Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (1200-1450 CE)

A comprehensive set of questions and answers covering major concepts from Unit 1: The Global Tapestry (1200-1450 CE).

What time period does The Global Tapestry cover?

1200-1450 CE

Name the five ways states build and maintain control mentioned in the notes.

Religion; Infrastructure; Technology; Politics; Economy

What happened to the Zhou dynasty that led to the Warring States period?

Zhou dynasty split China into provinces causing infighting, leading to the Warring States period.

Which dynasty did the Mongols establish in China?

Yuan dynasty

When did the Song Dynasty rule and what were its key ideas?

960-1279 CE; Confucianism, Imperial Bureaucracy, Buddhism, Labor

In the Song Dynasty, which two ideologies were used to justify rule?

Confucianism and Imperial Bureaucracy (also Buddhism and Labor).

List the five important relationships in Confucianism.

Ruler-Subject; Father-Son; Husband-Wife; Older Brother- Younger Brother; Friend-Friend

What Confucian concept promotes loyalty to authority?

Filial Piety

What is the Imperial Bureaucracy?

A government body carrying out the emperor's will; entry via civil service exams; increases governance competency.

What exam is required to join the Imperial Bureaucracy?

Civil service exam

How did Confucianism influence education in Song China?

Education based on Confucianism; Civil Service examinations became central to hiring.

What was a consequence of expanding Song bureaucracy?

Increased government workers leading to higher taxes and peasant rebellions.

Name three agricultural innovations of Song agriculture.

Fertilization with manure; complex irrigation (water wheels, pumps, terraces); heavy plows.

What rice variety contributed to population growth in Song China?

Champa rice (fast-ripening, water-resistant) from Vietnam.

Name four technologies important for trade and innovation in Song China.

Gunpowder; Printing; Paper; Iron & Steel.

Which routes facilitated increased trade in Song China?

Silk Roads and Grand Canal; commercialization of the economy.

What practice became a sign of status among Chinese women?

Footbinding.

How did Korea stay independent while adopting Chinese cultural elements?

Maintained a tributary relationship; elites adopted civil service exams, bureaucracy, Confucianism, and patriarchy.

What Chinese influences did Japan adopt during the Heian period?

Imperial bureaucracy; Buddhism; Chinese writing system.

How did Vietnam interact with China in this period?

Maintained a tributary relationship; elites adopted Confucianism, civil service exams, Buddhism, and Chinese literary techniques.

What type of Buddhism was popular in China?

Mahayana Buddhism with Bodhisattvas.

What is Neo-Confucianism?

A synthesis of Confucianism with Daoism and Buddhism.

What is Dar-al-Islam?

House of Islam.

How did Islam spread across Afro-Eurasia?

Military expansion, trade, and Muslim missionaries (Sufis).

Which Muslim scholar contributed to trigonometry and heliocentric theory?

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi.

What was the House of Wisdom?

A center of learning in Baghdad that preserved Greco-Roman texts and supported the Golden Age.

What were the two main branches of Islam after Muhammad's death?

Sunni and Shia.

Where was the Umayyad Caliphate's capital?

Damascus.

What halted Umayyad expansion into Europe?

Battle of Tours.

What happened to the Abbasid Caliphate by the 1200s?

Golden Age faded; fragmentation; rise of non-Arab Muslim empires (Mamluks, Seljuk Turks, Delhi Sultanate).

Which city became the Abbasids' center of learning?

Baghdad.

What are the key differences in Caliph selection between Sunni and Shia?

Sunni: Caliph chosen as a competent, pious Muslim; Shi'a: Caliph must be related to Muhammad.

What was the impact of non-Arab Muslim groups on the Abbasid Caliphate?

Gained political power; maintained Sharia; contributed to military and administrative shifts.

What does the term 'Golden Age' signify in the Islamic world?

Era of scientific, philosophical, and cultural flourishing (House of Wisdom) before fragmentation.