Part II Terms Flashcards
Syncretism
The combination of cultural elements.
Shi Huangdi
The founder of the brief Qin dynasty in 221 BC.
Qin
Dynasty established in 221 BC at the end of the Warring States period following the decline of the Zhou dynasty; fell in 207 BC.
Han
Dynasty that succeeded the Qin in 202 BC; ruled for the next 400 years.
Zhou
Originally a vassal family of Shang China; possibly Turkic in origin; overthrew the Shang and established the second historical Chinese Dynasty that flourished 1122 to 256 BC.
Shi
Scholar-administrators.
Great Wall
Chinese defensive fortification intended to keep out the nomadic invaders from the north; initiated during Qin dynasty and the reign of Shi Huangdi.
Confucius
Also known as Kong Fuzi; the first major Chinese philosopher born in the sixth century BC (551 to 478); author of the Analects; philosophy based on the need for restoration of order through advice of superior men to be found among the shi.
China’s economy featured…
extensive internal trade and important technological innovations.
China’s family system stressed…
a rigid patriarchy.
Chinese civilization coordinated…
many aspects of politics, culture, and even family life, a key reason that emperors ultimately encouraged Confucianism.
Buddha
The creator of a major Indian and Asian religion born in 563 BC (died 483) as the son of a local ruler among Aryan tribes, located near the Himalayas; became an ascetic, found enlightenment under bo tree; taught others that enlightenment can be achieved only by abandoning desires for all earthly things.
Alexander the Great
Successor of Phillip II; successfully conquered Persian Empire prior to his death in 323 BC; attempted to combine Greek and Persian cultures.
Himalayas
Mountain region marking the northern border of the Indian subcontinent; site of the Aryan settlements that formed small kingdoms or warrior republics.
Monsoons
Seasonal winds crossing the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia, bringing rains during the summer.
Sanskrit
The sacred and classical Indian language.
Varnas
Clusters of caste groups in Indian society; four social castes: brahmans (priests), warriors, merchants, and peasants; beneath the Aryan castes was a group of socially untouchable Dasas.
Untouchables
Low social caste in Hindi culture; performed tasks that were considered polluting: street sweeping, removal of human waste, transporting the dead, and tanning.
Indra
The chief deity of the Aryans; depicted as a colossal, hard-drinking warrior. God of thunder and strength.
Chandragupta Maurya
(322-298 BC) The founder of the Mauryan dynasty; established first empire in Indian subcontinent; first centralized government since Harrapan civilizaton.
Mauryan
Dynasty established in Indian subcontinent in 4th century BC, following invasion by Alexander the Great.
Ashoka
(273-232 BC) Grandson of Chandragupta Maurya; completed conquests of Indian subcontinent; converted to Buddhism and sponsored the spread of the new religion throughout his empire.
Dharma
The caste position and career determined by a person’s birth; Hindu culture required that one accept one’s social position and perform occupation to the best of one’s ability in order to have a better situation in the next life.
Kush
An African state that developed along the upper reaches of the Nile, below Egypt around 1000 BC; conquered Egypt and ruled it for several centuries.
Guptas
The dynasty that succeeded the Kushans in the 3rd century AD; built empire that extended to all but the southern regions of Indian subcontinent; less centralized than Mauryan empire
Kautilya
(350-275 BC) Political advisor to Chandragupta Maurya; one of the authors of Arthashastra; believed in scientific application of warfare.
Gurus
Originally referred to as brahmans who served as teachers for the princes of the imperial court of the Guptas.
Vishnu
The brahman, later Hindu, god of sacrifice; widely worshipped.
Shiva
Hindu god of destruction and reproduction; worshipped as the personification of the cosmic forces of change.
Reincarnation
The successive attachment of the soul to some animate form according to merits earned in previous lives.
Nirvana
The Buddhist state of enlightenment and tranquility.
Kamasutra
Written by Vatsayana during the Gupta era; offered instructions on all aspects of life for higher-caste males; including grooming, hygiene, etiquette, selection of wives, and lovemaking.
Stupas
Stone shrines built to house pieces of bone or hair and personal possessions said to be relics of the Buddha; preserved Buddhist architectural forms.
Scholar-gentry
Chinese class created by the marital linkage of the local land-holding aristocracy with the office-holding shi; superceeded shi as governors of China.
Cyrus the Great
Established the massive Persian empire by 550 BC; the successor state to the Mesopotamian empires.
Zoroastrianism
Animist religion that saw material existence as a battle between the forces of good and evil; stressed the importance of moral choice; the righteous lived on after death in the “House of Song;” the chief religion of the Persian empire.
Olympic Games
One of the pan-Hellenic rituals observed by all Greek city-states; involved athletic competitions and ritual celebrations.
Pericles
An Athenian political leader during the 5th century BC; guided the development of Athenian empire; died during early stages of Peloponnesian War.
Peloponnesian Wars
Wars from 431 to 404 BC between Athens and Sparta for dominance in Southern Greece; resulted in Spartan victory but failure to achieve political unification of Greece.
Philip of Macedonia
Ruled Macedonia from 359 to 336 BC; founded of a centralized kingdom; later conquered the rest of Greece, which was subjected to Macedonian authority.
Hellenistic
That culture associated with the spread of Greek influence as a result of Macedonian conquests; often seen as the combination of Greek culture with eastern political forms.
Roman republic
The balanced constitution of Rome from 510 to 47 BC; featured an aristocratic Senate, a panel of magistrates, and several popular assemblies.
Punic Wars
Fought between Rome and Carthage to establish dominance in the western Mediterranean; won by Rome after three separate conflicts.
Carthage
Originally a Phoenician colony in northern Africa, it became a major port and commercial power in the western Mediterranean; fought the Punic Wars with Rome for dominance of the western Mediterranean.
Hannibal
A great Carthaginian general during the Second Punic War; successfully invaded Italy but failed to conquer Rome; finally defeated at the battle of Zama.
Julius Caesar
Roman general responsible for the conquest of Gaul; brought army back to Rome and overthrew the Republic; assassinated in 44 BC by conservative senators.
Augustus Caesar
Name given to Octavian following his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra; first emperor of Rome (Lived 63 BC to 14 AD).
Diocletian
Roman emperor from 284 to 305 AD; restored later empire by improved administration and tax collection.
Constantine
Roman emperor from 312 to 337 AD; established second capital at Constantinople; attempted to use religious force of Christianity to unify empire spiritually.
Polis (Poleis)
City-state form of government typical of Greek political organization from 800 to 400 BC.
Direct Democracy
Where people participate directly in assemblies that make laws and select leaders, rather than electing representatives.
Senate
Assembly of Roman aristocrats that advised on policy within the Republic; one of the early elements of the Roman constitution.
Consuls
Two chief executives of magistrates of the Roman Republic; elected by an annual assembly dominated by aristocracy.
Aristotle
Greek philosopher (384-322 BC); teacher of Alexander the Great; knowledge based on observation of phenomena in the material world.
Cicero
Conservative Roman senator (106-43 BC), Stoic philosopher, and one of greatest orators; killed in reaction to assassination of Julius Caesar.
Stoics
Hellenistic group of philosophers that emphasized inner moral independence cultivated by strict discipline of the body and personal bravery.
Socrates
Athenian philosopher of later 5th century BC and the tutor of Plato; urged the rational reflection of moral decisions, and was condemned to death for “corrupting” the minds of Athenian young.
Sophocles
Greek writer of tragedies (496-406 BC) including Oedipus Rex.
Illiad
Greek epic poem attributed to Homer but possibly the work of many authors; defined gods and human nature that shaped Greek mythos.
Odyssey
Greek epic poem attributed to Homer but possibly the work of many authors; defined gods and human nature that shaped Greek mythos.
Doric
Distinct style of Hellenistic architecture; least ornate of the three styles.
Ionic
Distinct style of Hellenistic architecture; more ornate than Doric but less than Corinthian.
Corinthian
Most ornate style of Hellenistic architecture.
Axum
Kingdom located in the Ethiopian Highlands; replaced Meroë in the first century AD; received strong influence from the Arabian peninsula; eventually converted to Christianity.
Ethiopia
A Christian kingdom that developed in the highlands of eastern Africa under the dynasty of King Lalibela; retained Christianity in the face of Muslim expansion elsewhere in Africa.
Sahara
The desert running across northern Africa; separates the Mediterranean coast from southern Africa.
Shintoism
Religion of early Japanese culture in which the devotees worshipped numerous gods and spirits associated with the natural world, offering food and prayers.
Teotihuacan
Site of classic culture in central Mexico; urban center with important religious functions; supported by intensive agriculture in the surrounding regions; population as much as 200,000.
Maya
Classic culture emerging in southern Mexico and Central America contemporary with the Teotihuacan; extended over a broad region and featured monumental architecture, written language, calendrical and mathematical systems, and a highly developed religion.
Inca
Group of clans centered at Cuzco that were able to create an empire incorporating various Andean cultures; term also used for the leader of the empire.
Polynesia
Islands contained in a rough triangle whose points lie in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island.
Yellow Turbans
Chinese Daoists who launched a revolt in 184 AD in China, promising a golden age to be brought about by divine magic.
Sui
Dynasty that succeeded the Han in China and emerged from strong rulers in nothern China; united all of northern China and reconquered southern China.
Tang
Dynasty that succeeded the Sui in 618 AD; more stable than the previous dynasty.
Harsha
Ruler that followed the Guptas in India, who briefly constructed a loose empire in northern India between 616 and 657 AD.
Rajput
Regional princes in western India who emphasized military control of their regions.
Devi
The mother goddess within Hinduism; widely spread following the collapse of the Guptas, encouraging new emotionalism in the religious rituals.
Islam
A major world religion originating in 610 AD in the Arabian Peninsula. Its name literally meaing “submission,” it was based on the prophecy of Muhammad.
Byzantine Empire
Eastern half of the Roman empire following the collapse of the western half of the old empire that retained Mediterranean culture, particularly the Greek; later lost Palestine, Syria, and Egypt to Islam; capital at Constantinople.
Saint Augustine
An influential church father and theologian (354-430 AD) that was born in Africa and ultimately became the bishop of Hippo; champion of Christian doctrine against various heresies, very important in the long term development of Christian thought on such issues as predestination.
Coptic
The Christian sect in Egypt that was later tolerated after the Islamic takeover.
Mahayana
The Chinese version of Buddhism that placed considerable emphasis on the Buddha as a god or savior.
Bodhisattvas
Buddhist holy men and women who built up spiritual merits during their lifetimes; their prayers even after death could aid people to achieve reflected holiness.
Jesus of Nazareth
Prophet and teacher among the Jews who was believed by Christians to be the Messiah; executed around 30 AD.
Paul
One of the first Christian missionaries who moved away from the insistence that adherents of the new religion must follow Jewish law; use of Greek as the language of the Church.
Pope
The bishop of Rome and the head of the Christian church in western Europe.
Council of Nicaea
A Christian council that met in 325 AD to determine orthodoxy with respect to the Trinity; insisted on the divinity of all persons of the Trinity.
Benedict of Nursia
The founder of monasticism in what had been the western half of the Roman Empire, established Benedictine Rule in the 6th century; paralleled development of Basil’s rules in the Byzantine Empire.
