The Earth and its Peoples Chapter 2 Vocabulary hue Loess-yellow brown dust in th

e Yellow River that give it its distinctive and name.

Shang-originated in the part of the Yellow River Valley that lies in the present
-day province of Henan. They were dominated by a warrior aristocracy whose great
est pleasures were warfare, hunting, exchanging gifts, f easting, and wine parti
es. Divination-used to determine the will of the gods. Zhou -a dependent state i
n the Wei River Valley. The Zhou line of kings was the longest lasting and most
revered of all dynasties in Chinese history. The Zhou preserved the essentials o
f Shang culture and added new elements. Mandate of Heaven -theory of the Zhou mo
narchs to justify their seizure of power from the Shang clans. They referred to
the chief deity as Heaven and the monarch was called the Son of Heaven. Legalism - a
uthoritarian political philosophy that maintained that human nature is essential
ly wicked and that people behave in an orderly fashio n only if compelled by str
ict laws and harsh punishments. Legalists believ ed that every aspect of human s
ociety ought to be controlled and personal freedom sacrificed for the good of th
e state. Confucius - - (551-479 B.C.E.)-Chinese leader who said gov't exists to se
rve the people. He believed in benevolence towards all humanity. He taught b ene
volence, avoidance of violence, justice, rationalism, loyality, and dign ity. He
sought to maintain and affirm the political and social order while im proving i
t. Daoism - teaches to accept the world as they find it, and stop the warfa re o
f the age by urging humanity to follow the Dao, or path. Avoid violence if at all
possible. Yin/yang - the complementary nature of female and male roles in the na
tural order. The male (yang) was equated with the sun-active, bright, and shinin
g. The female (yin) equated with the moon-passive, shaded, and reflective. Kush
-Egyptian name for kingdom whose capital was located at Kerma, one of the earlie
st urbanized centers in tropical Africa. Meroe-Fourth Century B.C.E. to the Four
th Century C.E. was the center of Nubian civilization. Was located farther south
, and better situated for agriculture and trade-which were economic mainstays of
the Nubian kingdom. Olmec - -the most influential early Mesoamerican civilizati
on. Flourishe d between 1200 and 400 B.C.E. The center of the Olmec civilization
was located near the tropical Atlantic coast of what are now Veracruz and Tabas
co. Chavin - one of the most impressive of South America's early urban civilizatio
ns. Llama - animals used to move goods from one ecological zone to another. Llam
as were the only domesticated beasts of burden in the Americas, and the played a
n important role in the integration of the Andean region. Llamas a
lso provided meat and wool and decreased the labor needed to
transport goods.