APWH CH 14 - Sinification: Japan, Korea, and Vietnam

Taika reforms

attempt to remake Japanese monarch into an absolutist Chinese-style emperor; included attempts to create professional bureaucracy and peasant conscript army.

Tale of Genji

written by Lady Murasaki; first novel in any language; evidence for mannered style of Japanese society.

Fujiwara

mid-9th-century Japanese aristocratic family; exercised exceptional influence over imperial affairs; aided in decline of imperial power.

bushi

regional warrior leaders in Japan; ruled small kingdoms from fortresses; administered the law, supervised public works projects, and collected revenues; built up private armies.

samurai

mounted troops of the bushi; loyal to local lords, not the emperor.

seppuku

ritual suicide in Japan; also known as hari-kiri; demonstrated courage and was a means to restore family honor.

Taira

powerful Japanese family in 11th and 12th centuries; competed with Minamoto family; defeated after Gempei Wars.

Minamoto

defeated the rival Taira family in Gempei Wars and established military government (bakufu) in 12th-century Japan.

Gempei wars

waged for five years from 1180 on Honshu between the Taira and Minamoto families; ended in destruction of Taira.

bakufu

military government established by the Minamoto following Gumpei wars; centered at Kamakura; retained emperor, but real power resided in military government and samurai.

shoguns

military leaders of the bakufu.

Hojo

a warrior family closely allied with the Minamoto; dominated Kamakura regime and manipulated Minamoto rulers; ruled in name of emperor.

Ashikaga Takuaji

member of Minamoto family; overthrew Kamakura regime and established Ashikaga shogunate (1336–1573); drove emperor from Kyoto to Yoshino.

daimyos

warlord rulers of small states following Onin war and disruption of Ashikaga shogunate; holdings consolidated into unified and bounded mini-states.

Choson

earliest Korean kingdom; conquered by Han in 109 B.C.E.

Koguryo

tribal people of northern Korea; established an independent kingdom in the northern half of the peninsula; adopted cultural Sinification.

Silla

Korean kingdom in southeast; became a vassal of the Tang and paid tribute; ruled Korea from 668.

Paekche

independent Korean kingdom in southwestern part of peninsula; defeated by rival Silla kingdom and its Chinese Tang allies in 7th century.

Sinification

extensive adaptation of Chinese culture in other regions.

Yi

dynasty (1392–1910); succeeded Koryo dynasty after Mongol invasions; restored aristocratic dominance and Chinese influence.

Khmers

Indianized Vietnamese peoples defeated by northern government at Hanoi.

Trung sisters

leaders of a rebellion in Vietnam against Chinese rule in 39 C.E.; demonstrates importance of women in Vietnamese society.

Chams

Indianized rivals of the Vietnamese; driven into the highlands by the successful Vietnamese drive to the south.