INTERACTIVE WORD OF THE DAY LIST

EAST ASIA

(Toanantakool)

GEOGRAPHY AND ANCIENT LIFE

YELLOW RIVER- also spelled HWANG HO, Pinyin HUANG HE, English Yellow River, the second longest river of China, flowing 3,395 miles (5,464 km) from the Plateau of Tibet eastward in a winding course to the Po Hai (Gulf of Chihli) in the Yellow Sea"(Britannica.com Inc).  

The Yellow River is the birth place of ancient Chinese civilization.

(Huanxing and  Zhongmin)

DYNASTY - A dynasty is a series of rulers from the same family.  Some in the future may refer to George Bush's family as U. S. political dynasty with two members serving as President and one currently a governor.

CHINESE DYNASTIES - SHANG, ZHOU, HAN, MING, MONGOL

EMPEROR - em·per·or (mpr-r)
n. The male ruler of an empire from Latin impertor, from imperre, to command: in-,

(Dictionary.com)

Portrait of the Hung-wu Emperor

Anonymous (14th century)
Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk

(The Splendors of Imperial China: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei)

ETHNOCENTRISM - Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's culture, ethnic group, or nation is superior to another.

CONFUCIUS

(Shinn)

CONFUCIANISM - Confucianism was a philosophy developed in China by Confucius in the 5th century.  In Confucianism it was believed that there was a natural order in the universe and in human relationships and stressed FILIAL PIETY. 

• Filial Piety emphasized  the concept of RESPECT and social order.  A son must honor his father and a subject must honor his emperor.  Both father and emperor must, however, be just in dealing with their subordinates.

KOWTOW -  Kowtow also spelled kotow, the act of supplication made by an inferior to his superior by kneeling and knocking his head to the floor. This prostration ceremony was most commonly used in religious worship by commoners who came to make a request of the local district magistrate and by officials and representatives of foreign powers who came into the presence of the emperor (BRITANNICA).

(The Silk Road )

SILK ROAD - The Silk Road is an ancient trade route that links China to the West. The Silk Road became the longest ground trade route in the ancient world. It stretched from China to imperial Rome, which is now present-day Italy. Traveling merchants rarely made the trip from one end of the road to the other. In fact, a network of market towns where goods were bartered or sold was developed along the route. After making trades along the way, merchants returned to their homelands (Ancient China).

(Mongolian Empire)

MONGOL (YUAN) EMPIRE - The Mongol Empire (A.D. 1279-1368) was established by Genghis Khan who united the tribal society of Mongolia into one of the fiercest war machines to ever exist.  Fighting, eating and sleeping on horse back allowed the Mongols to move quickly and destroy anyone in their path.   Kublai Khan adopted  the Chinese name of Yuan and the empire soon fell apart after his death because of in fighting.  

GENGHIS KHAN - (1167?-1227), Mongol conqueror and founder of the Mongol Empire, which spanned the continent of Asia by the time of his death. Originally named Temujin, he was born on the banks of the Onon River, near the present-day border between northern Mongolia and southeastern Russia (Encarta Reference).

(Horde Net)

"All who surrender will be spared; whoever does not surrender but opposes with struggle and dissension, shall be annihilated."
-Genghis Khan (Bois)

(http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/maptext_n2/mongol1.html)

MARCO POLO - Polo, Marco (1254-1324), Venetian traveler and author, whose account of his travels and experiences in China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade (Encarta Reference).

(Dowling)

IMPERIALISM AND COLONIAL AGE

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE - Spheres of Influences were areas of China (usual port cities and surrounding regions) where the countries of Germany, Great Britain, France, Russia and Japan had exclusive trading rights.  Spheres of Influence were a form of imperialism.

 (Caswel)

OPIUM WARS - Opium Wars (1839-1843, 1856-1860), two wars fought between Britain and China in which Western powers gained significant commercial privileges and territory. The Opium Wars began when the Chinese government tried to stop the illegal importation of opium by British merchants.

OPEN DOOR POLICY - Open Door Policy, term that refers to the principle of equal trading rights in China at the end of the 19th century. The United States was unwilling to compete for territory, but desired access to China for trading purposes. Accordingly, in 1899 and 1900 U.S. Secretary of State John Milton Hay negotiated an agreement with Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, and Japan that guaranteed "equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire" and preservation of "Chinese territorial and administrative" integrity (Encarta Reference).

 

Taiping Rebellion

(1850-64), radical political and religious upheaval that was probably the most important event in China in the 19th century. It ravaged 17 provinces, took an estimated 20,000,000 lives. The rebellion began under the leadership of Hung Hsiu-ch'üan (1814-64), a disappointed civil service examination candidate who, influenced by Christian teachings, had a series of visions and believed himself to be the son of God, the younger brother of Jesus Christ, sent to reform China. Their slogan--to share property in common--attracted many famine-stricken peasants, workers, and miners, as did their propaganda against the foreign Manchu rulers of China. Taiping Christianity placed little emphasis on New Testament ideas of kindness, forgiveness, and redemption. Rather it emphasized the wrathful Old Testament God who demanded worship and obedience. Prostitution, foot-binding, and slavery were prohibited, as well as opium smoking, adultery, gambling, and use of tobacco and wine. Under the Taipings, the Chinese language was simplified, and equality between men and women was decreed. All property was to be held in common, and equal distribution of the land according to a primitive form of communism was planned (Britannica.com).

(Croison)

Boxer Rebellion

(1900), officially supported peasant uprising that attempted to drive all foreigners from China. "Boxers" was a name that foreigners gave to a Chinese secret society known as the I-ho ch'üan ("Righteous and Harmonious Fists"). The group practiced certain boxing and calisthenic rituals in the belief that this gave them supernatural powers and made them impervious to bullets. Their original aim was the destruction of the dynasty and also of the Westerners who had a privileged position in China (Britannia.com).

 (Yale)