Download DBQ Confucius Tang and Song 7thSS

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For FULL CREDIT ALL answers MUST be written in COMPLETE SENTENCES.
Document Based Questions – Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty,
and Confucianism
1. Based on your knowledge and the map above, in what ways did the silk road
help to unify (bring together) China?
2. Predict how the development of the silk road as a transportation system will
affect the economy/trade of China? Explain your answer.
DOCUMENT2:THEGRAND
CANAL
SourcePainting–EmperorYangTi,
560-618C.E.,Suidynasty,onhisboat
ontheGrandCanalChina,Paintingon
silk,17thcentury,Chinese,TheArt
Archive/BibliothequeNationaleParis.
3. Based on your
interpretation of the painting,
do you think the Grand Canal
was well traveled? Explain
AND support your answer.
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For FULL CREDIT ALL answers MUST be written in COMPLETE SENTENCES.
DOCUMENT3:EXCERPTABOUTGRANDCANAL
“[DuringtheSuidynasty]PeasantlaboralsostartedaGrand Canal tolink
theYangziandYellowriverssograinandtaxescouldflowtothecapital
easilyformorethanhalftheyear.Thereformsstrengthenedthe
economyforatime.”
Excerptadaptedfrom"SuiDynasty(589–617)."The Green- wood Encyclopedia of Global
Medieval Life and Culture.
4. Based on your knowledge and the excerpt above, explain how the Grand Canal
positively impacted China?
DOCUMENT4:CONFUCIUS
5. According to Confucius, explain what are the characteristics of the ideal
ruler.
DOCUMENT5:CONFUCIUS
6. What does Confucius mean by “filial piety”? How does he say one should
practice it?
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DOCUMENT6:SONGDYNASTY
The wealth of the Song Dynasty offered time for developing many products
and gadgets of earlier dynasties. A smooth type of pottery, porcelain, became
a Chinese specialty during the Tang Dynasty and was improved upon during
the Song Dynasty. Literature, poetry, and art all increased with the wealth of
China. Woodblock printing, a process of carving into a solid block of wood and
using it as a stamp on paper, aided the spread of literature and ideologies.
Gunpowder, a powder mixture used in weapons, found innovative uses such
as fireworks and continued to affect war outcomes worldwide. Travel and trade
also benefited from the development of the magnetic compass, a device that
showed direction based on the earth’s magnetic fields.
7. LIST ALL of the achievements that are mentioned above.
8. Explain how EACH of the achievements in #7 affect the world today.
DOCUMENT7:SONGDYNASTY
The Song Dynasty greatly improved the difficult tests called Civil Service Exams given to
gain the status of scholar official during earlier dynasties. Not only did they allow anyone in
society to take it, but they also took precautions against cheating by making the hopefuls
take the test from inside a small room. The exam guaranteed that men of the highest moral
fabric as well as versed in the Confucius ideas being embraced by the Chinese
government ended up in power. Only a handful of the exam- takers succeeded, but they
had plenty of incentive, or reasons, to do well. Not only did his new social status grant him
power, but also respect, reduced consequences for any crimes he may commit, and wealth
in the form of gifts from those seeking his wisdom and guidance. Once an exam was
passed, a scholar-official had to wait several years before being assigned a position away
from his home region. This placement ensured that he didn’t allow bias to interfere with his
job.
9. Explain the four incentives for Civil Service test takers to pass their difficult
exam?
10. Why do you think scholars who past the test were only given jobs away from
their home regions?
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For FULL CREDIT ALL answers MUST be written in COMPLETE SENTENCES.
DOCUMENT8:BUDDHISMINANCIENTCHINA
BuddhismhadgainedaremarkableholdinChina.ItappealedtopeopleinChinaabove
allbecauseitaddressedquestionsofsufferinganddeathwithadirectnessunmatchedin
nativetraditions.Itoffereda...prospectofsalvation,promisingthatallcreaturesmight
onedayfindblissfulreleasefromsuffering...
ThelandscapeofChina,too,wastransformedbyBuddhismastemplesandmonasteries
werebuiltintownsandremotemountains.NorthChinareportedlyhad6,478temples
and77,258monksandnunsby477;southChinawassaidtohave2,846templesand
82,700clericssomedecadeslater.ThebeautyofBuddhistartandarchitectureappealed
topeopleofalllevelsofeducation.Buddhismhelpedtranscend(goacross)class
differences;inscriptionsonBuddhiststatuesandtemplesshowthatChineseandnonChineseofficials,localnotables,commoners,andBuddhistclergyoftenallcontributedto
aproject,workingtogether.
The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Cambridge
University Press
11. According to the excerpt, how did Buddhism change the landscape of
China?
12. According to the excerpt, how did Buddhism unify the classes? Provide
evidence.
Confucianism is a complex system of social and political ethics based on
kinship, loyalty and righteousness. His teachings cover a wide range—from
how a good person should behave in relationships and in his/her daily life
(down to how he/she eats with proper decorum) to how a ruler should govern
(with a great concern for the well-being of his subjects).
Confucianism and Merit - One of the chief tenets of Confucianism was the
idea that nobility of virtue (righteousness) was greater than nobility of birth.
Thus Confucius said, "In teaching, there should be no distinction of classes."
(Analects XV, 39) This new idea led to the concept of advancement in society
based on merit and was the foundation for the Imperial Examination System,
through which men gained position within the Chinese Imperial bureaucracy
(government) based on their knowledge and intelligence, and not their birth.
13. According to the passage above, what type of guidance did Confucianism
provide for the people of China?
14. How did Confucius impact how government leaders were chosen?
15. The Imperial Examination System (Civil Service Exam) was used to hire
government employees. Based on what you have learned do you feel that
this practice would benefit a society? EXPLAIN YOUR ANWER.