Song Dynasty

The Chinese dynasty (960-1279) that rose to power after the Tang dynasty. An explosion of scholarship gave rise to Neo-Confucianism, and a revolution in agricultural and industrial production made China the richest and most populated country on the planet.

Bureaucratic state

Government run by administrative bureaus or divisions and staffed by non elected officials. Song Dynasty was an example

China's economic revolution

A major rise in prosperity that took place in China under the Song dynasty (960-1279), which was 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 technological innovation.

Hangzhou

China's capital during the Song dynasty, with a population of more than a million people.

Champa rice

a quick-maturing, drought resistant rice that can allow two harvests, of sixty days each in one growing season.

Censorate

part of the Chinese bureaucracy that made sure government officials were doing their jobs

Examination System

Chinese system for choosing officials for positions in the Song bureaucracy. Candidates needed to pass one or more examinations that increased in difficulty for higher positions.

Metallurgy

the branch of science and technology concerned with the properties of metals and their production and purification.

Printing (Woodblock)

Allowed for relatively cheap books

Gunpowder

Invented within China during the 9th century, this substance was became the dominate military technology used to expand European and Asian empires by the 15th century.

Paper money

legal currency issued on paper; it developed in China as a convenient alternative to metal coins. Lead to output increasing due to commercialization.

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 during the Sui Empire.

Foot Binding

Practice in Chinese society to mutilate women's feet in order to make them smaller; produced pain and restricted women's movement; made it easier to confine women to the household.

tributary system

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.

Confucianism in Korea

Pressures from confucianism eroded previous cultural practice.

Hangul

alphabet that uses symbols to represent the sounds of spoken Korean. (phonetic alphabet)

Vietnam

a southern state below Chinasignificance. They were partly integrated with China as a tributary state.

Female buddha

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Chu nom

A writing system that looks like Chinese characters but is in fact a phonetic script designed especially for Vietnamese.

Female Buddha

woman leader of an anti-Chinese resistance, 3rd century CE

Japan relation to china

borrowed on voluntary terms unlike Korea and Vietnam. This was due to being an Island.

Japan Buddhism

Various schools were created and this affected the art of japan.

Bushido

the code of honor and morals developed by the Japanese samurai.

Kami and shinto

spirits concerned with human beings; if treated properly they will intervene in our lives to bring benefits

Tale of Genji

Written by Lady Murasaki and shows intimate aspects of Japanese life.