Belief Systems
This Chinese philosophy, based on the teachings of Confucius, emphasized respect for elders, education, and social harmony.
What is Confucianism?
These exams allowed educated men to earn government positions by demonstrating their knowledge of Confucian texts.
What are the Civil Service Exams?
This Islamic empire, centered in Baghdad, presided over a period of major achievements in science, mathematics, medicine, and philosophy.
What is the Abbasid Caliphate?
This narrow waterway between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra became a major center of trade connecting the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.
What is the Strait of Malacca?
This Chinese belief system teaches people to live in harmony with the natural world and follow the “Dao,” or “Way.”
What is Daoism?
Originally developed by Chinese alchemists, this invention was first used for weapons such as fire arrows and later spread westward.
What is Gunpowder?
This division within Islam began over disagreement about who should lead the Muslim community after Muhammad's death.
What is the Sunni-Shia split?
This revival of Confucian thought incorporated ideas from Buddhism and Daoism while emphasizing morality, education, and proper behavior.
What is Neo-Confucianism?
Founded by Siddhartha Gautama, this religion teaches that people can overcome suffering by following the Eightfold Path.
What is Buddhism?
This luxury fabric was This early form of mass production involved rural households producing goods such as textiles for merchants and markets.
What is silk?
During this movement, scholars translated important Greek, Persian, and Indian works into Arabic, preserving and expanding ancient knowledge.
What is the Translation Movement?
This language developed in South Asia through interaction among local Indian languages and Persian, Arabic, and Turkic-speaking Muslim communities.
What is Urdu?
This ancient Indian religion includes beliefs in karma, dharma, reincarnation, and moksha.
What is Hinduism?
This Chinese invention used magnetism to help sailors determine direction and greatly improved long-distance navigation.
What is the magnetic compass?
This famous center of learning by the Abbasid Caliphate, became a major hub for scholars, translation, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine.
What is the House of Wisdom?
This Moroccan Muslim traveler journeyed across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and recorded his experiences in a famous travel account.
Who is Ibn Battuta?
Founded by Muhammad in Arabia, this monotheistic religion teaches submission to Allah and follows the Five Pillars.
What is Islam?
Because carrying large amounts of coins was inconvenient, Song China became the first civilization to widely use this form of currency. They were also able to produce this due to the invention of wood-block printing.
What is paper money?
This Arabic term refers to the spiritual and political leader of an Islamic Empire. This person is considered to be the successor of Muhammad.
What is the caliph?
Originally built as a Hindu temple in the Khmer Empire, this enormous temple complex in present-day Cambodia later became associated with Buddhism.
What is Angkor Wat?