vocab

Question 1

Ming Dynasty

Answer 1

major dynasty that ruled China from the mid-fourteenth to the mid-seventeenth century. It was marked by a great expansion of Chinese commerce into East Africa, the MiddleEast, and Southeast Asia.

Question 2

Qing Dynasty

Answer 2

Qing dynasty-the last imperial dynasty of China (from 1644 to 1912) which was overthrown by revolutionaries; during the Qing dynasty China was ruled by the Manchu. Ch’ing, Ch’ing dynasty, Manchu dynasty, Qing, Manchu. dynasty-a sequence of powerful leaders in the same family.

Question 3

Examination system

Answer 3

In China, system of competitive examinations for recruiting officials that linked state and society and dominated education from the Song dynasty (960–1279) onward, though its roots date to the imperial university established in the Han dynasty (206 bc–ad 220). Candidates faced fierce competition in a series of exams dealing primarily with Confucian texts and conducted on the prefectural, provincial, and national levels. Despite a persistent tendency to emphasize rote learning over original thinking and form over substance, the exams managed to produce an elite grounded in a common body of teachings and to lend credibility to claims of meritocracy. Too inflexible to be capable of modernization, the system was finally abolished in 1905.

Question 4

Opium

Answer 4

a reddish-brown heavy-scented addictive drug prepared from the juice of the opium poppy, used as a narcotic and in medicine as an analgesic.

Question 5

Taiping Rebelliom

Answer 5

a person who participated in the unsuccessful rebellion (Taiping Rebellion) 1850–64, led by Hung Hsiu-ch’üan (Hong Xiuquan), who attempted to overthrow the Manchu dynasty.

Question 6

Beijing

Answer 6

the capital of China, in the northeastern part of the country; pop. 8,580,400 (est. 2006). It became the country’s capital in 1421, at the start of the Ming period, and survived as the capital of the Republic of China after the revolution of 1912. Also called

Question 7

Treaty of Nanjink

Answer 7

The Treaty of Nanking, formally called the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Commerce between Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and the Emperor of China, was signed on the 29 August 1842 to mark the end of the First Opium War (1839–42) between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Qing dynasty of China.

Question 8

Taiwan

Answer 8

an island country off the southeastern coast of China; pop. 22,974,300 (est. 2009); capital, Taipei; language, Mandarin Chinese

Question 9

Empress

Answer 9

a female emperor.

Question 10

Ci xi

Answer 10

The dowager empress of China (1861-1908) who was hostile to foreign influences in China and supported the Boxer Rebellion (1898-1900).

Question 11

Self-strengthening Movement

Answer 11

The Self Strengthening Movement was a 19th century push to modernise China, particularly in the fields of industry and defence. Foreign imperialism in China, its defeat in the Second Opium War (1860), the humiliating Treaty of Tientsin and the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) all exposed the dynasty’s military and technological backwardness, particularly in comparison to European nations. These disasters triggered the rise of the Self Strengthening Movement. The advocates of self strengthening were not republican radicals or social reformers. They hoped to strengthen the nation by preserving Qing rule and maintaining traditional Confucian values, while embracing Western military and industrial practices. As one writer explained, it was necessary to “learn barbarian [Western] methods to combat barbarian threats”. To acquire this knowledge China had to actively engage with Western nations, examine their trade and technology, encourage the study of Western languages and develop a diplomatic service to connect with foreign governments.

Question 12

Imperial City

Answer 12

a city (as Rome) that is the seat of empire. 2. : a city that is an immediate vassal of the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Question 13

Porcelain

Answer 13

a white vitrified translucent ceramic; china.

Question 14

Boxer Rebellion

Answer 14

an unsuccessful rebellion in China in 1900, the objective of which was to drive out all foreigners, remove all foreign influence, and compel Chinese Christians to give up their religion

Question 15

Tokugawa Shogunate

Answer 15

a member of a powerful family in Japan that ruled as shoguns, 1603–1867.

Question 16

Commodore Matthew Perry

Answer 16

United States admiral who led a naval expedition to Japan and signed a treaty in 1854 opening up trade relations between United States and Japan; brother of Oliver Hazard Perry (1794-1858)

Question 17

Meiji Restoration

Answer 17

The Meiji Restoration, also known as the Meiji Ishin, Renovation, Revolution, Reform, or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. New Meiji rulers still restore the power to the Emperor Meiji who was considered a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu at that time.

Question 18

Consulate

Answer 18

the action or process of formally consulting or discussing:

Question 19

Eta

Answer 19

European Theater of Operations.

Question 20

Edo

Answer 20

a member of an indigenous people of western Africa, in the Benin region of southern Nigeria.

Question 21

The Hermit Kingdom

Answer 21

Hermit kingdom is a term applied to any country, organization or society which willfully walls itself off, either metaphorically or physically, from the rest of the world. The Joseon dynasty of Korea was frequently described as a hermit kingdom during the latter part of the dynasty.

Question 22

Isolation

Answer 22

the process or fact of isolating or being isolated:
“the isolation of older people”
an instance of isolating something, especially a compound or microorganism.
denoting a hospital or ward for patients with contagious or infectious diseases.

Question 23

Dutch learning

Answer 23

Rangaku is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Western technology and medicine in the period when the country was closed to foreigners, 1641–1853, because of the Tokugawa shogunate’s policy of national isolation (sakoku).

Question 24

Junks

Answer 24

discard or abandon unceremoniously

Question 25

Queue

Answer 25

a line or sequence of people or vehicles awaiting their turn to be attended to or to proceed.

Question 26

Hsuan-yeh

Answer 26

20, second Emperor of the Ch’ing dynasty, who ruled during the years 1661-1722 under the reign-title, K’ang-hsi 康熙, was the third son of Fu-lin [q. v.]. His mother, Empress Hsiao-k’ang 孝康章皇后 (1640-1663), a consort of Fu-lin, was a daughter [328]of T’ung T’u-lai [q. v.] and a sister of T’ung Kuo-kang [q. v.]. Hsüan-yeh was born when his father was seventeen sui and his mother fifteen sui. For a time during his childhood he lived with his nurses outside the Forbidden City in a court west of the Palaces-a place later converted into the Lama temple, known as Fu-yu ssž 福佑寺. When his father, Fu-lin, lay dying of smallpox (February 5, 1661) Hsüan-yeh, then eight sui, was designated heir-apparent and was given his Chinese name. The choice was influenced by the consideration that since he had survived an attack of smallpox he would be immune to that disease and thus would have a better prospect of long life. On February 17, twelve days after his father’s death, he was proclaimed Emperor of China. After his mother’s death in 1663 he was, for the most part, reared by the Dowager Empress, Hsiao-chuang [q. v.]. During his minority control of the empire was vested in four regents: Soni (see under Songgotu), Suksaha (see under Oboi), Ebilun and Oboi [qq. v.]. To these regents, or rather to Oboi, who gradually assumed the most power, the policy of the early K’ang-hsi period (1661-69) was due.

Question 27

Philology

Answer 27

the branch of knowledge that deals with the structure, historical development, and relationships of a language or languages.

Question 28

Extraterritoriality

Answer 28

immunity from the jurisdiction of a nation, granted to foreign diplomatic officials, foreign warships, etc.
2.
the applicability or exercise of a sovereign’s laws outside its territory.

Question 29

Unequal treaties

Answer 29

An unequal treaty is any of a series of treaties signed with Western powers during the 19th and early 20th centuries by Qing dynasty China and late Tokugawa Japan after suffering military defeat by the foreign powers or when there was a threat of military action by those powers.

Question 30

Yangtze Valley

Answer 30

the longest river of Asia; flows eastward from Tibet into the East China Sea near Shanghai

Question 31

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Answer 31

Japanese general and statesman: prime minister and dictator of Japan 1585–98.