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Astrolabe
A navigation tool used to measure latitude by observing the stars.
Circumnavigation
Sailing all the way around the world.
Colonialism
The establishment of political control by one country over another, often for economic gain.
Confucian Bureaucracy
Scholar-officials who emphasized moral order and agriculture over trade.
Haijin
Chinese “sea ban” policies limiting foreign trade after the end of Zheng He’s voyages.
Imperial Fleet
A state-funded navy built to project power and conduct diplomacy across the seas.
Jesuit Missions
Religious missions led by the Society of Jesus to convert indigenous peoples.
Kabuki
Popular Japanese theatre form combining dance, drama, and music.
Mestizo
A person of mixed European and indigenous ancestry in the Spanish colonies.
Middle Kingdom
The traditional Chinese belief that their civilization was the center of the world.
Nagasaki
The only Japanese port open to limited foreign trade during the isolation period.
Piracy (Wokou)
Japanese and Chinese pirates who raided coasts, used as justification for maritime bans.
Sakoku
Japan’s isolationist policy under the Tokugawa Shogunate from the 1630s to 1853.
Shogun
The military leader of Japan who held actual power, while the emperor served as a figurehead.
Smallpox
A deadly disease that decimated indigenous populations after European contact.
Strait of Magellan
A navigable sea route separating South America and Tierra del Fuego, used to reach the Pacific.
Straits of Malacca
The main sea route between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, crucial for spice trade.
Tanegashima
The island where the Portuguese first landed in Japan in 1543.
Tokugawa Shogunate
Military government that unified Japan and ruled for over 250 years.
Tribute System
A network in which foreign states traded with China by acknowledging the emperor’s supremacy.
Tribute Trade
System where foreign states brought gifts to China in exchange for limited trade rights.
VOC (Dutch East India Company)
A Dutch trading corporation that monopolized trade in Southeast Asia.
Yongle Emperor
Ming ruler who commissioned the imperial fleet and supported maritime exploration.
Yuan Dynasty
The Mongol dynasty in China founded by Kublai Khan (1271–1368).