World History I – Unit 8 Study Guide: Classical China, India, the Silk Road, and East Asian Empires

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering classical civilizations, philosophies, empires, trade networks, and feudal institutions from Classical China, India, the Silk Road, Feudal Japan, and the Mongol Empire.

Mandate of Heaven

The Chinese political concept used to legitimize royal authority, asserting that rulers hold power with divine approval as part of the dynastic cycle.

Dynastic Cycle

The historical pattern in China where dynasties rise, rule, fall into decline or disorder, and are replaced under the Mandate of Heaven.

Confucianism

A Chinese philosophy developed to restore social harmony through proper relationships, moral conduct, and filial piety.

Filial Piety

A foundational virtue in Confucianism emphasizing respect, devotion, and obedience toward parents and family ancestors.

Daoism

A Chinese philosophy emphasizing living in harmony with nature, alignment with the Dao (the Way), and the principle of wu-wei.

Wu-wei

A core Daoist concept referring to effortless action, non-action, or moving in natural harmony with the Dao.

Legalism

A Chinese philosophy proposing that social order can only be maintained through strict laws, harsh punishments, and absolute government authority.

Qin Shi Huang

The first emperor of the Qin Dynasty who unified China using centralized control and Legalist principles.

Civil Service Examination System

A merit-based system adopted in imperial China to select government officials based on knowledge and testing, heavily emphasizing Confucian teachings.

Tang and Song Golden Age

An era of Chinese history marked by political strength, economic prosperity, agricultural growth, and key innovations like printing, paper money, the compass, and gunpowder.

Chandragupta Maurya

The ruler who established and governed the Maurya Empire in classical India.

Kalinga War

A bloody conflict fought by Emperor Ashoka that caused massive devastation and prompted his conversion to Buddhism and nonviolence.

Rock and Pillar Edicts

Monuments erected across the Maurya Empire by Ashoka to publicly display his laws, Buddhist moral policies, and administrative intentions.

Gupta Empire

A classical Indian empire remembered as a Golden Age due to significant advances in mathematics, science, medicine, and literature under decentralized rule.

Siddhartha Gautama

The founder of Buddhism whose spiritual quest and enlightenment laid the foundation for Buddhist principles and practices.

Four Noble Truths

The foundational teachings of Buddhism that identify the reality of suffering, its cause in desire, its cessation, and the path to end it.

Eightfold Path

The Buddhist guide of ethical conduct, mental discipline, and wisdom prescribed to end suffering and achieve enlightenment.

Nirvana

The ultimate spiritual goal in Buddhism representing liberation from suffering, desire, and the cycle of rebirth.

Theravada Buddhism

A major branch of Buddhism that emphasizes traditional monastic discipline and personal pursuit of enlightenment.

Mahayana Buddhism

A major branch of Buddhism offering broader accessibility to salvation and emphasizing the compassionate role of bodhisattvas in helping others achieve enlightenment.

Silk Road

A vast network of overland trade routes that connected East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean world, facilitating trade and cultural exchange.

Caravanserai

Roadside inns and resting stations built along trade routes like the Silk Road where merchants and their animals could safely shelter and trade.

Cultural Diffusion

The spread and exchange of ideas, technologies, religions, and goods between distinct societies, exemplified by the spread of Buddhism across trade routes.

Shinto

The native indigenous belief system of Japan focused on nature veneration, ritual purity, and reverence for spirits known as kami.

Shogun

The supreme military commander in feudal Japan who held actual political and governing control over the country.

Daimyo

Powerful regional landholding lords in feudal Japan who answered to the shogun and commanded private armies of samurai.

Samurai

The aristocratic military warrior class of feudal Japan bound by duty to serve the daimyo.

Bushido

The strict moral code of conduct observed by Japanese samurai, emphasizing loyalty, honor, and martial discipline.

Genghis Khan

The Mongol leader who united nomadic clans and initiated the military conquests that founded the Mongol Empire.

Kublai Khan

The Mongol ruler and grandson of Genghis Khan who completed the conquest of China and founded the Yuan Dynasty.

Pax Mongolica

The era of relative peace, political stability, and secure trade across Eurasia created by the consolidation of the Mongol Empire.