Chinese History Flashcards
Learn concepts of dudes and important happenings. For structure in History, and easier chronological comparision.
An Lushan Rebellion
755-757. Rebellion that Shifts Tangs central power…
All under Heaven
The whole world…Heavenly investiture of emperor over China
Han Ren/
Chinese person. I. e. Not a barbarian from the northern tribes.
Antiquity
Concept: The flourishing of sagely rule in harmony with universe in the distant past. How it contrasts to contemporary history and the narrative leading up to it.
Guizu/ Aristocratic
Social class w/ privelieges social and political and cash. All hereditary.
Barter Economy
They dont have money for trading!
Battle of talas River
753 C.e. Abbasid Caliphate vs Tang over Syr Darya region.
Loss and start of slow regression.
Bodhisattva
A being who postpones her ultimate enlightenment for saving all sentient beings.
Bronze age
Dating 2000-1400 bce, Writing, urbanization, stable hierarchy administering a large area.
Cash Tax
The obligation not in grain, 20 m textile and 30 working days for instance.
ChangÁn
Capital of Tang, now Xian
Confucian Classic 1
Cl. of Poetry aka book of songs and odes
Confucian Classics 2
Book of documents
Confucian classics 3.
Book of Rites, .
Confucian Classic 4.
I Ching Aka the book of change
Confucian Classic 5
SPring and Autumn Annals.
Confucius
551-479 bce. Chinas first Moral Philosopher!
Cosmic Resonance theory. CRT.
. 3rd c. bce+ “stimulus response” “mutual influence between like things”
parrallell Realm of heaven and man interaction.
Daoán
Budhist Monk, disc of Fotudeng, Created Chinese Sangha!
Fotudeng
(c. 231-349); a Buddhist wizard and teacher in northern China, from Kucha
Gongsun Long 公孫龍 （Gōngsūn Lóng）
fl. ca. 300 BCE A member of the School of Names (名家 Míngjiā). He is known for his paradox “A white horse is not a horse.” (白馬非馬 bái mǎ fēi mǎ)
Antiquity
literally ancient times; also refers to concept in a view of history that defines some flourishing of sagely rule in harmony with the universe in the distant past, and contrasts the recent history leading up to the historical present accordingly
Beijing
lit. “Northern Capital”; known by many names throughout history, including Fanyang (範陽, Fanyang) during the Han Dynasty (漢朝, 206 BCE-220 CE), Tang Dynasty (唐朝, Tang chao, 618-907 CE); Yan (燕, Yan) or Yanjing (燕京, Yanjing) during the Warring States Period (戰國時代, Zhanguo shidai, 475-221 BCE), mid Tang Dynasty (唐朝, Tang chao, 618-907 CE), and Liao Dynasty (遼潮, 907-1125 CE); Zhongdu (中都, Zhongdu) during the Jin Dynasty (金潮, Jin chao, 1115-1234 CE); Dadu (大都, Dadu) during the Yuan Dynasty (元朝, Yuan chao, 1271-1368 CE); and Beiping (北平, Beiping) in the early Ming Dynasty (明朝, Ming chao, 1368-1644 CE) and Republican Period (民國, Minguo, 1912-1949). Located at the northern tip of the North China Plain (華北平原, Huabei pingyuan) and to the northwest of the Bohai Sea (渤海, Bohai)
Book of songs
also known as the Book of Odes or the Classic of Poetry, it is considered one of the Five Classics (五經, Wǔjīng) traditionally believed to be composed by Confucius. Scholars have studied and memorized it for two thousand years
Celestial Masters
a Daoist religious group that received sacred teachings through revelations and promoted a way to achieve immortality
Chakravartan King
ancient Indian concept of an ideal ruler, whose ethical and benevolent rule extends across the universe. In Buddhism and Jainism especially, refers to an enlightened and powerful ruler
Daoist Religion
The organized religion of Daoism centered around revelations from the immortals
Daoist philosophy 道家 (Dàojiā)
The philosophy of early Daoist thinkers such as Laozi and Zhuangzi
Daoist Canon
refers to the hundreds of texts brought together by Daoist monks after the introduction of Buddhism to China as part of the larger attempt to oragnize and institutionalize Daoism as a religion
Dao
The Way, The Path
Elixir
a drink that can be skillfully taken in order to achieve immortality. i.e. Die and be immortal in another place.
Empress Lü 呂后 (Lühou)
241-180 BCE. Empress consort of Liu Bang (Emperor Gāozǔ, 漢高祖, r. 202-195 BCE), became Empress Dowager (皇太后, Huáng tàihòu) with the ascension of her son Emperor Hui (漢惠帝, Hàn Huìdì, r.195-188 BCE) to the throne, then Grand Empress Dowager (太皇太后, Tài huáng tàihòu) with ascension of his successors Liu Gong (Emperor Qiánshǎo, 漢前少帝, r.188-184 BCE) and Liu Hong (Emperor Hòushǎo, 漢後少帝, r.184-180 BCE). As Empress Dowager and Grand Empress Dowager she gained control of the empire and promoted her family’s interests. Because men of imperial lineage were regularly sent out of the capital and kept out of court politics, male relatives of empresses and dowager emperesses often became influential in court
Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧太后 (Cíxǐ tàihòu)
1835 – 1908. A Manchu concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor; when her son became emperor she gained power and unofficially controlled China from 1861 to her death
Emptiness
the nature of conditioned reality which lacks a nature of its own; the lack of conditions and desires
Feudal System 封建 (fēngjiàn)
here, refers to the system of political and territorial organization term in use during the Zhou Dynasty (周, Zhōu, 1046 BCE-256 BCE). Marked by decentralized rule accomplished via enfoeffment of large hereditary estates to allies and relatives of founding kings of Zhou, creating a polity composed of multiple independent feudal states
Yellow River
second longest river in China. Originates in the Bayan Har Mountatins (巴顏喀拉山, Bayankala shan) in Qinghai Province (青海省, Qinghai sheng) and empties into the Bohai Sea (渤海, Bohai)
Yin
literally meaning shade; is associated with darkness, night time, females, feminine qualities, weakness, receptiveness, yielding, and negative energy etc.
Yang
literally meaning light; is associated with brightness, day time, males, masculine qualities, strength, creativeness, positive energy etc.
Wu Zeitan
c. 625-705 CE; r. 690-705 CE. Also known as Wu Zhao (武曌, Wǔ Zhào), Wu Hou (武后, Wǔ Hòu), or Empress Wu. Concubine of Emperor Taizong (太宗, Tàizōng, r. 626-649 CE) and First Consort (夫人, fūrén) of Emperor Gaozong (高宗, Gāozōng, r. 626-649 CE). Usurped the throne after Emperor Gaozong’s debilitation in 660 and and proclaimed the ‘Zhou Dynasty’ (周, Zhōu, 690-705 CE), ruling as sovereign – the first female to do so in Chinese history – until her removal and death in 705 CE
Theravada Buddhism
A form of Buddhism common to south and southeast Asia in which individual salvation through nirvana is emphasized; this is usually seen as a precursor to Mahayana Buddhism, and sometimes disparagingly called the “Lesser Vehicle”
“Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion”
also known as the “Preface to the Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion (蘭亭集序, Lántíngjí xù).” Composed in 353 CE by Wang Xizhi (王羲之 Wáng Xīzhī) to commemorate a poetry and drinking gathering of literary figures; a masterpiece of calligraphic and literary improvisation in which Wang pioneered running script (行書, xíngshū), as well as one of the most collected and copied pieces in Chinese art history
