| A | B |
|---|
| Caste | In traditional India, the unchangeable social group into which a person is born and can never leave |
| Brahman | The one spiritual power behind everything [Aryan belief] |
| Aryan | Indo - European nomadic people & great warriors who invaded India in 1500 BC |
| Dynastic Cycle | Rise and fall of Chinese dynasties according to the Mandate of Heaven |
| Mandate of Heaven | In China, the ruling dynasty is given the right to rule from the gods. |
| loess | Fine, wind-blow yellow soil |
| feudalism | System of government in which local lords are in charge of their own lands, peasants and armies, but owe military service and other support to the ruler. |
| Yin & Yang | Two opposite forces in nature, [male & female; heaven & earth], that must be kept in balance. |
| ideograph | A type of writing in which a symbol represents a thought or idea. |
| calligraphy | Beautiful handwriting |
| Middle Kingdom | The name the Chinese had for ancient China, meaning that they were the center of the world. |
| clan | Group of families with a common ancestor |
| Veneration of ancestors | Respect in the form of prayers and gifts to ancestors for the purpose of those ancestors communicating to the gods to bring good fortune to you and your family |
