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World History Chinese History (Song Dynasty, Korea, Vietnam, Japan) Use the internet to define the...

World History
Chinese History (Song Dynasty, Korea, Vietnam, Japan)
Use the internet to define the following terms.
1. Dialect:
2. Demographics:
3. Infrastructure:
4. Commercial Revolution China:
5. Neo-Confucianism:
6. Shinto:
7. Zen Buddhism:
8. Bureaucracy:
9. Koryo Dynasty:
10. Dai Viet:
11. Tripitaka Koreana:
12. Daimyo:
13. Shogun:
14. Samurai:
15. Bushido:

Answer

  1. Dialect: A variety of a language used by people in a particular region or social group. Dialects can differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. In China, regional speech varieties developed over centuries; some, such as Mandarin and Cantonese, differ so greatly that their speakers may not understand one another when speaking. A shared written tradition helped connect educated people across these linguistic differences.

  2. Demographics: The statistical characteristics of a human population, including its size, location, age distribution, birth rate, death rate, and migration patterns. Historians study demographics to understand how societies change. During China’s Song dynasty (960–1279), population growth, expanding cities, and increasing settlement in southern China helped transform the economy and society.

  3. Infrastructure: The basic physical systems and public facilities that allow a society and its economy to function, such as roads, bridges, canals, ports, irrigation networks, and water systems. In Song China, canals and waterways connected agricultural regions with cities and markets. These transportation networks helped move grain, commercial goods, people, and government supplies across the empire.

  4. Commercial Revolution in China: A major expansion of trade, markets, and commercial production that began before the Song dynasty and accelerated during Song rule. Agricultural improvements, including the spread of early-ripening rice, supported population growth and larger cities. Merchants expanded domestic and overseas trade, producers increasingly made goods for sale, and the use of money and credit grew. Song China also developed government-issued paper money, while industries such as ironworking, ceramics, and textiles expanded. This transformation made commerce increasingly important to Chinese economic life.

  5. Neo-Confucianism: A renewed interpretation of Confucian thought that developed especially during the Song dynasty. Its thinkers responded to ideas associated with Buddhism and Daoism while emphasizing Confucian ethics, family responsibilities, education, and good government. Zhu Xi (1130–1200), one of its most influential scholars, taught that moral self-cultivation and the investigation of things could help people understand the principles underlying the universe. His interpretation of the Confucian classics later became central to civil service education and influenced Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

  6. Shinto: A Japanese religious tradition centered on kami, sacred beings or powers associated with natural features, particular places, ancestors, and other aspects of life. Shinto practices include worship at shrines, purification rituals, offerings, and community festivals. It has no single founder or universally binding scripture. For much of Japanese history, Shinto practices coexisted and blended with Buddhism. The imperial family traditionally claimed descent from the sun goddess Amaterasu.

  7. Zen Buddhism: A Buddhist tradition that emphasizes meditation, disciplined practice, and direct insight into one’s true nature as paths toward awakening. It developed in China as Chan Buddhism and became especially influential in Japan beginning in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Major Japanese schools include Rinzai and Sōtō. Zen influenced religious life, painting, gardens, and other cultural practices, and it gained support from some members of the warrior elite.

  8. Bureaucracy: A system of administration in which appointed officials carry out laws, collect taxes, keep records, and manage public affairs through organized offices and established procedures. In imperial China, a large bureaucracy helped the emperor govern a vast territory. During the Song dynasty, civil service examinations based heavily on Confucian learning became increasingly important in selecting officials. These scholar-officials formed an influential governing elite, although family resources and social connections still affected access to office.

  9. Koryo Dynasty: Also spelled Goryeo, the Korean dynasty that ruled from 918 to 1392. Founded by Wang Geon, it unified the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and governed most of the Korean Peninsula. Buddhism received strong state support, while the government also used Confucian administrative practices and civil service examinations. Koryo is known for its celadon ceramics, printing achievements, and the Tripitaka Koreana. Following Mongol invasions in the thirteenth century, its rulers came under Mongol influence. The modern name “Korea” derives from “Goryeo.”

  10. Dai Viet: Meaning “Great Viet,” Đại Việt was the name adopted in 1054 by an independent Vietnamese kingdom centered in the Red River region of northern Vietnam. It was used, with interruptions, by several later dynasties. Đại Việt adopted and adapted Chinese political institutions, Confucian learning, and literary traditions while maintaining its own identity and independence. Under the Lý and Trần dynasties, it strengthened its government, supported Buddhism, and resisted foreign invasions, including Mongol-led attacks in the thirteenth century.

  11. Tripitaka Koreana: A large collection of Buddhist scriptures carved onto more than 80,000 wooden printing blocks during Korea’s Koryo dynasty. The surviving blocks were produced between 1237 and 1248 after an earlier collection was destroyed during Mongol invasions. Creating the collection was both a major scholarly project and a religious effort to seek protection for the kingdom. Valued for its accuracy, craftsmanship, and preservation, it is housed at Haeinsa Temple in South Korea. Tripitaka means “Three Baskets,” referring to the traditional major divisions of Buddhist scripture.

  12. Daimyo: Powerful Japanese territorial lords who controlled extensive lands and commanded warrior followers. The term became especially important during the later medieval period, when regional military leaders exercised substantial authority over their domains. Daimyo governed local populations, collected revenues, and maintained forces of samurai. Their relationships with the shogun varied over time: some served under relatively strong central military governments, while others operated with considerable independence.

  13. Shogun: A Japanese military ruler whose title was shortened from sei-i taishōgun, traditionally translated as “barbarian-subduing generalissimo.” Although earlier commanders held the title temporarily, it became associated with lasting military government under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who received it in 1192. A shogun headed a military administration called a bakufu, or shogunate. The emperor remained the sovereign and an important source of legitimacy, but shoguns often exercised much of the effective political and military power.

  14. Samurai: Members of Japan’s warrior class, which developed from armed retainers serving aristocratic families and provincial leaders. Samurai became increasingly powerful during the late Heian and Kamakura periods, serving military lords and shoguns. They fought with bows, swords, spears, and other weapons and could also perform administrative duties. Their status and responsibilities changed over time; during the relatively peaceful Tokugawa period, many worked primarily as officials rather than battlefield warriors.

  15. Bushido: Literally “the way of the warrior,” a term associated with ideals of samurai conduct, including courage, loyalty, honor, self-discipline, and readiness to face death. These ideals drew on changing combinations of warrior customs, Confucian ethics, Buddhist thought, and other influences. Bushido was not a single, uniform written code followed by all medieval samurai. More systematic descriptions developed especially during the Tokugawa period, and modern writers later reshaped and popularized it as an expression of Japanese national values.

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