Module 3 (12.1): East Asia

Question 1

what is state cycling?

Answer 1

• the process where states emerge, grow, and collapse or transform into new systems

Question 2

why does state cycling occur?

Answer 2

• because state formation is dynamic, not linear or permanent

Question 3

why are states unstable?

Answer 3

internal: civil war, corruption, institutional breakdown
external: conflicts, invasions, resource competition
environmental: resource depletion, climate change, natural disaster

Question 4

what is significant about Angkor, Cambodia? when was its time period?

Answer 4

800 - 1400 CE
-> Khmer Kingdom
-> Hindu and Buddhist temples
-> roads with canals, ponds, temples, walls
-> one of the worlds largest sites

Question 5

what was important about the water management at Angkor?

Answer 5

-> took considerable efforts to manage the reservoirs
-> showed the kingdom’s wealth and power

Question 6

what was Angkor Thom?

Answer 6

-> the temple of King Jayavarman VII
-> the entrance to the Bayan temple

Question 7

what was Angkor Wat?

Answer 7

-> the temple of King Surayavarman II
-> the largest Hindu temple in the world, dedicated to Vishnu
-> 5 towers representing mount meru

Question 8

how was Angkor built?

Answer 8

-> temples were built by successive kings

Question 9

what did the bas-reliefs depict?

Answer 9

-> religious and court life, the kings army, etc.

Question 10

why did Angkor collapse?

Answer 10

1) climate: droughts and storms disrupting irrigation
2) politics: elites left to find more profitable sites
3) agriculture: overuse causing erosion, deforestation, declining yields