Yang Jian
An ambitious ruler and founder of the Sui dynasty (589-618) that brought all of China once again under a centralized imperial rule.
Sui Yangdi
The second emperor of the Sui dynasty (reigned 604-618 C.E.), who completed the Grand Canal (a link from the Huang He River to the Chang Jiang River, or from the west to the east), linking North and South China and making rice easier to ship; due to his harsh rule- using human labor to build the canal, setting high taxes- wealthy lifestyle, and military failures, a rebellion was started that led to his murder.
Xuanzang
Seventh century Chinese monk who made a famous trip to India to collect Buddhist texts.
Tang Taizong
Chinese emperor (reigned 627-649) of the Tang dynasty (618-907).
Murasaki Shikibu
Japanese court lady who wrote the Tale of Genji, the first novel written in Japan.
Zhu Xi
(1130-1200) Most prominent of neo-Confucian scholars during Song, who stressed importance of applying philosophical principles to everyday life and action.
An Lushan
Tang dynasty's foremost military commander; mounted a rebellion in 755 and captured Chang'an and Luoyang- murdered by a soldier in 757.
Huang Chao
Military commander that led an uprising of Eastern China for almost a decade (875-884) that helped to weaken the Tang empire, leading to its demise.
Song Taizu
Reigned 960-976 C.E.; a junior military officer and was known for his honesty and effectiveness and in 960 his troops proclaimed him emperor. For the next several years he and his army defeated other warlords and brought China under unified rule under the Song dynasty.
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 by Sui Yangdi during the Sui Empire. (p. 277)
Buddhism
Religion, base on Four Noble Truths, associated with Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 B.C.E.), or the Buddha; its adherents desired to eliminate all distracting passion and reach nirvana.
Neo-Confucianism
Philosophy that attempted to merge certain basic elements of Confucian and Buddhist though; most important of the early Neo-Confucianists was the Chinese thinker Zhu Xi.
Sui Dynasty
Chinese dynasty (589-618) that constructed the Grand Canal, reunified China, and allowed for the splendor of the Tang Dynasty that followed.
Tang Dynasty
The imperial dynasty of China from 618 to 907, often referred to as The Golden Age; established its capital at Xi'an; government corruption, rebellions, and drought led to the collapse of the dynasty.
Song Dynasty
Chinese Dynasty (960-1279) that was marked by an increasingly urbanized and cosmopolitan society; noted for its art, literature, and philosophy.
Equal-field System
Chinese system during the Tang Dynasty in which the goal was to ensure an equitable distribution of land.
Samurai
A Japanese Warrior.
Nara Period
Japanese period (710-794), centered on the city of Nara, that was highest point of Chinese influence.
Heian Period
Japanese period (794-1185), a brilliant cultural era notable for world's first novel, Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Gengi.
Kamukara Shogunate
The Kamakura shogunate (Japanese: 鎌倉幕府, Kamakura bakufu) was a military dictatorship in Japan headed by the shoguns from 1185 (or 1192, when it was formally recognized) to 1333. It was based in Kamakura.
Muromachi Shogunate
The Muromachi period (室町時代 Muromachi jidai?, also known as the Muromachi era, the Muromachi bakufu, the Ashikaga era, the Ashikaga period, or the Ashikaga bakufu) is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573.
Silla Dynasty
Ruling dynasty in Korea from 668 to the late 9th century.
Chan Buddhism
Influential branch of Buddhism in China, with an emphasis on intuition and sudden flashes of insight instead of textual study.
Uighurs
A group of Turkic-speakers who controlled their own centralized empire from 744 to 840 in Mongolia and Central Asia.
Hangzhou
Capital of Song dynasty; located near East China Sea; permitted overseas trading; population exceeded 1 million.
Chang'an
Capital of Tang dynasty; population of 2 million, larger than any other city in the world at that time; huge, bustling trading center.
Zhuo
Chinese dynasty (1122-256 B.C.E) that was the foundation of Chinese thought formed during this period: Confucianism, Daoism, Zhou Classics.
Huang He River
Ofter called Yellow River or ("river of sorrows") with deadly floods in northern china, 3,395 miles long, carries loess.
Yangzi River
River in Central China used as a major east-west trade and transportation route for a long time; also called "long river".
Korea
Tang forces brought Manchuria under imperial authority and forced the Silla kingdom in Korea to acknowledge the Tang emperor as overlord.
Vietnam
Vietnamese authorities entered into tributary relationships with the Chinese court.
Japan
Chinese traditions deeply influenced Japanese political and cultural development.