In the Orbit of China: The East Asian Corner of the Global System
Taika reforms: attempt to remake Japanese monarch into an absolutist Chinese-style emperor; included attempts to create professional bureaucracy and peasant conscript army.
Heian: Japanese city later called Kyoto; built to escape influence of Buddhist monks.
Tale of Genji: written by Lady Murasaki; first novel in any language; evidence for mannered style of Japanese society.
Fujiwara: mid-9th-century Japanese aristocratic family; exercised exceptional influence over imperial affairs; aided in decline of imperial power.
Bushi: regional warrior leaders in Japan; ruled small kingdoms from fortresses; administered the law, supervised public works projects, and collected revenues; built up private armies.
Samurai: mounted troops of the bushi; loyal to local lords, not the emperor.
Seppuku: ritual suicide in Japan; also known as hari-kiri; demonstrated courage and was a means to restore family honor.
Gumpei wars: waged for five years from 1180 on Honshu between the Taira and Minamoto families; ended in destruction of Taira.
Bakufu: military government established by the Minamoto following Gumpei wars; centered at Kamakura; retained emperor, but real power resided in military government and samurai.
Shoguns: military leaders of the bakufu.
Hojo: a warrior family closely allied with the Minamoto; dominated Kamakura regime and manipulated Minamoto rulers; ruled in name of emperor.
Ashikaga Takuaji: member of Minamoto family; overthrew Kamakura regime and established Ashikaga shogunate (1336-1573); drove emperor from Kyoto to Yoshino.
Daimyos: warlord rulers of small states following Onin war and disruption of Ashikaga
shogunate; holdings consolidated into unified and bounded mini-states.
Choson: earliest Korean kingdom; conquered by Han in 109 B.C.E.
Koguryo: tribal people of northern Korea; established an independent kingdom in the northern half of the peninsula; adopted cultural Sinification.
Sinification: extensive adaptation of Chinese culture in other regions.
Silla: Korean kingdom in southeast; became a vassal of the Tang and paid tribute; ruled Korea from 668.
Yi: dynasty (1392-1910); succeeded Koryo dynasty after Mongol invasions; restored aristocratic dominance and Chinese influence.
Trung sisters: leaders of a rebellion in Vietnam against Chinese rule in 39 C.E.; demonstrates importance of women in Vietnamese society.
Khmers and Chams: Indianized Vietnamese peoples defeated by northern government at Hanoi.
Nguyen: southern Vietnamese dynasty with capital at Hue that challenged northern Trinh dynasty with center at Hanoi.