Ancient China Vocab

Front 1

Paleolithic

Back 1

early civilization in china
near modern beijing, uncivilized

Front 2

Neolithic

Back 2

between paleolithic and civilized periods
began domesticating animals, improving tools, and developed agriculture

Front 3

North China Plain

Back 3

along yellow river
cradle of early chinese civilization

Front 4

Qinling Shandi

Back 4

mountain range runs east-west, cuts throug hchina
seperates yellow and yangtze river valleys
north, less rain = wheat
south, more rain = rice
divides agriculturally, unites culturally/economically through trade

Front 5

China Proper

Back 5

heart of china, from coast to yellow and yangtze rivers

Front 6

Huang He (Yellow River)

Back 6

runs east-west, goes into yellow sea
long winter, short summer
very fertile yellow soil supports crops
floods often, deadly = China's Sorrow, forces farmers to build dikes and dams

Front 7

Loess

Back 7

fertile yellow soil on banks of huang he

Front 8

Silt

Back 8

soil carried in rivers

Front 9

Chang Jiang (Yangtze)

Back 9

flows in central china
very deep, good for boats

Front 10

Xi Jiang (West River)

Back 10

southern river, good for commercial transportation

Front 11

Gobi Desert

Back 11

makes china inacessible from west

Front 12

Zhangguo

Back 12

"middle kingdom," geographic isolation makes chinese culture unique and closed, believed education was important, china proper = center of universe

Front 13

Dynastic Cycle

Back 13

general pattern that all chinese dynasties follow
1.) founding (usually by war)
2.) peace, ecpansion, and power as leadership is inherited
3.) decline, overthrown

Front 14

Cultural Developement b/c of Geography

Back 14

little inhabitable land, huge population necessitates laws to govern large group
rivers had to be controlled as a community
focus is on group > individual

Front 15

Dynasty

Back 15

family of rulers

Front 16

First Imperial Age

Back 16

Zhou + Qin + Han dynasties

Front 17

Xia Dynasty

Back 17

not enough proof of its existence, only legends

Front 18

Shang Dynasty

Back 18

first dynasty, existence proved by bronze vessels, which necessitate trade, metallurgy, and social classes

Front 19

Oracle Bones

Back 19

found dating back to shang dynasty
thrown into fire, cracks tell future, implies existence of religion/priests

Front 20

Zhou Dynasty

Back 20

expanded trade w/ coper coin
had iron tools, canals and dikes
no central gov't, territories ruled by different familites, each pledged $ and army to Zhou

Front 21

Mandate of Heaven

Back 21

introduced by zhou dynasty, belief that gods determined the ruler
if ruler didn't satisfy gods, natural disasters would occur, rulers lost mandate, were overthrown

Front 22

King Yu

Back 22

king that allegedly caused downfall of zhou dynasty, "cried wolf" so that the army didn't respond when he was really being invaded

Front 23

Warring States

Back 23

merged during feudal period, last years of zhou dynasty
lords fought each other for power
greatest philosophies emerged during this time

Front 24

Qin Dynasty

Back 24

defeated other warring states, took control
first to unite China under strong central gov't
standardized weights, measures and $
conquered further south
built great wall

Front 25

Shi Huangdi

Back 25

"first emperor," ruled china w/ strict laws, famous for tyranny
founded qin dynasty

Front 26

Xi'an (Chang-an)

Back 26

capital of china under qin dynasty

Front 27

Code of Qin

Back 27

implemented uniform laws during qin dynasty
uniform system of writing, national system of taxation

Front 28

Autocracy

Back 28

way that qin dynasty ruled, emperor had complete control
suppressed scholars and thinkers who challenged him
burned and censored many books
forced manual labor, unpopular

Front 29

Liu Bang

Back 29

founder of han dynasty
overthrew unpopular qin dynasty
first ruler of the han dynasty

Front 30

Han Dynasty

Back 30

ruled w/ strong central gov't, but not as harsh as qin
most influential dynasty, successful combination of new philosophies + Qin's harsheness

Front 31

Wu Di

Back 31

longest ruler of han dynasty
conquered manchuria, korea, southeast asia, and west-central china
instituted civil service system + leveling, led to pax sinica

Front 32

Civil Service System

Back 32

gov't officials appointed based on examination system, only the educated could hold power

Front 33

Leveling

Back 33

gov't evens out effects of surplus/shortage years

Front 34

Pax Sinica

Back 34

"chinese peace"
trade flourished on silk rode
pop. grew to 60 mil.
paper was invented

Front 35

Silk Road

Back 35

trade route from china to mediterranean, camels ecported silk, jade, etc. and imported wool, gold and silver

Front 36

Xiongnu

Back 36

"barbarians" in northern china, uneducated, conquered by wu di

Front 37

Legalism

Back 37

political philosophy of qin shi huangdi and han feizi
believed human nature is corrupt, gov't RULE OF LAW must be harsh to force them into behaving
≠ ideals of confucianism

Front 38

Buddhism in China

Back 38

cult. diffusion results in mahayana
nirvana is changed to a more comforting afterlife than nothingness to appease the poor
chinese gods become boddhisatvas
reincarnation based only on karma
dies out in india b/c ignored dharma
heterododoxy appeals to chinese

Front 39

Buddhism in the Han Dynasty

Back 39

hans used pacifist religion to discourage rebellion
comforting afterlife gives reassurance to soldiers, sacrifice

Front 40

Daoism in the Han Dynasty

Back 40

rule by easiest path, don't use force or violence like the qin

Front 41

Yin/Yang

Back 41

female, dark, passive/male, bright, active
depend on one another, no extreme can last for too long, makes way for other extreme, BALANCE

Front 42

Daoism

Back 42

disapproved of the unnatural, "go with the flow"
follow instincts
"wei wu wei," do without doing, don't try to hard
complements confucianism, like yin and yang

Front 43

Confucianism

Back 43

accept one's role in society w/out ambition
promoted morality and pacifism in gov't, anti-machiavellian
followed the 5 key social relationships
improve wicked human nature through education, examination system

Front 44

Jen

Back 44

confucian ideal of humanity, "do not do unto others..."

Front 45

Te

Back 45

confucian ideal of power in morals, likable reputation is valuable
believed in mandate of heaven

Front 46

Wen

Back 46

believed that morality is admired above violence
"arts of peace" > war
gave soft power, cultural influence, when china was conquered, conquerers copied the conwuered

Front 47

5 Confucian Family Relationships

Back 47

in order of most to least important:
1.) father-son
2.) older sibling-younger sibling
3.) husband-wife
4.) ruler-subject
5.) friend-friend

Front 48

Kong Fuzi

Back 48

aka Confucius
didn't focus on religion as much
taught importance of family, respect for elders, and reverence for past/ancestors
tried to achieve gov't stability by making people follow role in society, and making gov't more virtuous

Front 49

The Analects

Back 49

confucius' students recorded his teachings in this book

Front 50

Laozi

Back 50

founder of daoism
second in influence to confucius

Front 51

Legalism in the Han Dynasty

Back 51

strict laws, rewarded loyal nobles w/ tax exemption
gov't controls economy, expands silk road

Front 52

Confucianism in the Han Dynasty

Back 52

examination system, mandate of heaven
respect hard-working farmers, staple of economy, look down on merchants

Front 53

The Five Classics

Back 53

book of poetry
book of history
book of devination
spring and autumn annals (record of city-state Lu)
Book of Rites (etiquette, rituals)

Front 54

Junks

Back 54

small sailboats useful for travelling on yangtze and west river

Front 55

Acupuncture

Back 55

medical pain practice based on daoist ideal of chi, movement of life energy through body
insert needles to remove obstructions of flow