Neo-Confucianism: A moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism; it became prominent during the Song Dynasty. It’s like an updated version of an old software program.
Gunpowder: An explosive substance used in firearms developed during the Song Dynasty. It's like inventing dynamite before anyone else had even thought about it.
Civil Service Examinations: These were tests implemented by the Chinese government to select candidates for state bureaucracy based on merit rather than family connections - think of it as an SAT test but for government jobs.