REVIEW FOR THE

UNIT 8 TESTGunpowder Empires

Qing ChinaFeudal Japan

INSTRUCTIONS: Go through the slides and answer each

question in the packet; the slide numbers are listed for each question

REVIEW FOR THE

UNIT 8 TEST

From 1300 to 1700, three “Gunpowder Empires” dominated parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia

The Ottoman Empire (today:

Turkey)

The Safavid Empire (today: Iran)

The Mughal Empire (today: India)

All three empires were able to conquer neighboring people by forming strong armies

that used rifles and artillery; this gave them the nickname “Gunpowder Empires”

All three empires

were Islamic and ruled by

Muslim leaders

By the late 1500s, the Ottomans expanded a great deal, controlling much of Arabia and the Middle East, some of Northern Africa, and a large part of Eastern Europe

The heart of the Safavid Empire was the country Persia; today, Persia is known as the country Iran

The Safavid Empire

Ottoman ruler Suleyman the Magnificent’s

greatest accomplishment was establishing a stable government for the

Ottoman Empire through the law code he created

Suleyman’s law code was just as

influential as the law code of the

Byzantine Empire

The Ottoman army included 30,000 elite soldiers called janissaries; these fierce soldier-slaves were trained to be completely loyal to their Ottoman Turk rulers and

helped the Ottomans create a large empire

Suleyman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire, Shah Abbas of the Safavid Empire, and Emperor Akbar of the Mughal Empire were the greatest rulers of their

respective empires; all three were tolerant of the people they ruled, which helped their empires

SULEYMAN ABBAS AKBAR

Art and architecture

flourished in the Safavid Empire,

especially carpets that blended Persian and European

designs; these became luxury

items highly desired by Europeans

The greatest Ottoman sultan was Suleyman

the Magnificent, who came to

power in 1520 By the mid-1500s, Suleyman was the

most powerful king in the world;

similar to kings such as Louis XIV,

he ruled with absolute power

The greatest example of the Mughal Empire’s architecture is the Taj Mahal, which was built in 1631

Babur began the Mughal Empire in what is now India and Pakistan; his grandson Akbar became the

Mughals’ greatest ruler; Akbar was a Muslim ruling over an empire made up mostly of Hindus

The best example of Akbar’s

tolerance was his creation of a new religion called the

Divine FaithThe Divine Faith was an example

of syncretism because it

blended ideas from Islam, Hinduism,

Christianity, and Zoroastrianism

Art, literature, and architecture flourished under Suleyman as the Ottomans experienced a cultural “golden age”, just as the

Mughal Empire experienced a “golden age” under Akbar

Mosque of Suleyman by architect, Sinan Ottoman miniature painting

In China, ruling dynasties could be justifiably overthrown if it was decided that they had grown

weak and lost the Mandate of Heaven

The religion of Buddhism was introduced and spread from India to China during the Han Dynasty

Yuan Dynasty (1271 CE to 1368 CE)

The Mongols invaded China in and took it over; the Mongols created their own ruling

dynasty in China called the Yuan Dynasty

In 1644, northern

invaders called the Manchus

conquered China and

created the second foreign

dynasty in Chinese

history, the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty (1644 CE to 1911 CE)

The Manchurian emperor of China,

Kangxi, also earned Chinese respect by keeping Confucian beliefs, lowering

taxes, and restoring peace and prosperity

to China

Kangxi earned respect of the Chinese people he ruled over by being the first emperor to tour China and personally visit peasant villages

The introduction of new American crops like corn and sweet

potatoes led to a dramatic increase in

the Chinese population

The sharp rise in the number of Chinese

peasants would lead to intense

competition for land and violent

rebellions when poverty grew

The second challenge to Qing China was the arrival of European missionaries and merchants in Asia who

were eager to gain access into China

Europeans arrived with superior military technology, demanded that China trade with them, and refused to

accept Chinese customs

Similar to Greece, Japan was divided by

mountains, which made it

difficult to unify their people

Geography of Japan

Japan’s island location provided protection from potential

Chinese and Mongol invasions…

…but Japan was close enough to borrow cultural

ideas from China

Much like African animism, Shinto focuses on the worship of spirits in nature Shinto worshippers

believe in divine spirits called kami that live in nature; they build shrines devoted to nature called “torii”

Japanese emperors often did not have

ultimate power over the various clan

leaders; Japan often had an emperor

figurehead who served as a symbol of power and clan rulers with

true power

Japan adopted Confucianism and blended Chinese styles of writing, architecture, and art

Chinese architecture

Japanese architecture

Which is Chinese and which is Japanese?

The feudal system in Japan and the feudal system in Europe were very similar, both

of them powerful land owners who exchanged land for military service

Japanese Feudalism Farmers traded land to strong

warlords called daimyo, who

offered protection in

exchange for land Daimyo were

served by loyal warriors

called samurai

The emperor held the highest rank, but had

little real power

Samurai warriors served their

daimyos; the most powerful daimyo in Japan held the title of “shogun”, who

controlled the Japanese military

Samurai were highly skilled swordsmen,

but also used horses and guns (after the arrival of Europeans

in Japan)

Japanese Feudalism

Tokugawa enjoyed trade with Europeans and was fascinated to learn about their military, new

technologies, and ideas

Tokugawa Shogunate

European firearms would help powerful shoguns unify Japan

From 1560 to 1600, three powerful shogun, known as the “Three Unifiers”, began to restore order and unify Japan

Oda Nobunaga Toyotomi Hideyoshi Tokugawa Ieyasu

In 1568, a brutal daimyo named Oda Nobunaga conquered the Japanese capital of Kyoto and

began unifying Japan

Tokugawa Ieyasu

During the time of Tokugawa’s rule, the

actual power was held by the shogun, not the

emperor

Tokugawa was the shogun who

completed the unification of Japan; he moved the capital

city to Edo and created a line of successors who would rule for another 250 years

Between 1549 and 1600, European missionaries had converted 300,000

Japanese to Christianity This upset Tokugawa

because the missionaries ignored Japanese

traditionsIn 1612, Tokugawa

banned Christianity and began ruthlessly

persecuting Christians All Japanese were forced

to be faithful to Buddhism Execution of Christians

Tokugawa Shogunate

Nagasaki Bay

Japan

Deshima

Dutch shipsJapan’s policy with foreigners was one of

isolationism: the Japanese port at Deshima in Nagasaki Bay remained open, but ONLY

to Dutch and Chinese merchants

NEXT, REVIEW SOME MATERIAL FROM THE

PREVIOUS FOUR UNITS TO REFRESH YOUR

MEMORIES

From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He explored areas along the Indian Ocean, Arabia, and East Africa, expanded trade, made contact

with other cultures, and collected tribute from foreigners

CHINESE INNOVATIONS CHINESE INNOVATIONS

1. Mechanical clock 6. Chinese writing

2. Magnetic compass 7. Ship building

3. Gunpowder 8. Vaccinations

4. Printing press 9. Silk weaving

5. Paper money 10 Porcelain

CHINESE INNOVATIONS DURING THE TANG AND SONG DYNASTIES

The way that people got protection from outside invaders was by turning to local lords

and noblemen instead of the nation’s king

Feudalism is a system in which

land is exchanged for military service

and loyalty

This began a new political

and social system called

feudalism

How did physical geography impact the Byzantine capital of Constantinople?

• Text

Constantinople was a crossroads for trade and business between Europe, Asia, and Africa because of its location;

this trade made the Byzantine Empire very wealthy

The Sunni-Shi’a SplitBefore the Umayyads, caliphs were

elected members of Muhammad’s familyShi’a Muslims

rejected the rule of the Umayyads

The Shi’a believe that caliphs must

come directly from Muhammad’s

bloodline

Sunni Muslims accepted the rule of

the UmayyadsThe Sunni believe

that caliphs should follow Muhammad’s example, but do not have to be relatives

When ruling their empire, the Persians were tolerant of conquered people’s cultures, built an extensive road system, and used standardized coins to promote business and trade

PERSIA’S ORGANIZED EMPIRE

LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS

In Han China, the teachings of the philosopher Confucius had great influence on their society

Confucianism focused on filial piety (respect for elders)

For a bureaucrat to get a government job, he would have to pass a civil service exam based on Confucius’ teachings

China was protected and isolated from outsiders by deserts and the Himalayan Mountains

IF YOU HAVE CORRECTLY

ANSWERED ALL OF THE QUESTIONS ON

YOUR REVIEW PACKET, YOU WILL BE READY FOR THE

UNIT 8 TEST

Originally created byChristopher Jaskowiak