Chapter 26 #18-34

Footbinding

Custom that originated in song dynasty, they bound feet with strips of linen that caused womens feet to not grow naturally and couldnt support their weight, practiced in wealthy classes and allowed arrangeable marriage, best example of a patriarchal society

Scholar bureaucrats

Appointed by the emperor and did day to day governance of the empire; came from a class of well-educated and highly literate men that had earned academic degrees by passing civil service examinations; they dominated china's political and social life

Population growth

China was a primary agricultural society, emperor acknowledged agriculture by plowing the first furrow of the season, pop. rose from 100 million to 160 million from 1500 to 1600 after the diseases, it fell to 140 million in 1650s then rose 40%

Chinese literature

Confucian books; yongle encyclopedia, Collection of books, complete library of the four treasuries; novels had little literary merit but their tales of conflict, horror, wonder, excitement, and sometimes pornography appealed to the readers

Zheng he

Eunuch admiral who led a series of 7 massive maritime expeditions in 1405-1433; had 317 vessels and 28,000 men; called at ports from java to malindi; suppressed pirates; intervened in local conflicts and intimidated local authorities and made china's presence felt throughout the indian ocean basin

Civil service system

Examinations consisted of numerous tests administrated at the districts; stiff original quotas restricted and number of successful candidates; the candidates lived in a crammed room for 2-3 days writing "eight legged essays"; if someone died they would sit their until the test is over and then toss their body

Foreign trade

Global trade brought prosperity; produced silk, porcelain, lacquerware and tea for the indian ocean basin, central asia, and europe; chinese imported spices from maluku, bird and animal skins and woolen textiles; compensation came in silver; authorities supervised foreign merchants

Matteo ricci

Had ambitious goal of converting china to christianity ; learned man; well polished diplomat; became a popular figure in the ming court; founder of mission to china; was Italian

Filial piety

Implied duties of children towards fathers but also loyalty of subjects towards the emperor, like imperial government; chinese family was hierarchal, patriarchal and authoritarian

Zhu xi

Neoconfucian scholar; combined moral, ethical, and political values of confucius with the local rigor and speculative power of buddhist philosophy; emphasized values of self discipline, filial piety and obedience to established rulers

The mean people

Part of the lower class that included slaves; were indentured servants, entertainers, prostitutes and others such as the "beggars of Jiangsu" and the "boat people if Guangdong"

Chinese social hierarchy

Priviliged class: emperor, scholar bureaucrats, gentry(landed nobility) Working class: peasants, artisans/workers, merchants Lower class: military, mean people Scholars and gentry organized water control projects and public security measures and played a role in the management of local society, enjoyed exception from taxes, sources of income was from gov.; working class provided goods and food for population; lower class regarded military as evil

Confucian education

Promoted confucian values; funded the hanlin academy and provided funding for civil service examinations and other projects emphasizing chinese cultural traditions; yongle sponsored the yongle encyclopedia; kangxi had his collection of books; qianlong sponsored the book "Complete library of the four treasuries"; schools studied for civil service examinations and encouraged the cultivation of confucian values; focused on confucian texts and neo confucian commentaries

Qianlong

Reigned 1736-1795; kangxi's grandson; he continued expansion of chinese influence; he sought to consolidate kangxi's conquests in central asia by maintaining military garrisons in eastern turkestan; made vietnam, burma, and napal vassal states of the qing dynasty; reigned marked height of qing dynasty; payed less attention to imperial affairs and delegated responsibilities to his favorite eunuchs; through reign, china remained a wealthy and well organized land; cancelled tax collection

Son of heaven

The human being designated by heavenly powers to maintain order on the earth, usually the emperor; everything about the person and the institution he represented conveyed a sense of authority

Gender relations in ming/Qing

Women subjected to the authority of men; parents preferred boys over girls, they thought of girls as financial liability and men as gov officials, newborn girls were victims of infanticide, relatives discouraged widows to remarry and follow husbands to their grave

Neo confucianism

emphasized values of self discipline, filial piety and obedience to established rulers; it combined moral, ethical, and political values of confucius; appealed to ming and qing emperors; tradition was the reigning imperial ideology from the 14th century to the early 20th century