1. Unit 4 Vocabulary
Pre AP Social Studies

2. Unit 4 Vocabulary Autocracy Angkor Wat Assimilation Analects
Bureaucracy
Centralized government
Civil service
Daoism
Dynastic cycle
Dao De Jing
Feudalism
Filial Piety
Formosa
Han
Legalsim
Loess
Magnetic compass
Mandarin
Mandate of Heaven
Movable type
Monopoly
Paper money
Plateau
Porcelain
Qin
Shinto
Tibet
Three Gorges Dam
Xiongnu
Yin and yang

3. Shinto
The native religion of Japan.

4. Monopoly
A group’s exclusive control over the production and distribution of certain goods.

5. Mandate of Heaven
In Chinese history, the divine approval thought to be the basis of royal authority.

6. Formosa
Historical name for Taiwan - means “beautiful island” in Portuguese.

7. Han 1. The largest ethnic group in China.
2. The second great imperial dynasty of China (206 BCE –220 CE).

8. Assimilation
1. The adoption of a conqueror’s culture by a conquered people.
2. A policy in which a nation forces or encourages a subject people to adopt its institutions and customs.

9. Autocracy
A government in which the ruler has unlimited power and uses it in an arbitrary manner.

10. Angkor Wat
A temple complex built in the Khmer Empire and dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu.

11. Analects
Collection of sayings and ideas attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius a nd his contemporaries, traditionally believed to have been compiled and written by Confucius' followers.

12. Bureaucracy
A group of government officials headed by an administrator.

13. Centralized government
A government in which power is concentrated in a central authority to which local governments are subject.

14. Civil service
The administration departments of a government – especially those in which employees are hired on the basis of their scores on examinations.

15. Daoism
A philosophy based on the ideas of the Chinese thinker Laozi, who taught that people should be guided by a universal force called the Dao (Way).

16. Dynastic cycle
The historical pattern of the rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties.

17. Dao De Jing (The Way of Virtue)
Classic Chinese text written by Laozi.

18. Feudalism
A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land.

19. Filial Piety
Respect shown by children for their parents and elders.

20. Legalism
A Chinese political philosophy based on the idea that a highly efficient and powerful government is the key to social order.

21. Loess
A fertile deposit of windblown soil.

22. Magnetic Compass
Floating magnetized needle that always points north-south; device had existed in China for centuries before it was adapted by sailors for use at sea.

23. Mandarin
In imperial China, a public official of any of nine grades or classes that were filled by individuals from the ranks of lesser officeholders who passed examinations in Chinese literary classics.

24. Movable type
Blocks of metal or wood, each bearing a single character, that can be arranged to make up a page for printing.

25. Paper Money
Paper currency issued by the Song government to replace cumbersome strings of metal cash used by merchants.

26. Plateau
A flat, elevated landform that rises sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side.

27. Porcelain
Bone-hard, white ceramic made of a special clay and a mineral found only in China.

28. Qin
Name given to the first great Chinese Empire. The Qin— which lasted only from 221 to BCE but from which the name China is derived— established the approximate boundaries and basic administrative system that all subsequent Chinese dynasties were to follow for the next two millennia.

29. Tibet
Historic region and autonomous region of China that is often called “the roof of the world.” It occupies a vast area of plateaus and mountains in Central Asia. Tibet’s incorporation into the People’s Republic of China began in 1950 and has remained a highly charged and controversial issue.

30. Three Gorges Dam
Dam built by China on the Yangtze (Chang Jiang) River. At the time of its completion in 2006, it was the largest dam structure in the world.

31. Xiongnu
Nomadic pastoral people who at the end of the 3rd century BC formed a great tribal league that was able to dominate much of Central Asia for more than 500 years. China’s wars against the Xiongnu, who were a constant threat to the country’s northern frontier throughout this period, led to the Chinese exploration and conquest of much of Central Asia.

32. Yin and Yang
In Chinese thought, the two powers that govern the natural rhythms of life.