China
Terms
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- Zheng He
- Yunglo sent out expeditions overseas under Zheng's command. In a period of 28 years, from 1405 to 1433, Zheng directed seven expeditions and visited no fewer than 37 countries, stretching from Champa in the east to the African coast in the west.
- Major Theme
- Disunity and Unity. Religion and Philosophy.
- Ming Dynasty
- Chinese dynasty that provided an interval of native rule between eras of Mongol and Manchu dominance. The Ming, one of the most stable but autocratic of dynasties, extended Chinese influence farther than did any other native rulers of China. Under the Ming, the capital of China was moved from Nanjing to Beijing, and the Forbidden City was constructed.
- Filial Piety
- Children should respect their parents.
- Dao De Jing
- The book in which the rules and laws of Daoism are recorded in.
- Qing Dynasty
- Last of the imperial dynasties in China. The name Qing was first applied to the dynasty established by the Manchu in 1636 in Manchuria and then applied by extension to their rule in China. During the Qing dynasty, China's territory and population expanded tremendously.
- Civil Service System
- A way of determining the "smart" citizens from the "non-smart" ones. It was a way to provide a system of effective, rational public administration that was based off of a merit system.
- Mandate of Heaven
- A political theory of ancient China in which those in power were given the right to rule from a divine source
- Forbidden City
- A walled enclosure of central Beijing, China, containing the palaces of 24 emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
- Legalism
- Strict, literal adherence to the law or to a particular code, as of religion or morality, a negative view of human behavior
- Manchu's
- A member of a people native to Manchuria who ruled China during the Qing dynasty.
- Song Dynasty
- Made paper, silk, gunpowder, magnetic compass, clock
- Dynasty
- A sequence of rulers from the same family, stock, or group
- Pax Mongolica
- "Mongol Peace" is a phrase coined by Western scholars to describe the alleged stabilizing effects of the conquest of the Mongol Empire on the social, cultural and economic life of the inhabitants of the vast Eurasian territory they conquered in the 13th and 14th centuries.
- Shi Huangdi
- Unified China for the first time. He introduced the concept of Legalism as well as uniting China. He was a very harsh ruler and completely banished anything from Confucianism.
- Grand Canal
- An inland waterway in eastern China extending from Tianjin in the north to Hangzhou in the south.
- Mongols
- Member of an Asian people originally from the Mongolian plateau who share a common language and a nomadic tradition of herding sheep, cattle, goats, and horses.
- Dynastic Cycle
- According to Chinese political theory, every dynasty goes through a dynastic cycle: 1. A new ruler unites China and founds a new dynasty. 2. China, under the new dynasty, achieves prosperity and a new golden age. 3. The royal family of the dynasty begins to decay, corruption becomes rampant in the imperial court, and the empire begins to enter decline and instability. 4. The dynasty loses the Mandate of Heaven, their legitimacy to rule, and is overthrown by a rebellion. The Mandate of Heaven is then passed to the next dynasty. This process then starts over.
- Kublai Khan
- A very civilized, fair, and tolerant ruler who helped with the prosperity of China.
- Daoism
- Major Chinese religious-philosophical tradition. Though the concept of Dao was employed by all Chinese schools of thought, Daoism arose out of the promotion of Dao as the social ideal.
- Genghis Khan
- A very harsh ruler that ruled over China. Genghis Khan was the grandfather of another famous (and slightly more civilized) ruler, Kublai Khan.
- Confucius
- A philosopher who came up with Confucianism.
- Laozi
- Founder of Daoism and the author of its classic text, the Dao De Jing .
- Han Dynasty
- A period of cultural flourishing that followed the Qin Dynasty. A time in which literature greatly expanded.
- Warring States Period
- The chaotic and violent period in China contemporary with Classical Greece, Alexander 'the Great', the Peloponnesian wars, and the early Punic wars in southern Europe. In this period Chinese armies were first commanded by professional generals including the first military theorist, Sun-Tzu, iron weapons were first introduced on a large scale, and the first version of the Great Wall of China was built at the beginning of the 3rd century B.C.
- Silk Road
- An ancient trade route between China and the Mediterranean Sea linking China with the Roman Empire.
- Confucianism
- In the Zhou dynasty. An ancient Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the early Chinese sage and philosopher Confucius. Its focus is primarily on non-religious secular ethics, secular morality, as well as the cultivation of the civilized individual which in turn would contribute to the establishment of a civilized society or country and ultimately world peace. Confucius was the founder of the teachings of Confucianism. Confucianism is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought which has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia up to the 21st century
- Meritocracy
- A system in which advancement is based on individual ability or achievement.
- Great Wall Of China
- Shi Huangdi built this wall as a way to keep invaders out, but it was unsuccessful in that purpose.
- Five Relationships
- Friend to Friend, Father to Son, Elder Brother to Younger Brother, Ruler to Subject, Husband to Wife.
- Bureaucracy
- Administration of a government chiefly through bureaus or departments staffed with non-elected officials.
- Analects
- The book in which all of Confucius' ideas and thoughts are compiled in.