| A | B |
|---|
| Huang River | [Yellow River] A river that flows from the Tibetan Plateau, across northern China, and into the Yellow Sea. |
| North China Plain | A large, lowland region of eastern China that is watered by the Huang River. |
| loess | A fine, yellow soil that is easily carried by wind and rain, found in China. |
| levee | A wall built along a river bank to prevent flooding. |
| erosion | The gradual wearing away of soil and rock by wind, glaciers, or water. |
| famine | A widespread lack of food resulting in hunger and starvation. |
| steppes | A dry, grassy, treeless plain found in Asia and eastern Europe. |
| dynasty | A line of rulers who belong to the same family. |
| nobles | A member of a ruling family or one of high rank. |
| Anyang | The ancient Chinese capital of the Shang dynasty. |
| Fu Hao | A chinese king's wife who led troops to war; her tomb contained records of her life and times. |
| oracle bones | In ancient China, a cattle or sheep bone used to prdict the future. |
| Qin | An ancient province in northern China that rose to power under Emporer Shihuangdi in 221 B. C. |
| emperor | The supreme ruler of an empire. |
| Shihuangdi | Chinese emporer who founded the Qin dynasty and unified China with a standard system of writing and money. |
| Qinling Mountains | A mountain range in north-central China. |
| province | A political division of land within an empire or country. |
| Xianyang | Capital city of the Qin dynasty during the rule of emperor Shihuangdi. |
| Great Wall of China | A long defensive wall extending 1,500 miles through northern China. |
| summary | A brief statement of main ideas. |
| topic sentence | A sentence that contains the main idea of a paragraph, often the first sentence in that paragraph. |
| Han Gaozu | A farmer-turned-general who, in 206 B. C., overthrew the Qin dynasty and then founded the Han dynasty. |
| Confucius | Chinese philosopher and teacher who stressed the need to respect tradition; his teachings discussed the right and wrong uses of power. |
| Mandate of Heaven | The belief that the Chinese emperor's right to rule came from the gods. |
| Wudi | Han emperor who ruled China from 140 B. C. to 87 B. C.; He set up a system of schools that prepared students for government jobs. |
| Grand School | A school begun by Confucian scholars in China that trained students for government jobs. |
| seismograph | A scientific instrument that could detect earthquakes hundreds of miles away, invented during the Han dynasty. |
| silk | Thread taken from the cocoon of a type of caterpillar, that is woven into cloth. |
