| A | B |
|---|
| Bartolomeu Dias | An early Portuguese explorer, explained his motives: "to serve God and His Majesty, to give light to those who were in darkness and to grow rich as all men desire to." |
| Prince Henry | The son of Portugal's king. Dreams of overseas exploration began in 1415 when he helped conquer the Muslim city of Ceuta in North Africa. |
| Vasco da Gama | Portuguese explorer who reached the port of Calicut, on the southwestern coast of India. |
| Treaty of Tordesillas | 1494 Spain and Portugal signed this in which they agreed to honor the line. |
| Dutch East India Company | Rich and powerful company. Eventually drove out the English and established their dominance over the region. |
| Ming Dynasty | By the time the first Portuguese ships dropped anchor off the Chinese coast in 1514, China had become the dominant power in the region under the rule of this dynasty. |
| Hongwu | The son of a peasant, commanded the rebel army that drove the Mongols out of China in 1368. |
| Yonglo | Son of Hongwu. Emereged victorious from the power struggle in 1398. |
| Zheng He | Chinese Muslim admiral who led Europeans. |
| Manchus | The people of the region on the northeast end of the Great Wall . |
| Qing Dynasty | Chinese name for the Mongols dynasty |
| Kangxi | Became emporer in 1661 and ruled for 60 years. |
| daimyo | Warrior-chieftsains that became lords in a new king of Japanese feudalism. |
| Oda Nobunaga | Defeated his rivals and seized the imperial capital Kyoto in 1568. |
| Toyotomi Hideyoshi | Nobunaga's best general. Continued his fallen leader's mission. |
| Tokugawa Shoguante | Dynasty of shoguns that ruled a unified Japan from 1603-1867. |
| kubuki | Theater for drama, art, and literature. |
| haiku | Poetry which does not express ideas, but presents images. |
