SOCIAL STUDIES CHAPTER 5 VOCABULARY: ANCIENT CHINA

 

Loess: yellow-brown soil

 

Dike: a protective wall that controls or holds back water

 

Extended Family: closely related people of several generations

 

Confucius: (551 – 479 B.C.) a Chinese philosopher and teacher whose

beliefs had a great influence on Chinese life

 

Philosophy: a system of beliefs and values

 

Civil Service: the group of people whose job it is to carry out the work

of the government

 

Shi Huangdi: founder of the Qin dynasty and China’s first emperor

 

Currency: the type of money used by a group or nation

 

Liu Bang: the founder of the Han dynasty

 

Wudi: Chinese emperor who brought the Han dynasty to its greatest

strength

 

Warlord: a local leader of an armed group

 

Silk Road: an ancient trade route between China and Europe

 

Silk: a valuable cloth made only in China from threads spun by

caterpillars called silkworms

 

SimaQian: a Chinese scholar, astronomer, and historian; author of the

most important history of ancient China, Historical Records