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VOCABULARY
EVENTS
DYNASTY
PEOPLE
MODERN HISTORY
100
In the U.S., we talk about history by giving names to time periods, such as the Colonial Period, the Revolutionary War Period, Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, the Great Depression, etc. When you talk about history in Imperial China, you talk about a period when a particular family group ruled. Such a period has a name.
What is a dynasty? (chao-dai)
100
Th last imperial dynasty of China was founded by this group of non-Han outsiders.
Who are the Manchurians?
100
This dynasty which lasted from 1279 to 1368 CE was founded by the descendants of Genghis Khan, a nomadic Mongolian, who established the largest empire of the ancient world. The most famous foreign visitor to China at this time was Marco Polo.
What is the Yuan Dynasty?
100
The Mongols, despite their rightfully earned reputation as fierce warriors were quite tolerant and open. When they conquered a people, they demanded loyalty, but did not seek to change the people's cultures and beliefs. They outlawed kidnapping, slavery, and torture, established schools, tried to establish a common currency, and sought to promote trade with all the peoples they encountered. China had long been prized by the Mongols as a source of exquisite goods and knowledge. This grandson of Genghis Khan established the Yuan Dynasty in 1279 CE.
Who is Kublai Khan?
100
After World War II ended in 1945, civil war broke out in China between these two political parties who espoused vastly different philosophies about how a country should be governed. One of the these parties believed in central planning of the economy and doing away with social class distinction. The other party believed in democracy and an economic system based on free enterprise capitalism.
What are the Communist Party and the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT).
200
The ruler of a dynasty was the . . . .
What is the emperor (huang-di) ?
200
This war was fought during the 19th century because the British forced China to purchase a drug from India to create a more favorable balance of trade since the British were buying so much tea from China.
What is the Opium War?
200
China only had one female empress. Her name was Wu Zetian, and she ruled during this Golden Age of Chinese Culture when literature and art flourished. China's territory greatly expanded at this time, so it became a very cosmopolitan center of civilization with a diverse mix of people and influences. Two of the most well known Chinese poets, Li Po and Tu Fu, lived at this time. Although Buddhism in China prospered and exerted a great influence during the early years of this dynasty, after Wu Zetian, this dynasty was also known for a return to Confucianism.
What is the Tang Dynasty?
200
This person is known as the Sage or the Teacher. He was born in what is now Shandong Province, and lived during the Zhou Dynasty about 500 years before the time of Christ. He believed that moral men made the best rulers, and that practice of virtue was the best quality a ruler could possess. He stressed behaving properly according to one's station in society, and believed that these five relationships were key to a stable harmonious society - ruler to subject, father to son, husband to wife, older brother to younger brother, and friend to friend. He believed in Golden Age in the past when proper ritual observances were made, and was passionate about spreading his teachings. He had many followers, the most famous of whom was Mencius (Mengzi), and the subsequent wide acceptance of his teachings continue to have a profound influence on Chinese society even up to the present day. Followers of this philosophy believe that human beings by nature are good.
Who was Confucius? (Kongzi or Kong-fuzi)
200
This party won the civil war, while the other party took its government and set it up in Taiwan.
What is the Communist Party?
300
As long as an emperor remained in power, he was said to possess this.
What is the Mandate of Heaven?
300
This structure was begun in pre-unified China feudal times and consolidated by later emperors to keep nomadic warriors in the north from invading China.
What is the Great Wall of China?
300
During this short but very important dynasty, which lasted from 221 - 206 BCE, China was unified for the first time. The ruler proclaimed himself as the first emperor, or Shi Huang Di. He began standardizing writing, weights, and measures. He also began standardizing thought. The philosophy of Legalism was officially sanctioned, and other schools of thought were outlawed. The story is told that Shi Huang Di so despised Confucianism that he urinated in a Confucian scholar's hat. He also burned the writings of all other schools of thought. He believed that everyone had to believe the same thing for the country to be strong. In recent years this emperor's tomb, full of life size terra cotta soldiers, was discovered near Xian.
What is the Qin Dynasty?
300
Daoism is rooted in the idea that there is a principle by which everything in nature works. This principle is known as the Dao, or Way. Daoists therefore believe in trying to live in harmony with nature, rather than forcing our intentions on it. They espouse "non-action" (wu wei) as the means of accomplishing anything and look upon ambition and desire as the causes of social unrest. They stress simplicity, humility, quiet, plainness, and peace and reject government as Confucius envisioned it. This person, whose actual existence is shrouded in mystery, is said to have written the seminal Daoist text, The Book of the Way of Virtue (Dao De Jing), and therefore is credited with being the founder of Daoism.
Who was Laozi?
300
The 1911 revolution against the imperial Qing Dynasty and for the establishment of China as a democratic republic was led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who was born in China but educated in Hawaii and greatly influenced by the history that he learned in school about history and development of freedom and democracy in the West. He created this blueprint political philosophy for governing China as a republic.
What is The Three Principles of the People? (San Min Zhu Yi) First Principle: Democracy (min quan) Second Principle: Nationalism (min zu) Third Principle: Livelihood (min sheng)
400
These neutered males were employed by the emperor in the palace to help him manage the imperial court and state affairs.
What is a eunuch?
400
The Shang Dynasty (1766 - 1027 BCE) was famous for being advanced in metallurgy, particularly for making ships, weapons, and tools from this alloy of copper and iron.
What is bronze? (qing tong)
400
The last two hundred years of this feudal era dynasty, which lasted from 1122-256 BCE, is known as the Golden Age of Chinese Thought. This was a time of great disorder and instability, and many philosophers thought hard about how to make the country more stable so that the people's lives could be better. To this end Confucius and Mencius wrote and taught what would come to be known as Confucianism; Laozi and Zhuangzi created Daoism; and Han Feizi promoted the philosophy that came to be known as Legalism.
What is the Zhou Dynasty?
400
This person, who lived during the Zhou Dynasty, is credited with being one of those who articulated most clearly the philosophy that came to be known as Legalism. Legalists believed that human beings by nature are evil, that they are motivated by greed and fear, and that to govern them well a system of strict rewards and punishments is necessary. Legalists believed that because there is no absolute right or wrong, laws needed to replace morality as guidelines for behavior. Qin Shi Huangdi (self-proclaimed first emperor) adopted this philosophy as he governed his empire.
Who was Han Feizi?
400
The first of these persons was leader of the party which won the civil war in 1949 and became the leader of all China. The second of these persons was leader of the party which lost the civil war and moved the Republic of China government to Taiwan.
Who were Chairman Mao Zedong and Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek.
500
This was the method by which talented and intelligent individuals could be discovered and employed by the emperor to work in government administration.
What is the civil service examination?
500
This major uprising, in which millions of people died, took place during the 19th century. One of the reasons it happened is because the condition of the peasants had worsened, and many people were unhappy that China was being ruled by non-Han people.
What is the Boxer Rebellion?
500
This dynasty overthrew the Mongolian rulers that came before them. The capital was moved to its present location in Beijing, and the famous sailor Zheng He led naval expeditions all around the world to disseminate Chinese culture and gather knowledge and goods wherever they sailed. During this dynasty, the Great Wall was improved, the Grand Canal was built. The character for this dynasty means shows the sun and moon together.
What is the Ming Dynasty?
500
After the Qin Dynasty fell in 206 BCE, the Han Dynasty was founded and became the most durable dynasty of the imperial age. Although the Han rulers adopted the framework of government and infrastructure established by the Qin, they made some important modifications. Confucianism became the official ideology over Legalism. It was at this time that the imperial written examination system was begun to identify the best qualified people for the government position needed to be filled rather than simply appointing someone for political reasons or because of their connections. An imperial university was established in the second century BCE to teach students the classic of the Confucian school to prepare them to become bureaucrats. The predominant ethnic group in China are the Han, taking the name of this dynasty as their own. The Han Dynasty reached its heights under this emperor who ruled from 140 to 87 BCE. He expanded the empire to be the largest in the world at the time, stretching from Korea in the east to what is now Kyrgyzstan in the west to northern Vietnam in the south, and is responsible for the education and examination institutions described above in order to be able to effectively administer such a large territory.
Who was Han Wudi?
500
This Chinese leader began the experiments with capitalism that have led to China's economic successes today.
Who was Deng Xiaoping?