Tara & Grace
Asia
Geography:
-Vietnam is in southeastern Asia, it borders China to the north and Cambodia to the west.
To the south and east it is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean.
-Korea is next to China and Japan. It is a peninsula which extends southward.
-Indonesia is in southeastern Asia and is an archipelago between the Indian Ocean and the
Pacific Ocean.
Terrace Framing- a series of step-like benches supported by either sod or stone walls.
Monsoons- seasonal winds that occur every summer in southern Asia.
Mongol Empire
-Asian empire that stretched across all of Asia
-covered Korea, China, Russia, the Middle East, and India
-Began in 1206
-Genghis Khan was the ruler of the Mongols
-Genghis Khan unified the Mongol people
-Kublai Khan (the grandson of Genghis Khan) became the ruler after Genghis died
-Kublai continued the conquest of China
-After Kublai died, the empire fell apart
Korean War:
-caused by the division of Korea into North and South Korea
-China and North Korea v. South Korea, US, Britain, Canada, Australia
-Ended in an agreement on July 27, 1953
Kurds:
-a Middle Eastern minority group that lives in South west Asia.
-most are Sunni Muslims
Tamils- south Indian peoples and their languages.
Sikhs-A religion combining the practices and beliefs of Hinduism and Islam.
Nationalism of Cambodia
-Pol Pot was the dictator of Cambodia between 1975 and 1998
- He was responsible for the deaths of 1.5 million Cambodians
-Khmer Rouge was a Cambodian communist group led by Pol Pot
Vietnam War
-in the 1950's the US started to send troops to Vietnam to fight against communism which
was taking over Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh- a nationalist and a communist in Vietnam
-practiced guerrilla warfare to beat the French and the US in the Korean War
I.
JAPAN
Geography
a. Used selective borrowing from China.
i. Confucianism
ii. Japanese students sent to China to study religion, philosophy, art
architecture and government
iii. Writing system  Japanese adapted writing system to fit their own
language.
b. Because of lack of natural resources, traded a lot with China and Korea land is
very mountainous (about 73%), volcanic activity and occasional earthquakes don’t
make it very suitable for farming.
II. Ethnic Homogeneity- there has always been very little diversity in Japan.
III.
Tokugawa Era (1600-1868)
a. Tokugawa was most powerful shogunate (feudal, military, dictatorship)
b. Based on a strict class hierarchy (see Japanese feudalism)
c. Semi Golden age- flourishing of arts and entertainment
d. For most of the time- isolated from outside
e. Poor harvests, harsh lords and military and decrease in personal freedoms and
commercial development led to dissatisfaction among people
f. In 1868, several daimyos overthrew the emperor, ending the Tokugawa period and
beginning the Meiji restoration.
IV.
Japanese feudalisma. Emperorshogundaimyosamuraiartisans peasants
b. Daimyo were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 12th- 19th c.
c. Feudal system present in Japan until 1868
V.
Bushido and Shintoism
a. Bushido- “the way of the warrior”, the samurai honor and moral code
b. Shintoism
i. Based on animism- worship of things in nature
ii. Once the original religion, but now is a minority religion.
VI.
Matthew Perry- opened the formally isolated Japan to western trade, imperialism and
diplomacy in 1854
VII.
Meiji Restoration- 1868-1912
a. Wanted to modernize at least enough to compete with other western nations
b. Built modern industries (coal mines, textile mills, shipyards, etc.)
c. Sold industries to private companies- became private enterprises
d. Modernized the military- took advice from European military experts, built naval
shipyards, etc. and former samurai took charge of military
e. 1889- Japans first constitution peoples power still extremely limited
f. reorganized society- removed barriers that prevented people from getting jobs they
wanted
g. women still greatly discriminated against
VIII. Imperialist Period- beginning in 1895
a. Taiwan (1895), Korea (1910) and Manchuria (part of it in 1905 from RussoJapanese war) were it’s initial targets to expand it’s empire
b. WWI gave Japan an opportunity to enlarge empire- was on Britains side
IX.
Post WWII – occupied by the US. Occupation ends August 28,1952
a. Constitution- 1946- allied occupation draw up a new constitution
i. Emperor loses almost all real power and becomes merely a symbol of the
state
ii. Citizens rights increase dramatically
iii. Two part legislature decide laws
iv. Prime minister (chosen by a majority vote in the legislature) becomes the
head of the government
b. Economic policies- American occupation…
i. redistribute farmland
ii. legalize labor unions
iii. give women and children greater rights
X.
Balance of trade
Ministry of International Trade and Industry form