| A | B |
|---|
| An Lushan | Foreign-born general who led a major revolt against the Tang dynasty in 755–763, perhaps provoking China’s turn to xenophobia. |
| bushido | The “way of the warrior,” referring to the military virtues of the Japanese samurai, including bravery, loyalty, and an emphasis on death over surrender. |
| Chinese Buddhism | Buddhism was China’s only large-scale cultural borrowing before the twentieth century; Buddhism entered China from India in the first and second centuries C.E. but only became popular in 300–800 C.E. through a series of cultural accommodations. At first supported by the state, Buddhism suffered persecution during the ninth century but continued to play a role in Chinese society. |
| chu nom | A variation of Chinese writing developed in Vietnam that became the basis for an independent national literature; “southern script.” |
| foot binding | Chinese practice of tightly wrapping girls’ feet to keep them small, begun in the Tang dynasty; an emphasis on small size and delicacy was central to views of female beauty. |
| hangul | A phonetic alphabet developed in Korea in the fifteenth century |
| Hangzhou | China’s capital during the Song dynasty, with a population of more than a million people. |
| Heian | Japan’s second capital city (now known as Kyoto), modeled on the Chinese capital of Chang’an; also used to describe the period of Japanese history from 794 to 1192 C.E |
| Jurchen | A nomadic people who established a state that included parts of northern China (1115–1234). |
| kami | Sacred spirits of Japan, whether ancestors or natural phenomena; their worship much later came to be called Shinto |
| Khitan | A nomadic people who established a state that included parts of northern China (907–1125). |
| Koryo | Korean dynasty (918–1392). |
| Kumsong: | The capital of Korea in the medieval era, modeled on the Chinese capital of Chang’an |
| Murasaki Shikibu | Perhaps Japan’s greatest author, a woman active at the Heian court who is best known for The Tale of Genji, which she wrote around 1000 C.E. |
| Nara | Japan’s first capital city, modeled on the Chinese capital of Chang’an |
| Neo-Confucianism | A philosophy that emerged in Song-dynasty China; it revived Confucian thinking while adding in Buddhist and Daoist elements. |
| Pure Land Buddhism | A school of Buddhism that proved to be immensely popular in China; emphasized salvation by faith in the Amitabha Buddha. |
| samurai | Members of Japan’s warrior class, which developed as political power became increasingly decentralized |
| Shotoku Taishi | Japanese statesman (572–622) who launched the drive to make Japan into a centralized bureaucratic state modeled on China; he is best known for the Seventeen Article Constitution, which lays out the principles of this reform |
| Silla dynasty | The first ruling dynasty to bring a measure of political unity to the Korean peninsula (688–900). |
| Song dynasty economic revolution | A major economic quickening that took place in China under the Song dynasty (960–1279); marked by rapid population growth, urbanization, economic specialization, the development of an immense network of internal waterways, and a great increase in industrial production and innovation. |
| Sui dynasty | Ruling dynasty of China (581–618) that effectively reunited the country after several centuries of political fragmentation. |
| Tang dynasty: | Ruling dynasty of China from 618 to 907; noted for its openness to foreign cultural influences |
| tanka | Highly stylized form of Japanese poetry that has been a favored means of expression for centuries. |
| tribute system | Chinese method of dealing with foreign lands and peoples that assumed the subordination of all non-Chinese authorities and required the payment of tribute—produce of value from their countries—to the Chinese emperor (although the Chinese gifts given in return were often much more valuable). |
| Trung sisters: | Two Vietnamese sisters who launched a major revolt against the Chinese presence in Vietnam in 39 C.E.; the rebellion was crushed and the sisters committed suicide, but they remained symbols of Vietnamese resistance to China for centuries |
| Uighurs | Turkic empire of the steppes; flourished in the eighth century C.E |
| Wendi, Emperor: | Sui emperor (r. 581–604) who particularly patronized Buddhism. |
| Xiongnu | Major nomadic confederacy that was established ca. 200 B.C.E. and eventually reached from Manchuria to Central Asia |
