Vocabulary + Pictures

• Loess – yellow fertile soil deposited on banks of the Huang He River

• Yu the Great – 1st Xia ruler who improved agriculture and flood control

• Animism – belief that everything has a spirit

• Oracle Bones – priests carve questions in bones, heat up, read cracks for answers

• Calligraphy – Chinese art of writing. 10,000+ symbols

• Feudalism- System of land control. Nobles grant land to lesser people that actually belongs to king.

• Mandate of Heaven – gods have chosen and given the right to rule to kings. Used to claim power.

• Dynastic Cycles – cyclical occurrence of different dynasties ruling

• Confucius- Founder of Confucianism. Writes the Analects.

• Confucianism- Philosophy stressing relationships and respect.

• Laozi – Founder of Daoism. Write the Dao de Jing.

• Daoism/Taoism- Philosophy stressing ideas to withdraw form the world and contemplate nature

• Bureaucracy – government organized into different levels and tasks

• Yin/Yang – Dualism of forces. Light/Dark, Male/female.

• Autocracy – government where the ruler has absolute power

• Qin Shi Huangdi – Cheng – leader of Qin Dynasty. Creates Great Wall and Terracotta Soldiers

• Legalism – philosophy stressing strict laws + harsh punishments

• Civil Service System – Administrative government with tests to get jobs.

• Liu Bang – Commoner who became a general and overthrows Qin Dynasty.

• Empress Lii – Liu Bangs wife ruled after her husband died. Ruled in place of her son the emperor.

• Emperor Wudi- Liu Bang’s great-grandson took over after Empress Lii and expands the Empire through warfare.

• Xiongnu – Nomads known for archery skills on horseback who attack the Han Dynasty.

• Silk Road – trade route connecting China to the Mediterranean Sea (Han)

• Grand Canal – Canal build connecting Huang He to Yangtze. (Sui Dynasty)

• Empress WuZhao/WuZetian – 1st woman to be Emperor. Expands

empire, controls Korea, helps trade. (Tang)

• Acupuncture- Medical practice of inserting needles into the body to relieve pain.