I. Mythological Figures

Pan-gu: Separated earth from Heaven; a supernatural but "human" person; male; from the parts of his body came all forms of nature (mountains, rivers, etc.)

Nu-wa: Female; patched up a broken heaven; made different "species" of human beings

Youchao: The Nest Dweller; (probably referring to an early stage in human life when human beings were arboreal dwellers to escape the floods and wild beasts)

Suiren: The Fire Maker; (probably referring to an early stage in human life when human beings learned to make fire with flints for their protection and for cooking food)

Fuxi: The Ox Tamer; (referring to a stage in human life when animals were domesticated)

Shennong: The Divine Farmer (probably referring to the stage in human life when agriculture started, in neolithic times)

Huang Di (The Yellow Emperor): Putatively the leader of the Youxiong tribe; "invented" all forms of civilization; first "unifier" of the tribes in the Central Yellow River Basin through conquests; considered ancestor of all "Chinese@"people; Huang Di's wife is Lu Zu (Mother of Silkworm)

Yao: Ruler of the Youtang tribe, a dominant tribe in the Central Yellow River Basin in neolithic times

Shun: By legend, Yao's son-in-law; (married both of Yao's daughters) and successor

Yu: Shun's successor; legendary tamer of the flood; putatively the founder of the Xia dynasty

II. Archeological Terms:

"Peking Man": Sinanthropus Pekinensis; ancient human of the homo erectus species; skull excavated in 1929 at Zhoukoudian near today's Beijing (Peking); dated ca. 500,000 BCE

Yangshao: type of late-neolithic culture located in many places; concentrated in the central Yellow River Basin (South Ordos region) but also in scattered, more far-flung locations; characterized by colored pottery, large village organization; most important find: Banbo

Longshan: Late-neolithic cultural type in central-lower Yellow River basin; partially overlaps with Yangshao in time and location; characterized by dark glazed pottery

III. Historical Terms:

Xia: Legendary "dynastic period" in late-neolithic times, putatively founded by Yu. No written contemporary record; dates: ?-mid 18th-century BCE

Shang: First historical dynastic period with tangible corroborative record. Dates: mid-18th century BCE to ca. 1100 BCE, Bronze Age

Zhou: Successor to Shang. Dates: ca 1100 BCE to ca 256 BCE. Transition from Bronze Age to Iron Age

Sinic Civilization: "Chinese" civilization that appears to have originated in Yellow River basin; evolved over many centuries as the "mainstream" "Chinese" civilization

Hua-Xia: Cultural-ethnic identity attached to the Sinic Civilization

Yong, di, yi, man: Broad classifications of cultural-ethnic identities used by the "Hua-Xia" people to label "Barbarians" who lived beyond the realm of direct Hua-Xia cultural-political influence; directionally categorized: Yong (West), di (North), yi (East), man (South)

Oracle Bone Script:(chi. jiaguwen), writing found on animal bones and tortoise shells used for divination purposes in Shang times

Bronze Script: (chi. jinwen), writing etched on bronze ceremonial vessels in Shang times

Hun: Spirits, primarily of ancestors or of the dead; part of Shang-period belief system

Wu: Shaman priests performing divination rites for Shang rulers

Ru: Scribes or "writers", setting down historical records in Shang times; possessors and interpreters of esoteric knowledge and scholarship

Shi: Officials; part of ruling stratum beginning in the late-Shang Era

Nong: Farmers; the vast majority of the "ruled", or common people

Jiang: Name of the tribe that founded the Zhou dynasty

Ji Chang: Penultimate chief of the Jiang people before founding the Zhou dynasty; posthumously known as Zhou wen wang or King Wen of Zhou

Ji Fa: Chief of the Jiang people who led an uprising that overthrew the Shang dynasty and founded the Zhou dynasty; posthumously known as Zhou wu wang, or King Wu (Military King) of Zhou

Ji Dan: Ji Fa's brother, enfeofed as Duke of Zhou (chi. Zhou Gong); assisted King Wu (Ji Fa) in building the Zhou system

Fengjian; System of enfeofment of Zhou noblemen; a term that has come to represent, in the Chinese language, ancient, old, traditional social, political and cultural systems, often translated as "feudal@, "feudalism", etc.

Zong fa: "Law@ governing patterns of proper successor of property rights and moral-political authority in noble clans in Zhou period; passage of authority from generation to generation through the eldest male heir within the Zong, or "main stem."

Tian: Shang/Zhou concept of "heaven."

Bang: The royal domain in Zhou times consisting primarily of the homelands of the Jiang (Zhou) people; directly governed by the Zhou king

Guo: Noble fiefdoms or domains in Zhou times, whose governance was entrusted by the king through enfeofment to his noble relatives, vassals, and allies. Five levels of classifications: Gong, hou, bo, zi, nan