nobility

high-ranking social class

middleman

person who goes between buyers and sellers

civil service

using skills and talents to work in government

ancestor

relative who lived longer ago than a grandparent

provinces

political divisions

oracle bones

shell or bone used to predict the future

pictograph

picture that represents words

double cropping

system in which two crops are grown on the same land

levee

dike built to control flooding

terrace

platform of earth that looks like stairs

loess

yellowish brown soil blown in from the desert