(145-86 b.c.e.) Author of Records of the Grand Historian, a history of China from ancient legendary times to the first century b.c.e.. Lived during the Han dynasty.

• Confusius

• Sima Qian

• Wung Di

• Daoism

China's first historic dynasty. The earliest surviving records date to 1200 b.c.e., during the Shang. The Shang king ruled a small area in the vicinity of modern Anyang, in Henan province, and granted lands to allies in noble families.

• Zhou Dynasty

• Shang Dynasty

• Ancestor Worship

• Confucianism

The earliest surviving written records in China, scratched onto cattle shoulder blades and turtle shell bottoms, or plastrons, to record the diviners' interpretations of the future.

• Confucianism

• Oracle Bones

• Daoism

• Legalism

The belief in China that dead ancestors could intercede in human affairs on behalf of the living. Marked by frequent rituals in which the living offered food and drink to the ancestors in the hope of receiving help.

• Legalism

• Ancestor Worship

• Daoism

• SunTsu

The successor dynasty to the Shang that gained the Mandate of Heaven and the right to rule, according to later Chinese historians. Although depicted by later generations as an ideal age, the Zhou witnessed considerable conflict.

• Liu Bang

• Yu

• Choson

• Zhou Dynasty

The Chinese belief that Heaven, the generalized forces of the cosmos (not the abode of the dead), chose the rightful ruler. China's rulers believed that Heaven would send signs before withdrawing its mandate.

• The Analects

• Tang

• Legalism

• Mandate of Heaven

The term for the main tenets of the thought of Confucius, which emphasized the role of ritual in bringing out people's inner humanity (a quality translated variously as "benevolence," "goodness," or "man at his best").

• Ban Zhao

• Legalism

• Confucianism

• Pyonyang

A Chinese belief system dating back to at least 300 b.c.e. that emphasized the "Way," a concept expressed in Chinese as "dao." The Way of the early Daoist teachers included meditation, breathing techniques, and special eating regimes.

• Legalism

• Daoism

• Filial Piety

• Dao De Jing

1. A school of thought, originating in the fourth century b.c.e. and associated with Qin dynasty rulers, that emphasized promotion for officials and soldiers alike on the basis of merit and job performance, not heredity.

• Warlords

• Xiongnu

• Legalism

• The Analects

1. (221-207 b.c.e.) The first dynasty to rule over a unified China; heavily influenced by Legalist teachings that promoted soldiers and officials strictly on the basis of accomplishment, not birth.

• Xia Dynasty

• Yu Dynasty

• Han Dynasty

• Qin Dinasty