Mongols - (Historically) Central Asian nomads native to the Mongolian Plateau

Genghis Khan - Great leader of the Mongol Empire who ruled from 1206 to 1227

Kublai Khan - Grandson of Genghis Khan, founder of the Yuan Dynasty

Mandarin - Became the official language of China during the Ming Dynasty

Single Whip Tax System - A fiscal law first instituted during the Ming Dynasty, to increase the tax base and reduce the cost of tax collection

Merit-Based Exam System - A strict civil service exam system in Imperial China

Confucianism - The system of political and ethical ideas formulated by the Chinese philosopher Confucius toward the end of the Zhou Dynasty; it was intended to help restore order to a society that was in a state of confusion

Neo-Confucianism - A rationalistic revival of Confucian philosophy that exercised a pronounced influence on Chinese thought for over 800 years

Agrarian - Related to cultivated land or the cultivation of land

Zhu Xi - A philosopher whose work inspired a resurgence of Neo-Confucianism during the Ming Dynasty

Zheng He - Ming Dynasty explorer and diplomat who led great fleets of ships to distant parts of Asia and

Africa

Dynastic Cycle - The cycle in which Chinese dynasties rose and fell

Forbidden City - A walled section of Peking (now Beijing), built in the 15th century, containing the Imperial Palace and other buildings of the imperial government of China

Tribute System - A network of loose international relations focused on China which facilitated trade and

foreign relations by acknowledging China's predominant role in East Asia

Ming Dynasty - A major dynasty that ruled China from the mid-fourteenth to the mid-seventeenth century

Qing Dynasty - The last imperial dynasty of China (from 1644 to 1912) which was overthrown by revolutionaries; during the Qing dynasty China was ruled by the Manchu

Eunuch - A castrated man. In China they typically served as civil servants or in the Imperial Court

Mandate of Heaven - The belief that the Chinese emperor had a divine right to rule given him by the god or divine force known as Heaven