Ancient China Vocab

• Section 2.4

Oracle Bones

• Oracle bones are pieces of shell or bone, normally from ox scapulae or turtle plastrons, which were used for divination in ancient China.

Divination

• The practice of seeking knowledge of the future, or the unknown, by supernatural means.

Mandate of Heaven

• A political theory of ancient China in which those in power were given the right to rule from a divine (god or gods) source.

Dynastic Cycle • The pattern of rise, fall, and replacement of dynasties (a series of rulers

from the same family) in China.

• The dynastic cycle first began in Ancient China and lasted all the way up until the early 1900s.

Loess

• Deposited by the Huang He river and blown by winds across the deserts of China, this rich silt helped to fertilize the soil of Ancient China.