chapter 4 Flashcards
shogun
was a hereditary military dictator in Japan during the period from 1185 to 1868 (with exceptions). In this period, the shoguns were the de facto rulers of the country;
Daimyo
(in feudal Japan) one of the great lords who were vassals of the shogun.
seppuku
metathesized in English as harakiri (腹切り, “abdomen/belly cutting”), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai.
samurai
a member of a powerful military caste in feudal Japan, especially a member of the class of military retainers of the daimyos.
longboat
large boat that may be launched from a sailing ship.
another term for longship.
steppe
a large area of flat unforested grassland in southeastern Europe or Siberia.
Rus
Originally, the name Rus’ (Русь, Rus) referred to the people, regions, and medieval states (ninth to twelfth centuries) of the Kievan Rus’.
slavs
a member of a group of peoples in central and eastern Europe speaking Slavic languages.
principality of kiev
was a Ruthenian state in the regions of central Ukraine around the city of Kiev that existed after the fragmentation of the Kievan Rus’ in the early 12th century.
Leif Ericson
A Norwegian explorer of about the year 1000. He is said to have discovered a place in North America called Vinland
Vinland sagas
The Vinland Sagas are two Icelandic texts written separate of each other in the early thirteenth century; The Saga of the Greenlanders (Grænlendinga Saga) and The Saga of Eric the Red
Danelaw
The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. Danelaw contrasts West Saxon law and Mercian law.
silk road
an ancient caravan route that linked Xian in central China with the eastern Mediterranean. It was established during the period of Roman rule in Europe and took its name from the silk that was brought to the west from China.
epitaphs
phrase or statement written in memory of a person who has died, especially as an inscription on a tombstone.
foot-binding
Foot binding (also known as “lotus feet”) was the custom of applying painfully tight binding to the feet of young girls to prevent further growth. The practice possibly originated among upper-class court dancers during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Imperial China (10th or 11th century), then became popular during the Song dynasty and eventually spread to all social classe
civil service exam
the permanent professional branches of a government’s administration, excluding military and judicial branches and elected politicians.
paper money
money in the form of banknotes.
movable type
Movable type is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document usually on the medium of paper which was first invented in ancient China
Neo-confucianism
a movement in religious philosophy derived from Confucianism in China around ad 1000 in response to the ideas of Taoism and Buddhism.
Buddhism
a widespread Asian religion or philosophy, founded by Siddartha Gautama in northeastern India in the 5th century bc.
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty as Chán. It was strongly influenced by Taoism, and developed as a distinguished Chinese style of Buddhism
