Chapter 10 - Inner and East Asia, 600-1200 Flashcards
Grand Canal
The 1,100-mile waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers. It was begun in the Han period and completed during the Sui Empire.
Li Shimin
One of the founders of the Tang Empire and its second emperor (r.626-649). He led the expansion of the empire into Central Asia.
Tang Empire
Empire unifying China and part of Central Asia, founded 618 and ended 907. The Tang emperors presided over a magnificent court at their capital, Chang’an.
Tributary System
A system in which, from the time of the Han Empire, countries in East and Southeast Asia not under the direct control of empires based in China nevertheless enrolled as tributary states, acknowledging the superiority of the emperors in China in exchange for trading rights or strategic alliances.
Song Empire
Empire in central and southern China (960-1126) while the Liao people controlled the north. Empire in southern China (1127-1279; the “Southern Song”) while the Jin people controlled the north. Distinguished for its advances in technology, medicine, astronomy, and mathematics.
Junk
A very large flatbottom sailing ship produced in the Tang, Song, and Ming Empires, specially designed for long-distance commercial travel.
Gunpowder
A mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, in various proportions. The formula, brought to China in the 400s or 500s, was first used to make fumigators to keep away insect pests and evil spirits. In later centuries it was used to make explosives and grenades and to propel cannonballs, shots, and bullets.
neo-Confucianism
Term used to describe new approaches to understanding classic Confucian texts that became the basic ruling philosophy of China from the Song period to the twentieth century.
Zen
The Japanese word for a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on highly disciplined meditation. It is known in Sanskrit as dhyana, in Chinese as chan, and in Korean as son. (선)
(Printing) movable type
Type in which each individual character is cast on a separate piece of metal. It replaced woodblock printing, allowing for the arrangement of individual letters and other characters on a page, rather than requiring the carving of entire pares at a time. It may have been invented in Korea in the thirteenth century.
Shamanism
The practice of identifying special individuals (shamans) who will interact with spirits for the benefit of the community. Characteristic of the Korean kingdoms of the early medieval period and of early societies of Central Asia.
Koryo
Korean kingdom founded in 918 and destroyed by a Mongol invasion in 1259.
Fujiwara
Aristocratic family that dominated the Japanese imperial court between the ninth and twelfth centuries.
Kamakura Shogunate
The first of Japan’s decentralized military governments (1185-1333).
Champa rice
Quick-maturing rice that can allow two harvests in one growing season. Originally introduced into Champa from India, it was later sent to China as a tribute gift by the Champa state.
