- “Mandate of Heaven”
- the favor of the gods that conferred a right to rule but could be lost by those less worthy
- clan
- a small group of several families that shared an encampment and herded or hunted together and formed the basic social unit of the seminomadic peoples of Eurasia
- Confucianism
- a Chinese school of philosophical thought shaping morality, governance, education, and family life
- Daoism
- a Chinese religion that emphasized veneration of nature, the cosmos, and mysticism
- Inner Asian Steppe
- the eastern half of the Eurasian Steppe that stretches into Mongolia and runs along the northern border of China
- karma
- a Hindu concept emphasizing the influence of good deeds and moral behavior on a person’s status in life and rebirth after death
- khan
- a title claimed by warrior-kings to unite various tribes into powerful confederations and empires
- Legalism
- a school of philosophical thought that helped dynasties such as the Qin use uniform laws and codes to reform and strengthen rulers
- Peking Man
- a subspecies of Homo erectus identified by fossil remains found in northern China
- Ring of Fire
- the boundary line of a zone of intense seismic activity in the Pacific Ocean
- samsara
- a Hindu concept explaining the continuance of the soul after death and its transformation
- Silk Roads
- a series of trade routes circulating luxury goods to and from China and parts of central Asia, India, and the Middle East
- Terracotta Army
- a collection of life-size clay statues of soldiers, officials, servants, and horses of the Qin emperor and buried in his tomb near Xi’an
- Three Han
- the three groups (the Mahan, Jinhan, and Byeonhan) in southern Korea that were among the earliest with tribal chieftains