_The Earth And Its Peoples_ Terms: Chapter 11, Central And Eastern Asia, 400-1200 Ce

Front 1

Bubonic plague

Back 1

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 in many countries.

Front 2

Champa rice

Back 2

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.

Front 3

Grand Canal

Back 3

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.

Front 4

Gunpowder

Back 4

A mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, in various proportions. THe formula, brought to China in the 400s or 500s, was first used 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.

Front 5

Junk

Back 5

A very large flatbottom sailing ship produced in the Tang and Song Empires, specifically designed for long-distance commercial travel.

Front 6

Kamakura Shogunate

Back 6

The first of Japan's decentralized military governments (1185-1333).

Front 7

Koryo

Back 7

Korean kingdom founded in 918 and destroyed by a Mongol invasion in 1259.

Front 8

Li Shimin (599-649)

Back 8

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.

Front 9

Moveable type

Back 9

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.

Front 10

Shamanism

Back 10

The practice of identifying special individuals (shamans) who will interact with spirits for the benefit of the community. Characteristic of the Korean kingdoms of the early medieval period and of early societies of Central Asia.

Front 11

Song Empire

Back 11

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.

Front 12

Tang Empire

Back 12

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.

Front 13

Tributary system

Back 13

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.

Front 14

Uigurs

Back 14

A group of Turkic-speakers who controlled their own centralized empire from 744 to 840 in Mongolia and Central Asia.

Front 15

Zen

Back 15

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".