GLOSSARY
Glossary
Boxers - members of an anti-foreign movement in China and made up of Chinese nationalists dedicated to fighting the Europeans. Their activities came to a head with the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.
Concubine - a secondary wife in societies where people are permitted to marry more than one partner.
Confucian principles - adaptations of the teachings of Confucius (551-479 BCE) that stressed the importance of hierarchical arrangements, for example, husband to wife, elder brother to younger brother.
Dowager - a woman who holds a title from her deceased husband.
Dynasty - a historical period covered by the succession of rulers from the same family.
Empire - a word describing the peoples and territory ruled by another, more powerful nation.
Feng Shui - the balancing of all forces in the environment to ensure a harmonious life (literally, “wind and water”)
Indemnity - a payment demanded by a victor for damage or loss caused by war.
Legation - the residence of a foreign diplomat in Beijing
Nationalism - a devotion to the interests, culture and advancement of your own people or nation, regardless of how this may affect other countries.
Nationalist - someone dedicated to the goal of gaining independence and advancing the interests of people who had been disadvantaged as a result of foreign rule.
Opium - the concentrated juice of the opium poppy containing morphine, a narcotic that reduces pain and induces sleep.
Rebellion - a refusal to accept some authority or code or convention and can be an organised opposition to authority.
Reparations - compensation extracted from a defeated nation by the victors.
Revolution - a period of rapid, extensive change in political and social structures, including the overturning of a government’s power or a change in ruler.
Tributary Relations - a relationship in which a dominant country offers protection, usually in return for a regular amount of money and /or control over the weaker country’s foreign policy.
Tributary States - states with internal independence, but whose foreign policy was determined by a foreign power. They may also have had to pay a certain amount of money to the foreign power.
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