 | Term | Definition |
| |
dynasty |
ruling family |
| |
ancestor worship |
the name, given by the westerners, of the practice of honoring their ancestor's spirits by offering sacrifices of food and necessities; Shang |
| |
tributary states |
independent state that has to acknowlegse the supremacy of another state and pay tribute to its ruler; Tang |
| |
Macao |
region of Southeastern China made up of a peninsula and 2 islands, a Portuguese territory from the mid- 1800s to 1999; Manchus |
| |
Kublai Khan |
Genghis Khan's grandson; ruled all of China as well as Korea and Tibet; Mongols |
| |
Feudalism |
loosely organized system of government in which local lords governed their own lands but owed military service and other support to a greater lord; Zhou |
| |
analects |
the collection of Confucius' ideas and sayings, collected by his students; Zhou |
| |
Yin and Yang |
linked to Earth, darkness and female forces; stood for Heaven, light and male forces; Zhou |
| |
Bureaucracy |
a system of government that includes different job functions and levels of authority; Han |
| |
Zheng He |
Chinese admiral of many overseas ventures; lead important explorations and trading voyages; Ming |
| |
grand canal |
linked the Huang and Chang Rivers; ran North to South; result: goods from South could easily be shipped to North; Song |
| |
great wall of China |
small walls built to defend individual land; connected by workers; ordered to be connected by Shi Huangdi; was not impenitrable; Qin |
| |
warlords |
a local military ruler; Sui |
| |
empire |
a group of states or territories controlled by one ruler; Tang |
| |
silk road |
a network of trade routes that linked China and the west; Han |
| |
legalism |
a way of ruling that passed strict laws and imposed harsh punisments to insure order; Qin |
| |
Marco Polo |
An Italian Merchant who made it to China and described wealth and slender of China in his writings; Mongols |
| |
Filial Piety |
respect for parents and older siblings; Zhou |
| |
Genghis Khan |
cheif of mongols; under his rule Mongols conquered empire that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe; Mongols |
| |
meritocracy |
people who earn their government positions by ability; Han |
| |
Pax Mongolica |
The period of peace within the Mongolians; established by the sons and grandsons of Genghis Khan; Mongols |
| |
confucianism |
a philosophy developed by Confucius that focused on ensuring social order and good government; Zhou |
| |
mandate of heaven |
as long as government kept people happy, heaven would not withdraw its support (floods, faminel, other catastrophes were signs that a dynasty has lost this) |
| |
Shi Huangdi |
First emperor of Qin dynasty whose methods were brutal, but he set in China's classical age (set framework for later cultures); Qin |
| |
dynastic cycle |
rise and fall of Chinese dynasties according to the mandate of heaven; Zhou |
| |
daoism |
the goal of this philosophy is to live in harmony with nature; Zhou |
| |
civil service system |
officials in the government win their positions by merit rather than family ties; Han |
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