vocabulary Flashcards
Shogun
a hereditary commander-in-chief in feudal Japan.
Daimyo
(in feudal Japan) one of the great lords who were vassals of the shogun.
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty as Chán. It was strongly influenced by Taoism, and developed as a distinguished Chinese style of Buddhism.
Seppuku
another term for hara-kiri.
Samurai
Samurai were the military-nobility and officer-caste of medieval and early-modern Japan.
Longboat
a large boat that may be launched from a sailing ship.
another term for longship.
Steppe
a large area of flat unforested grassland in southeastern Europe or Siberia.
Rus
the medieval Russian state established by Scandinavian traders in the 9th century; the capital was first in Novgorod and then in Kiev
Slavs
Slavs are the largest Indo-European ethno-linguistic group in Europe.
Principality of kiev
was a Ruthenian state in the regions of central Ukraine around the city of Kiev that existed after the fragmentation of the Kievan Rus’ in the early 12th century.
Leif Ericson
as an Icelandic explorer and the first known European to have discovered North America, before Christopher Columbus.
Vinland Sagas
represent the most complete information we have about the Norse exploration of the Americas.
Danelaw
the body of laws established in the parts of England settled in the 9th century by Danish invaders
the parts of Anglo-Saxon England that came under Danish law and where Danish customs were observed
Silk Roads
an ancient caravan route that linked Xian in central China with the eastern Mediterranean.
Epitaphs
a phrase or statement written in memory of a person who has died, especially as an inscription on a tombstone.
Foot-binding
was the custom of applying painfully tight binding to the feet of young girls to prevent further growth.
Empress Wu
also known as Wu Zhao, Wu Hou, and during the later Tang dynasty as Tian Hou, referred to in English as Empress Consort Wu or by the deprecated term “Empress Wu”, was a Chinese sovereign who ruled unofficially as Empress and later, officially as Emperor of China
Civil Service Exam
An examination one must pass in order to receive most jobs in the Japanese bureaucracy.
