| A | B |
|---|
| loess | a dusty, yellow soil that has been deposited in areas of China by the wind |
| levee | a wall that keeps a river within its banks |
| erosion | the wearing away of soil by wind or water |
| famine | a time when very little food is available and people are starving |
| steppe | a dry treeless plain |
| Huang River | another name for the Yellow River in China |
| dynasty | a line of rulers who belong to the same family |
| nobles | relatives of the rulers in China were called this |
| oracle bones | a cattle or sheep bone used to predict the future |
| emperor | the supreme ruler of an empire |
| province | a political division of land |
| Great Wall of China | a long defensive wall running through China |
| Confucianism | In China, a system of beliefs and behavior based on the teachings of Confucius |
| Mandate of Heaven | the belief that the Chinese emperor's right to rule came from the gods |
| Grand School | a school begun by Confucian scholars to train Chinese students for government jobs |
| seismograph | a machine used to detect earthquakes |
| Confucius | Chinese philosopher, his teachings were popular throughout China |
| Tiananmen Square | heart of the Chinese government, a major protest for democracy took place here in 1989 |
