Ms. Kent
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| 248785872 | loess | A fine, light silt deposited by wind and water. It constitutes the fertile soil of the Yellow River Valley in northern China. Because loess soil is not compacted, it can be worked with a simple digging stick, but it leaves the region vulnerable to devastating earthquakes. | 0 | |
| 248785873 | Legalism | In China, a political philosophy that emphasized the unruliness of human nature and justified state coercion and control. The Qin ruling class invoked it to validate the authoritarian nature of their regime and its profligate expenditure of subjects' lives and labor. It was superseded in the Han era by a more benevolent Confucian doctrine of governmental moderation. | 1 | |
| 248785874 | Shang | The dominant people in the earliest Chinese dynasty for which we have written records (ca. 1750-1027 B.C.E.). Ancestor worship, divination by means of oracle bones, and the use of bronze vessels for ritual purposes were major elements of Shang culture. | 2 | |
| 248785875 | Confucius | Western name for the Chinese philosopher Kongzi (551-479 B.C.E.). His doctrine of duty and public service had a great influence on subsequent Chinese thought and served as a code of conduct for government officials. | 3 | |
| 248785876 | Divination | Techniques for ascertaining the future or the will of the gods by interpreting natural phenomena such as, in early China, the cracks on oracle bones or, in ancient Greece, the flight of birds through sectors of the sky. | 4 | |
| 248785877 | Daoism | Chinese school of thought, originating in the Warring States Period with Laozi (604-531 B.C.E.). Daoism offered an alternative to the Confucian emphasis on hierarchy and duty. Daoists believe that the world is always changing and is devoid of absolute morality or meaning. They accept the world as they find it, avoid futile struggles, and deviateas little as possible from the Dao, or "path" of nature. | 5 | |
| 248785878 | Zhou | The people and dynasty that took over the dominant position in north China from the Shang and created the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify their rule. The Zhou era, particularly the vigorous early period (1027-771 B.C.E.), was remembered in Chinese tradition as a time of prosperity and benevolent rule. In the later Zhou period (771-221 B.C.E.), centralized control broke down, and warfare among many small states became frequent. | 6 | |
| 248785879 | yin/yang | In Chinese belief, complementary factors that help to maintain the equilibrium of the world. Yin is associated with masculine, light, and active qualities; yang with feminine, dark, and passive qualities. | 7 | |
| 248785880 | llama | A hoofed animal indigenous to the Andes Mountains in South America. It was the only domesticated beast of burden in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans. It provided meat and wool. The use of llamas to transport goods made possible specialized production and trade among people living in different ecological zones and fostered the integration of these zones by Chavín and later Andean states. | 8 | |
| 248785881 | Mandate of Heaven | Chinese religious and political ideology developed by the Zhou, according to which it was the prerogative of Heaven, the chief deity, to grant power to the ruler of China and to take away that power if the ruler failed to conduct himself justly and in the best interests of his subjects. | 9 | |
| 248785882 | Qin | A people and state in the Wei Valley of eastern China that conquered rival states and created the first Chinese empire (221-206 B.C.E.). The Qin ruler, Shi Huangdi, standardized many features of Chinese society and ruthlessly marshaled subjects for military and construction projects, engendering hostility that led to the fall of his dynasty shortly after his death. The Qin framework was largely taken over by the succeeding Han Empire. | 10 | |
| 248785883 | Shi Huangdi | Founder of the short-lived Qin dynasty and creator of the Chinese Empire (r. 221-210 B.C.E.). He is remembered for his ruthless conquests of rival states, standardization of practices, and forcible organization of labor for military and engineering tasks. His tomb, with its army of life-size terracotta soldiers, has been partially excavated. | 11 | |
| 248785884 | Han | A term used to designate (1) the ethnic Chinese people who originated in the Yellow River Valley and spread throughout regions of China suitable for agriculture and (2) the dynasty of emperors who ruled from 206 B.C.E. to 220 C.E. | 12 | |
| 248785885 | Chang'an | City in the Wei Valley in eastern China. It became the capital of the Qin and early Han Empires. Its main features were imitated in the cities and towns that sprang up throughout the Han Empire. | 13 | |
| 248785886 | Li Shimin | One of the founders of the Tang Empire and its second emperor (r. 626-649). He led the expansion of the empire into Central Asia. | 14 | |
| 248785887 | Tang Empire | Empire unifying China and part of Central Asia, founded 618 and ended 907. The Tang emperors presided over a magnificent court at their capital, Chang'an. | 15 | |
| 248785888 | Grand Canal | The 1,100-mile (1,700-kilometer) waterway linking the Yellow and the Yangzi Rivers. It was begun in the Han period and completed during the Sui Empire. | 16 | |
| 248785889 | tributary system | A system in which, from the time of the Han Empire, countries in East and Southeast Asia not under the direct control of empires based in China nevertheless enrolled as tributary states, acknowledging the superiority of the emperors in China in exchange for trading rights or strategic alliances. | 17 | |
| 248785890 | bubonic plague | A bacterial disease of fleas that can be transmitted by flea bites to rodents and humans; humans in late stages of the illness can spread the bacteria by coughing. Because of its very high mortality rate and the difficulty of preventing its spread, major outbreaks have created crises in many parts of the world. | 18 | |
| 248785891 | Uighurs | A group of Turkic-speakers who controlled their own centralized empire from 744 to 840 in Mongolia and Central Asia. | 19 | |
| 248785892 | Tibet | Country centered on the high, mountain-bounded plateau north of India. Tibetan political power occasionally extended farther to the north and west between the seventh and thirteen centuries. | 20 | |
| 248785893 | Song Empire | Empire in central and southern China (960-1126) while the Liao people controlled the north. Empire in southern China (1127-1279; the "Southern Song") while the Jin people controlled the north. Distinguished for its advances in technology, medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. | 21 | |
| 248785894 | junk | A very large flatbottom sailing ship produced in the Tang,Ming, and Song Empires, specially designed for long-distance commercial travel. | 22 | |
| 248785895 | gunpowder | A mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, in various proportions. The formula, brought to China in the 400s or 500s, was first used to make fumigators to keep away insect pests and evil spirits. In later centuries it was used to make explosives and grenades and to propel cannonballs, shot, and bullets. | 23 | |
| 248785896 | neo-Confucianism | Term used to describe new approaches to understanding classic Confucian texts that became the basic ruling philosophy of China from the Song period to the twentieth century. | 24 | |
| 248785897 | Zen | The Japanese word for a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on highly disciplined meditation. It is known in Sanskrit as dhyana, in Chinese as chan, and in Korean as son. | 25 | |
| 248785898 | movable type | Type in which each individual character is cast on a separate piece of metal. It replaced woodblock printing, allowing for the arrangement of individual letters and other characters on a page, rather than requiring the carving of entire pages at a time. It may have been invented in Korea in the thirteenth century. | 26 | |
| 248785899 | Koryo | Korean kingdom founded in 918 and destroyed by a Mongol invasion in 1259. | 27 | |
| 248785900 | Fujiwara | Aristocratic family that dominated the Japanese imperial court between the ninth and twelfth centuries. | 28 | |
| 248785901 | Kamakura shogunate | The first of Japan's decentralized military governments. | 29 | |
| 248785902 | Champa rice | Quick-maturing rice that can allow two harvests in one growing season. Originally introduced into Champa from India, it was later sent to China as a tribute gift by the Champa state. | 30 | |
| 248785903 | Yuan Empire | Empire created in China and Siberia by Khubilai Khan. | 31 | |
| 248785904 | bubonic plague | A bacterial disease of fleas that can be transmitted by flea bites to rodents and humans; humans in late stages of the illness can spread the bacteria by coughing. Because of its very high mortality rate and the difficulty of preventing its spread, major outbreaks have created crises in many parts of the world. | 32 | |
| 248785905 | Beijing | China's northern capital, first used as an imperial capital in 906 and now the capital of the People's Republic of China. | 33 | |
| 248785906 | Il-khan | A "secondary" or "peripheral" khan based in Persia. The Il-khans' khanate was founded by Hülegü, a grandson of Genghis Khan, and was based at Tabriz in modern Azerbaijan. It controlled much of Iran and Iraq. | 34 | |
| 248785907 | Ming Empire | (1368-1644) Empire based in China that Zhu Yuanzhang established after the overthrow of the Yuan Empire. The Ming emperor Yongle sponsored the building of the Forbidden City and the voyages of Zheng He. The later years of the Ming saw a slowdown in technological development and economic decline. | 35 | |
| 248785908 | Zheng He | (1371-1433) An imperial eunuch and Muslim, entrusted by the Ming emperor Yongle with a series of state voyages that took his gigantic ships through the Indian Ocean, from Southeast Asia to Africa. | 36 | |
| 248785909 | Manchu | Federation of Northeast Asian peoples who founded the Qing Empire. | 37 | |
| 248785910 | Ming Empire | (1368-1644) Empire based in China that Zhu Yuanzhang established after the overthrow of the Yuan Empire. The Ming emperor Yongle sponsored the building of the Forbidden City and the voyages of Zheng He. The later years of the Ming saw a slowdown in technological development and economic decline. | 38 | |
| 248785911 | Qing Empire | Empire established in China by Manchus who overthrew the Ming Empire in 1644. At various times the Qing also controlled Manchuria, Mongolia, Turkestan, and Tibet. The last Qing emperor was overthrown in 1911. | 39 | |
| 248785912 | Kangxi | (1654-1722) Qing emperor (r. 1662-1722). He oversaw the greatest expansion of the Qing Empire. | 40 | |
| 248785913 | Opium War | (1839-1842) War between Britain and the Qing Empire that was, in the British view, occasioned by the Qing government's refusal to permit the importation of opium into its territories. The victorious British imposed the onesided Treaty of Nanking on China. | 41 | |
| 248785914 | Bannermen | Hereditary military servants of the Qing Empire, in large part descendants of peoples of various origins who had fought for the founders of the empire. | 42 | |
| 248785915 | Treaty of Nanking | (1842) The treaty that concluded the Opium War. It awarded Britain a large indemnity from the Qing Empire, denied the Qing government tariff control over some of its own borders, opened additional ports of residence to Britons, and ceded the island of Hong Kong to Britain. | 43 | |
| 248785916 | treaty ports | Cities opened to foreign residents as a result of the forced treaties between the Qing Empire and foreign signatories. In the treaty ports, foreigners enjoyed extraterritoriality. | 44 | |
| 248785917 | most-favored-nation status | A clause in a commercial treaty that awards to any later signatories all the privileges previously granted to the original signatories. | 45 | |
| 248785918 | Taiping Rebellion | (1853-1864) The most destructive civil war before the twentieth century. A Christian-inspired rural rebellion threatened to topple the Qing Empire. | 46 | |
| 248785919 | Sun Yet-sen | (1867-1925) Chinese nationalist revolutionary, founder and leader of the Guomindang until his death. He attempted to create a liberal democratic political movement in China but was thwarted by military leaders. | 47 | |
| 248785920 | Yuan Shikai | (1859-1916) Chinese general and first president of the Chinese Republic (1912-1916). He stood in the way of the democratic movement led by Sun Yat-sen. | 48 | |
| 248785921 | Guomindang | Nationalist political party founded on democratic principles by Sun Yat-sen in 1912. After 1925, the party was headed by Chiang Kai-shek, who turned it into an increasingly authoritarian movement. | 49 | |
| 248785922 | Chiang Kai-shek | (1886-1975) Chinese military and political leader. Succeeded Sun Yat-sen as head of the Guomindang in 1923; headed the Chinese government from 1928 to 1948; fought against the Chinese Communists and Japanese invaders. After 1949 he headed the Chinese Nationalist government in Taiwan. | 50 | |
| 248785923 | mandate system | Allocation of former German colonies and Ottoman possessions to the victorious powers after World War I, to be administered under League of Nations supervision. | 51 | |
| 248785924 | Mao Zedong | (1893-1976) Leader of the Chinese Communist Party (1927-1976). He led the Communists on the Long March (1934-1935) and rebuilt the Communist Party and Red Army during the Japanese occupation of China (1937-1945). After World War II, he led the Communists to victory over the Guomindang. He ordered the Cultural Revolution in 1966. | 52 | |
| 248785925 | Long March | (1934-1935) The 6,000-mile (9,600-kilometer) flight of Chinese Communists from southeastern to northwestern China. The Communists, led by Mao Zedong, were pursued by the Chinese army under orders from Chiang Kai-shek. The four thousand survivors of the march formed the nucleus of a revived Communist movement that defeated the Guomindang after World War II. | 53 |
