|
 loess | yellow brown soil that winds carry across north China plain |
| Huang He | also know as the Yellow River located in northern China |
| Chang River | also know as the Yangtze River which flows west to east across central China |
| Xi River | third major waterway in China also known as the West river |
| Three Gorges Dam | Built on the Yangtze River to reduce flooding and increase hydroelectric power |
| Dynastic cycle | the rise and fall of ruling families |
| filial piety | the duty and respect that children owe their parents |
| extended family | ideal in poor farm families to increase the number of workers on a family farm |
| Shi Huangdi | Leader of the Qin dynasty who conquered China by overthrowing the Zhou dynasty |
| The Great Wall | built by Shi Huangdi to defend their land against nomadic invaders from the north |
| Li Bo | poet who traveled through China writing about the beauty of nature |
| Kublai Khan | Mongol ruler who took China under his control in 1279 under the name of the Yuan dynasty |
| Open door policy | set up by the United States that says all nations have equal access to trade with China |
| Hong Kong | Taken over by the British after the Opium wars, given back to China in 1997 |
| Boxers | Anti-foreign Chinese group that attacked and killed many Chinese Christians and foreigners |
| Guomindang | City where Chiang kai shek expelled the communists |
| Chiang Kai shek | Leader of the Nationalist China who in 1927 expelled the communist, and later set up the nationalist government in Taiwan |
| Mao Zedong | Communist Chinese leader who looked to gain the support of the peasants |
| Long March | Led by Mao the communist fled from Chiang Kai shek's army from southern China to a remote northern portion of China |
| kowtow | to bow low to the emperor, symbol that foreigners accepted their inferior status |
| extraterritoriality | westerners accused of a crime in China could be tried in their own courts instead of in Chinese courts |
| sphere of influence | an area which a foreign nation has special economic privileges, such as the right to build roads |
