Study Guide for the First Exam
A. Terms to know for possible "objective" questions (true/false, multiple choice, matching)
1. Zhongguo
2. Nihon
3. Song dynasty
4. Jurchen
5. Khitan Liao
6. Neo-Confucianism
7. Southern Song
8. Yuan dynasty
9. Kublai Khan
10. Marco Polo
11. Zheng He
12. Ming dynasty
13. Wang Yangming
14. landscape painting
15. Qing dynasty
16. Beijing/Nanjing
17. Kamakura
18. Ashikaga
19. Tokugawa
20. Edo
21. "sakoku"
22. kanji, hiragana
23. Yamato
24. Heian
25. fudai/tozama/shimpan
26. terauke
27. Deshima
28. Rangaku
29. National Learning
30. British East India Trading Company
31. Kangxi
32. Qianlong
33. Macartney Mission
34. George III
35. Canton System
36. Opium War
37. Treaty of Nanjing
38. Treaty of the Bogue
39. Matteo Ricci
40. Jesuits
41. arquebus
42. sankin kotai
43. Second Opium War
44. Treaty of Tianjin
45. Taiping Rebellion
46. Matthew Perry
47. Treaty of Kanagawa
48. Townshend Harris
49. Harris Treaty
50. Lin Zexu
51. Huang Zongxi
52. Wang Fuzhi
53. The Sacred Edict
54. Yang Guangxian
55. Wei Yuan's Gazetteer
56. Hong Xiuquan
57. Motoori Norinaga
58. Sato Nobuhiro
59. Yoshida Shoin
60. Fukuzawa Yukichi
 
B. Essay Questions That You Must Be Able to Answer
1. Explain the "barbarian problem" as understood by Chinese and Japanese, and discuss the ways in which they dealt with it. To what extent were they effective?

2. Characterize the relationship of Neo-Confucian scholars caught in the transition between the Ming and Qing dynasties. What was the nature of their response to the monumental political change they witness. Be sure to mention Hong Zongxi, Lu Liuliang, Gu Yanwu, and Wang Fuzhi. How might the "Sacred Edict" be viewed as a Qing response to that offered, often more privately, by Chinese scholars?

3. Characterize the George III/Qianlong correspondence in terms of the Sino-British trade problem which prompted it, as well as national prejudices, conceits, and assumptions. To what extent did this correspondence, when viewed from the Chinese side, reflect "traditional" patterns of thought? Briefly indicate the major events that followed the correspondence, making it seem especially poignant.

4. What were the reasons for the Opium War, as they were understood by Qing China and Britain? In particular, how did they relate to the "traditional" problem that Chinese had had with "barbarians"? What was the outcome of the war, diplomatically, economically, and politically, for the two sides, and how was it viewed, especially by the Chinese?

5. What were the problems faced by Christian missionaries in East Asia (China and Japan), and what were their responses to them? What factors were behind the Christian "move" into East Asia? What factors influenced the East Asian response to Christianity?

6. What was the sankin kotai system, and how did it work to bolster the Tokugawa bakufu, and yet also contribute to its eventual collapse?

7. Briefly explain the circumstances surrounding the "opening" of Japan by Commodore Perry, and why that "opening" soon led to the collapse of the Tokugawa bakufu. Why did a similar collapse not occur in Qing China, following the "opening" of that country to Western trade?

8. Compare and contrast the intellectual worlds of Ming-Qing China and Tokugawa Japan. To what extent did Chinese and Japanese thinkers assist their nations in coming to terms with the outside world?