Chapter 14 Study Guide

1. Describe the early career of Chinggis Khan. 2. What was the nature of the military organization established by Chinggis Khan? 3. How did the Mongols adapt to fighting against large, fortified cities? 4. With Chinggis Khan as the example, describe life under Mongol rulers. 5. What happened to the empire after Chinggis Khan's death? 6. Describe the Mongol assault on Russia. 7. Describe life in Russia under two and a half centuries of Mongol domination. 8. Describe the effects of the Mongol assaults on the Muslim heartlands. 9. What was the impact of the Mongols on Europe and the Islamic world? 10. How did the Yuan dynasty in China develop? 11. What was the impact of the Mongol conquest on Chinese society and political structure? 12. What were the positive aspects of the Mongol conquests? 13. What were the symptoms of Yuan decline? 14. How did the conquests of Timur-i Lang contrast with those of the Mongols?000-2,000 BCE Neolithic Cultures ca. 2100-1600 BCE Xia (Hsia) Dynasty (MYTHICAL) ca. 1600-1050 BCE Shang Dynasty One of the Three Dynasties, or San Dai (Xia, Shang, and Zhou), thought to mark the beginning of Chinese civilization: characterized by its writing system, practice of divination, walled cities, bronze technology, and use of horse-drawn chariots. ca. 1046-256 BCE Zhou (Chou) Dynasty: Western Zhou (ca. 1046-771 BCE), Eastern Zhou (771-256 BCE) A hierarchical political and social system with the Zhou royal house at its apex: power was bestowed upon aristocratic families as lords of their domains or principalities. Although often compared to European "feudalism," what actually gave the system cohesion was a hierarchical order of ancestral cults. The system eventually broke down into a competition for power between rival semi-autonomous states in what became known as the Spring and Autumn period (ca. 770-475 BCE) and the Warring States (ca. 475-221 BCE) period. It was during these tumultuous times that Confucius (551-479 BCE) lived. 221-206 BCE Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty Created a unitary state by imposing a centralized administration and by standardizing the writing script, weights and measures. Known for its harsh methods of rule, including the suppression of dissenting thought. 206 BCE-220 CE Han Dynasty: Western/Former Han (206 BCE-9 CE) and Eastern/Later Han (25-220 CE) Modified and consolidated the foundation of the imperial order. Confucianism was established as orthodoxy and open civil service examinations were introduced. Han power reached Korea and Vietnam. Records of the Historian, which became the model for subsequent official histories, was completed. 220-589 CE "Period of Disunity" or Six Dynasties Period The empire was fragmented. The North was dominated by invaders from the borderland and the steppes. The South was ruled by successive "Chinese" dynasties. Buddhism spread. 581-618 CE Sui Dynasty China reunified. 618-906 Tang (T'ang) Dynasty A time of cosmopolitanism and cultural flowering occurred. This period was the height of Buddhist influence in China until its repression around 845. Active territorial expansion until defeated by the Arabs at Talas in 751. 960-1279 Song (Sung) Dynasty: Northern Song (960-1127) and Southern Song (1127-1279) An era of significant economic and social changes: the monetization of the economy; growth in commerce and maritime trade; urban expansion and technological innovations. The examination system for bureaucratic recruitment of neo-Confucianism was to provide the intellectual underpinning for the political and social order of the late imperial period. 1279-1368 Yuan Dynasty