 | Term | Definition |
| |
The Great Wall |
a vast Chinese defensive fortification begun in the 3rd century B.C. and running along the northern border of the country for 2,400 km |
| |
Marco Polo |
Venetian merchant and traveler. His accounts of his travels to China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade |
| |
Lord Macartney |
Led an expedition from Great Britain to China in 1793 |
| |
One-Child Policy |
A policy which induces Chinese couples to have only one child |
| |
sterilization |
a surgical procedure that prevents reproduction by total or partial removal of the reproductive organs |
| |
Mao Zedong |
The leader of the Long March in the Chinese Civil War (1934), he was chairman, and effectively the most powerful figure, of the People's Republic of China from 1949 until his death |
| |
Taiwan |
government occupying the island of Taiwan and neighboring small islands, administered separately since 1949 by a Chinese Nationalist government after its retreat from mainland China |
| |
Spratly Islands |
group of more than 600 islets, coral reefs, sand bars, and atolls in the South China Sea |
| |
G8 |
eight leading industrial nations |
| |
Communism |
the political theory or system in which all property and wealth is owned in a classless society by all the members of a community |
| |
Capitalism |
an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and distribution of goods, characterized by a free competitive market and motivation by profit |
| |
Deng Xiaoping |
Former Chinese leader |
| |
Subsidy |
money given by government |
| |
corruption |
dishonesty for personal gain |
| |
Inflation |
higher prices |
| |
Infrastructure |
public services or systems |
| |
sanctions |
barring trade |
| |
Tiananmen Square |
a large square in central Beijing, China, that is a traditional site for festivals, rallies, and demonstrations |
| |
WTO |
World Trade Organization |
| |
Confucius |
Chinese philosopher, administrator, and moralist. His social and moral teachings, collected in the Analects , tried to replace former religious observances |
| |
Aristotle |
Greek philosopher and scientist. He was among the most influential of philosophers in Western history |
| |
dissent |
to disagree with a widely held or majority opinion |
| |
gulag |
jail |
| |
Tibet |
country in and to the north of the Himalayas, since 1965 a province-level administrative region of China |
| |
Buddhism |
a world religion or philosophy based on the teaching of the Buddha and holding that a state of enlightenment can be attained by suppressing worldly desire |
| |
Dalai Lama |
highest priest of Tibetan Buddhism and, until the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, the traditional spiritual and secular ruler of Tibe |
| |
Beijing |
capital of China |
