| Term | Definition |
| Han Gaozu | IMPORTANT PEOPLE: The first of the Han Dynasty. |
| Confucius | Chinese philosopher (circa 551-478 BC) |
| confucianism | the teachings of Confucius emphasizing love for humanity |
| Mandate of Heaven | natural passing between dynasties to purify political order |
| Han Dynasty | imperial dynasty that ruled China (most of the time) from 206 BC to 221 and expanded its boundaries and developed its bureaucracy |
| Wudi | Liu great-grandson and a great ruler |
| Grand School | a school begun by Confucius scholars in China that trained students for government jobs |
| seismograph | a measuring instrument for detecting and measuring the intensity and direction and duration of movements of the ground (as an earthquake) |
| silk | a fabric made from the fine threads produced by certain insect larvae |