Chpt. 2, Classical China Flashcards
Confucian Five Relationships
the five relationships that an individual must observe are that between the father and the son, the husband and the wife, the emperor and the subject, the elder brother and the younger brother, and the friend and the friend
filial piety
an individual’s observation of these five relationships by doing his best to fulfill his role in society
ancestor worship
it was a predominant theme among the upper class of Chinese society; peasants would usually worship local gods
dynasty
a ruling family; historical Chinese civilization is characterized by successions of ruling dynasties; this is true of many other civilizations as well
scholar-gentry
the upper class bureaucrats; they held considerable power in the empire, and oftentimes actually outlived the dynasty in which they were created
Legalism
a Chinese doctrine that established that the best way to restore societal order is through force and threat of force; it was embodies in the short-lived Qin Dynasty, established by Shi Huangdi in 221 BCE
Daoism; Dao
a religion that was a established in China on the basis of order and harmony; the Dao is the Daoist term used to refer to the harmony of the world, into which all individual must place themselves if they are to achieve fulfillment
Yin-Yang
They represent the Chinese Daoist concept of balance and harmony; “for every Yin, there is a Yang”; through this balance, Daoists believed that order could be achieved
Great Wall
Chinese defensive fortification intended to keep out the nomadic invaders from the north; initiated during the Qin Dynasty and the reign of Shi Huangdi
Confucius
also known as Kung Fuzi, a major Chinese philosopher born in the 6th century BCE; he was author of the Analects, which was philosophy based on need for the restoration of order through advice of superior men to be found among the shi
Shi Huangdi
founder of the brief Qin Dynasty in 221 BC
Zhou Dynasty
originally a vassal family of Shang China, it was possibly Turkic in origin, and overthrew the Shang and established a second historical Chinese dynasty that flourished from 1,122 to 256 BC
Qin Dynasty
established in 221 BC at the end of the Warring States period following the decline of the Zhou Dynasty; it fell in 207 BC
Han Dynasty
a Chinese dynasty that succeeded the Qin in 202 BCE and ruled for the next 400 years
dynastic cycle
the cycle by which the classical Chinese dynasties would come and go from power; it was believed by the Chinese that dynasties that fell had lost the “Mandate of Heaven”
