Chapter 11 Vocabulary (Long Definitions)

Question 1

Grand Canal

Answer 1

The 1100 mile (1771 km) waterway linking the Yellow and Yangzi Rivers. It was begun in the Hand period and completed during the Sui Empire.

Question 2

Li Shimin

Answer 2

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.

Question 3

Tang Empire

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Tributary System

Answer 4

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.

Question 5

Song Empire

Answer 5

Empire in central and southern China (960 - 1126) while the Liao people controlled the north. Empire in southern China (1127 - 1179, Southern Song) while the Jin people controlled the north. Distinguished for its advances in technology, medicine, astronomy, and mathematics.

Question 6

Junk

I’m serious

Answer 6

A very large flat-bottomed sailing ship produced in the Tang, Song, and Ming Empires, specially designed for long-distance commercial travel.

Question 7

Gunpowder

Answer 7

A mixture of salt-peter, 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, shot, and bullets.

Question 8

Neo-Confucianism

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Zen

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

Movable Type

Answer 10

Type in which each individual character is cast on a separate piece of metal. It eventually replaced woodblock printing, allowing for the arrangement of individual letters and other characters on a page, rather than requiring the carving of entire pages at a time. Although China had an early form of moveable type in the eleventh century, Koreans invented durable, metal moveable type in the thirteenth century that may have influenced later print technology in China.

Question 11

Shamanism

Answer 11

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.

Question 12

Koryo

Answer 12

Korean kingdom founded in 918 and destroyed by a Mongol invasion in 1259.

Question 13

Fujiwara

Answer 13

Aristocratic family that dominated the Japanese imperial court between the ninth and twelfth centuries.

Question 14

Kamakura Shogunate

Answer 14

The first of Japan’s decentralized military governments (1185 - 1333).

Question 15

Champa rice

Answer 15

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.