Dnieper River in eastern Europe.

Golden Horde

Mongol khanate founded by Genghis Khan's. It was based in southern Russia and quickly adopted both the Turkic language and Islam. Also known as the Kipchak Horde.

Psychological Warfare

The use of psychological tactics to destroy the enemy's morale.

Composite Bow

a versatile weapon that provided the Mongol cavalry with superior range, accuracy, and mobility, contributing to their military dominance and conquests

Khanate

one of several separate territories into which Genghis Khan's empire was split, each under the rule of one of his sons

Tatars

Mongols; captured Russian cities and largely destroyed Kievan state in 1236; left Russian Orthodoxy and aristocracy intact

Pax Mongolica

The period of approximately 150 years of relative peace and stability created by the Mongol Empire.

Yam (Postal System)

a sort of medieval pony express with stations positioned at intervals of 20-30 miles.

Adoption of Uyghur script

Arabic alphabet that makes it way to China

Mongol Religious Tolerance

Although Genghis Khan was shanmanistic he accepted all kinds of religious in his empire

Mongol Women

had high degree of influence, rough social equality with men, sometimes rode and fought alongside their men, mental fidelity rules enforced equality for male and female

Kublai Khan

(1215-1294) Grandson of Genghis Khan and founder of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty in China.

Yuan Dynasty

(1279-1368 CE) The dynasty with Mongol rule in China; centralized with bureaucracy but structure is different: Mongols on top->Persian bureaucrats->Chinese bureaucrats.

Mongolize

Chinese were not allowed to do this under the Mongols, and instead kept their own identity

Timur (Tamerlane)

Turkish descendent of Genghis Khan who rose to power in the Khanate of Jagadai and conquered a large area of central Asia between Northern India and Moscow

Siege of Baghdad

The Siege of Baghdad, which lasted from January 29 until February 10, 1258, entailed the investment, capture, and sack of Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, by Ilkhanate Mongol forces and allied troops.

Mamluk Sultanate

A political unit in Egypt. Did not set up a consistent, hereditary line of succession. Failed to adapt to new warfare and were eventually defeated by the Ottomans.

Mongol Invasion of Japan

Typhoon destroyed Mongol fleet, Japan thought they had been saved by God.

The Mongols converted to Islam

One long-term result of the Mongol conquest of Muslim lands