China / Japan Vocab un3

Macau (1580) 

A port in southern China where self-ringing bells arrived in 1580, amazing local authorities. Portuguese merchants were permitted to operate exclusively here, and Matteo Ricci arrived here in 1582. 

Self-Ringing Bells 

Mechanical clocks brought to Macau by Portuguese merchants in the early 1580s. Wealthy Chinese merchants favored them, and they enchanted the Wanli Emperor, serving as a symbol of increased trade. 

Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368) 

A period of Mongol rule over China in the 13th and 14th centuries. When it ended, Ming emperors attempted to erase Mongol influence and revive traditional Tang/Song customs like civil service exams and Confucian thought. 

Ming Dynasty / "Brilliant" Dynasty (1368–1644) 

Restored native Chinese rule after the Yuan dynasty's collapse and built a tightly centralized state. 

Hongwu (1368–1398) 

Founder of the Ming dynasty who drove the Mongols out of China. Made extensive use of Mandarins and placed great trust in eunuchs because they could not have children to build rival power. 

Mandarins

Imperial officials who traveled throughout the land and oversaw the implementation of government policies. 

Yongle (1403–1424) 

Launched naval expeditions throughout the Indian Ocean to project Chinese power. In 1421, he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing to watch northern nomads, and sponsored the Yongle Encyclopedia. 

Eunuchs

Men who could not make families; favored by emperors because they could not seize imperial power. Later powerful eunuchs procured concubines and used their power to enrich themselves and live luxuriously. 

The Great Wall of China

A massive Ming dynasty project built along the northern border to protect the realm (with precedents back to the 4th century B.C.E.). It ran 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles), was 10–25 meters high, and featured watchtowers and troop accommodations. 

Forbidden City 

A vast imperial enclave in Beijing that served as home for the "Son of Heaven" (Ming and Qing emperors). It symbolized extreme authority, with emperors living in seclusion surrounded by concubines and eunuchs. 

Wanli (1572–1620)

An emperor who refused to meet with government officials, instead living by his desires, drinking wine, and ruling through eunuch intermediaries. He was shamed by European missionary Matteo Ricci. 

Ming Decline

Weakened in the mid-16th century by military, political, and economic problems, pirate/smuggler raids, ineffective navy, corrupt/luxurious emperors and eunuchs, and severe 17th-century famines leading to peasant revolts. 

Ming Collapse (1644) 

Caused by government corruption, pirates, sneaky eunuchs, and famine (where starving peasants ate grass roots and tree bark) leading to organized revolts. Rebel forces captured Beijing in 1644. 

Qing Dynasty / "Pure" Dynasty (1644–1911) 

Established by Manchus (pastoral nomads from Manchuria, north of the Great Wall) after the fall of the Ming dynasty. 

Nurhaci (r. 1616–1626)

Unified the Manchu tribes into a centralized state, created a code of laws, and organized a powerful military force.

Manchu / Chinese Relations 

Confucian scholar-bureaucrats and Chinese generals supported the Manchus because they despised Ming corruption and eunuchs. Manchu ruling elites were educated in Confucian thought and showed high respect to scholars. 

Queue

The style Qing authority forced Chinese men to shave their heads and grow a Manchu- style queue as a sign of submission to the dynasty

Kangxi (1661–1722)

A Confucian scholar, enlightened ruler, and conqueror. He conquered Taiwan, expanded into Mongolia and Central Asia, imposed a protectorate over Tibet, and ordered an evacuation of southern coastal regions to halt Christianity. 

Qianlong (1736–1795) 

Kangxi's grandson who helped Manchus consolidate power. Expanded Chinese influence, made Vietnam, Burma, and Nepal vassal states, and brought the Qing dynasty to its highpoint, though he delegated heavily to favorite eunuchs later in life. 

Son of Heaven 

Traditional title for Ming and Qing emperors, believed to be designated by heavenly powers to maintain order on Earth. Lived in the Forbidden City, performed official duties, and required visitors to perform the kowtow.

Scholar-Bureaucrats 

Highly educated, literate men who ran the day-to-day governance of the Ming and Qing empires. They came from the scholar-gentry class and earned degrees by passing civil-service exams based on Confucian classics. 

Civil Service Examinations 

A high-stakes, competitive series of tests (district, provincial, and metropolitan). Candidates spent 3 days and 2 nights locked in tiny cells writing 8-legged essays on Confucian classics, with only about 300 passing metropolitan exams per round.

Filial Piety 

A Confucian virtue emphasizing a child's absolute duty, respect, and obedience to parents, elders, and ancestors. Extended to the social-political order where subjects owed loyalty to the emperor. 

Gender Relations in Ming/Qing China 

Confucian principles subjected women to strict patriarchal control. Families heavily favored boys because they could take civil service exams and bring honor to the family, making daughters victims of infanticide and foot-binding.

Footbinding

Originated in the Song dynasty but became popular during the Ming/Qing eras. Tightly constrained women's feet with linen to make them smaller, demonstrating an ability to support a woman who couldn't perform physical labor in hopes of securing a favorable marriage. 

Population Growth & Foreign Trade (Ming/Qing) 

Population grew from 100 million (1500) to 225 million (1750) due to American food crops (maize, sweet potatoes, peanuts) introduced via the Philippines. Global trade brought massive wealth and silver bullion (from Japan and the Americas) in exchange for silk, porcelain, lacquerware, and tea. 

Zheng He (1405–1433) 

Eunuch admiral sponsored by Emperor Yongle who led 7 maritime expeditions. His fleets included 317 vessels and 28,000 men, visiting ports from Java to east Africa (Malindi) to showcase Chinese power, suppress pirates, and join the tributary system.

Chinese Social Hierarchy 

1. Emperor & family,

2. Scholar-bureaucrats & gentry,

3. Farmers/peasants (valued by Confucianism for honest labor),

4. Artisans & workers,

5. Merchants (ranked at the bottom as "social parasites" by strict Confucians, though they often bribed officials or educated sons). 

The "Mean People" 

Military forces (viewed as a necessary evil under civilian control) and marginal groups including slaves, indentured servants, entertainers, prostitutes, beggars of Jiangsu, and boat people of Guangdong. 

Zhu Xi 

Prominent 12th-century Song-dynasty scholar and chief architect of Neo-Confucianism, combining moral values of Confucius with logical/speculative power of Buddhist philosophy. 

Neo-Confucianism 

A revived/updated version of Confucian thought combining traditional morality/ethics with the logical rigor of Buddhist philosophy, with Zhu Xi as its key architect. 

Confucian Education 

Formal education designed to prepare young boys for civil service exams. Students memorized the Classic of Confucius and standard classics, studied calligraphy/poetry, and were supported by state-funded institutions like the Hanlin Academy. 

Chinese Literature & Printing Technology 

Printing technology allowed cheap, mass book production, raising literacy. Urban commoners eagerly consumed fast-paced vernacular novels like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Dream of the Red Chamber, and Journey to the West. 

Matteo Ricci (1552–1582) 

Italian Jesuit missionary who went to China with the goal of converting the Ming emperor (Wanli). He mastered the Chinese language and classics, used European science/clocks/astronomy to capture imperial interest, and argued Christian and Confucian doctrines were similar.

Jesuits / Roman Catholic Missionaries 

Sought to spread Christianity to China by the late 16th century. Charmed the Chinese with European science, self-ringing bells, and mastery of language/texts to communicate with scholar-bureaucrats and gentry, arguing Christianity and Confucianism were compatible. 

Shogun

Military governor who ruled as a temporary "stand-in" for the powerless Japanese emperor, holding real political and military dominance. 

Sengoku

Translates to "the country at war"; an extended period of civil war and political disorder in Japan lasting from the 12th to 16th century, driven by shoguns and regional lords. 

Tokugawa Ieyasu (r. 1600–1616) 

The final military leader who unified Japan, established a military government known as the Tokugawa Bakufu, and whose descendants ruled as shoguns until the dynasty fell in 1867. 

Bakufu

Meaning "tent government"—the military government established by Tokugawa Ieyasu, theoretically a temporary replacement for the emperor's rule (governed Japan as the Tokugawa shogunate from 1600 to 1867).

Daimyo

Meaning "great names"—powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan as near-absolute rulers from vast hereditary landholdings, maintaining their own schools, legal systems, and military forces. 

Edo (Modern Tokyo) 

The castle town and administrative capital from which the Tokugawa Shogun governed his personal domain and mastered the country. Grew into a booming urban center approaching 1 million people by 1700, serving as a hub for chonin merchants and floating worlds (ukiyo). 

Control of the Daimyo 

Strict policies and "alternate attendance" instituted by shoguns to prevent civil war. Daimyo were required to maintain families in Edo and spend every other year at court, keeping them under watch and forcing them to spend money on lavish living rather than military forces. Strict regulations also required bakufu approval for marriages, castle construction, and travel.

Control of Foreign Trade (1630s) 

Edicts passed out of fear that Europeans would destabilize the realm or ally with daimyo. Japanese were forbidden to travel abroad under pain of death, large ship construction was banned, Europeans were expelled, and foreign books were banned. Carefully restricted trade was only allowed at Nagasaki with small numbers of Chinese and Dutch merchants. 

Control of Population

Rapid population growth in the 17th century (rising from 22 to 29 million) strained resources and caused financial crises. Families turned to population control methods like late marriage, contraception, abortion, and infanticide ("thinning out the rice shoots") to maintain their standard of living. 

Neo-Confucianism in Japan 

Tokugawa shoguns (focusing on Zhu Xi's emphasis on filial piety and loyalty to superiors) to provide a respectable ideological foundation for the Bakufu. By the early 18th century, it became the official state ideology.

Native Learning

An 18th-century Japanese intellectual movement where scholars rejected foreign beliefs like Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism. It emphasized indigenous Shinto religion, folk traditions, and Japanese classics, often adopting a xenophobic view that glorified Japan's pre-foreign purity.

Floating Worlds (Ukiyo) 

Urban entertainment and pleasure quarters in cities like Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka featuring theaters and brothels. Provided an escape from the rigid rules of Tokugawa public life, fostering a vibrant, secular middle-class popular culture. 

Kabuki

: A highly popular form of Japanese urban drama featuring lively, bawdy skits that combined stylized acting, lyric singing, dancing, and spectacular staging. Relied heavily on actors improvising and embellishing dialogue.

Bunraku

Traditional Japanese puppet theater where musical chanters told stories accompanied by intricate puppets, each manipulated by a team of three operators capable of executing subtle, lifelike movements. 

Francis Xavier 

A Jesuit missionary who traveled to Japan in 1549 to open a Christian mission. Experienced early success by appealing to daimyo seeking European trade and military alliances, helping Christian numbers grow to about 300,000 by 1615. 

Anti-Christian Movement (1587–1639)

A fierce government backlash led by shoguns who feared Christianity would foster destabilizing alliances between daimyo and European powers. Orders required renunciation of the faith, resulting in the torture and execution of missionaries and converts; successfully drove Christianity underground as a secret faith. 

Dutch Learning 

Scholarly studies by Japanese intellectuals who learned Dutch to communicate with the sole remaining European trading presence at Nagasaki after 1639. After the foreign book ban was lifted in 1720, it brought advanced European knowledge of anatomy, medicine, botany, linear perspective drawing, and astronomy to Japan. 

Dynasty formed at the end of Japan's civil war

Tokugawa Dynasty

Sent Zheng He on his voyages paid for a new encyclopedia

Emperor Yongle

Included folk traditions and Shinto

Native learning

Confucian scholar and poet; longest reigning Chinese emperor

Kangxi

Mongol Dynasty in China

Yuan Dynasty

Palace that eventually led to hedonistic behavior

Forbidden City

Japanese entertainment districts

Ukiyo (Floating Worlds)

Ruled in place of the emperor

Shogun

Social class that was wealthy and educated

Scholar-bureaucrats / Gentry

Traveling officials used by the Hongwu emperor

Mandarins

Most obvious sign of patriarchy

Foot binding

Replaced Mongols in China

Ming dynasty

Old school name for Tokyo

Edo

Kept Japan from falling too far behind Europe

Dutch Learning

Chief who united the Manchus

Nurhaci

Jesuit missionary to Japan

Francis Xavier

Jesuit missionary to China

Matteo Ricci

Long-reigning emperor who cancelled tax collection

Qianlong

Portuguese trade port in Southern China

Macau

Japanese theatre where men played the women's parts

Kabuki

Japanese puppet theatre

Bunraku

Policy that controlled the daimyo

Alternate attendance

He was Muslim, eunuch admiral that launched 7 raiding expeditions into Japan

Zheng He

Dynasty of Manchu conquerors

Qing Dynasty

100-year-long period of war

Sengoku

Expensive building project that meant China stopped building ships

Great Wall of China

Given to Wanli Emperor in attempt to convert him to Christianity

Self-ringing bells (mechanical clocks)

Powerful Japanese warlords with their own armies

Daimyo