Mandate of Heaven
The ________ established the idea that a ruler must be just to keep the approval of the gods. It was believed that natural disasters, famines, and astrological signs were signals that the emperor and the dynasty were losing the _________.
Well-field system
This nine-square system is a major system in Chinese history, and indeed a major type of landownership in world history.
Qin Shi Huangdi
Powerful and charismatic leader of the Qin Dynasty
Rites of Zhou
A collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods.
Analects
Written by Confucius; takes a detached, skeptical view of heaven and emphasizes the rational order of the universe
Confucius
Chinese philosopher whose ideas and sayings were collected after his death and became the basis of a philosophical doctrine known a Confucianism
Laozi
Founder of Daoism
Liu Bang
The emperor of the Han Dynasty
State Confucianism
A mix of legalism and Confucianism that said that civilized people are expected to observe proper rites. Only social outcasts are expected to have their actions controlled by law.
Civil service examination
These were a means for a young male of any class to enter that bureaucracy and so become a part of the gentry class of scholar-officials.
Silk Road
This was an ancient trade route, linking China with the West, that carried goods and ideas between the two great civilizations of Rome and China.
Yang Jian
Emperor of the Sui Dynasty
Grand Canal
This was built to enable successive Chinese regimes to transport surplus grain from the agriculturally rich Yangtze and Huai river valleys to feed the capital cities and large standing armies in northern China.
Wu Zetian
Wife of two Tang emperors, she eventually became empress in her own right after her second husband fell gravely ill
Khublai Khan
After his father’s death, he finished the conquest of the Song dynasty, and established himself as the new Chinese emperor of the Yuan empire
The Way of the Tao
This teaches that all living creatures ought to live in a state of harmony with the universe, and the energy found in it.
Mencius
A scholar of Confucius, he refined his work and argued that people were innately good and that rulers should govern with compassion
Xiongnu
horse-riding nomad warriors
Firelance
A gunpowder tube that would ideally eject a stream of flames in the direction of the spearhead
Great Wall
Built by Qin Shi Huang-di, this surrounded the northern border of the empire to protect against the Xiongnu threat
Loess
a fine-grained, very fertile soil
Li Su
Qin Shi Huang-di's advisor, who was a prominent legalist scholar.
Yellow & Yangtze
What are the two major rivers in the Chinese empire?
Yellow
Which of the two rivers was more northern?
Yangtze
Which of the two rivers was more southern?
West
Where are the Himalayan mountains in regards to the Chinese empire?
West
Where are the Karakoram mountains in regards to the Chinese empire?
North
Where is the Gobi desert in regards to the Chinese empire?
Northwest
Where is the Taklamakan Desert in regards to the Chinese empire?
oracle bones
What is the oldest known archaeological evidence of the Chinese writing system still in use today?
Bronze-casting
What skill is the Shang dynasty best known for?
the Qin Empire
Under which dynasty did China establish its first unified empire?
to be a good wife and homemaker
What was the role of women in China?