Download Ancient China Study guide and answers

Name:_____________________________________________ Class: ____________________________
Study Guide Ancient China
Know your vocabulary:
1. oracle bones 2. Aristocrats 3. Confucius 4. Confucianism 5. Daoism 6. Laozi 7. Legalism 8. Qin Shihuangdi
9. Great Wall 10. Seismograph 11. Acupuncture 12. Silk 13. Silk Road 14. Cultural Diffusion 15. Mongols
16. Genghis Khan 17. Marco Polo
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18) Where is China located? Eastern Asia
19) What river in China was also known as “China’s Sorrow”? Huang He, or Yellow river
20) What river is the longest river in China? Chang Jiang, or Yangz River
21) What did the Chinese use the rivers for? To grow Rice, and cereals and fish
22) Farming ? China as in Mesopotamia, Egypt and India produced a what? Surplus
23) What is the first dynasty we have clear evidence of? Shang
24) What became more organized during the Shang dynasty? Social order
25) The first writing system in China was based on what? Pictographs
26) What dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty? Zhou Dynasty
27) What is the mandate of heaven and what was the first dynasty we know to use it? The mandate of heaven was when the
heaven gave the emperors the right to rule, and the Zhou dynasty was the first to use it.
28)When did an emperor lose the mandate of heaven? When disasters happened or the emperor was weak
29) Why did the king of the Zhou dynasty give land to others and to whom did they give it to? He granted land to
others because of loyalty, military support, and other services and he gave control over different regions to
members of the royal family and or nobles
29) What is feudalism? A political system in which nobles, or lords, are granted the use of lands that legally belong
to the king
30) What was the period after the king of the Zhou dynasty was killed called? Warring States Period
31) Why did Confucius create Confucianism? He was concerned that China was going through a warring time and
needed peace. Also, China needed to return to ethics and moral values
32) What were the four things/guidelines that Confucius wanted to concentrate on? Morality, family, society,
government
33) Is Confucianism a religion, if not then what is it? No it is an ethical code
34) Name the 5 principle relationships in Confucianism. 1) Parent-Child 2) Husband-Wife 3) Elder Sibling-Younger
sibling 4) Elder friend-Younger friend 5) Ruler-Subject
35) What did Daoism believe in? Believed that people should avoid interfering with nature or each other and
wanted the government to stay out of peoples lives. People should focus on nature and the dao.
36) What was legalism? Belief that people were bad by nature and needed to be controlled. Thought that society
needs strict laws to keep people in line and that the punishment should fit the crime.
37) What did the emperor of the Qin Dynasty tell the people to burn and why? Burn books that were against his
teachings
38) How did the Emperor of the Qin dynasty unify China? Set up uniform system of laws and writing for all regions,
uniform currency
39) What caused the fall of the Qin dynasty? Policies caused resentment and the rebel forces claimed to have the
mandate of heaven and attacked the Qin
40) Who defeated all the other groups after the fall of the Qin dynasty and what was the name of his new dynasty?
Liu Bang and Han Dynasty
41) What did Liu Bang want for the people of China? Wanted to free the people from harsh government by
lowering taxes and gave less punishments
42) The second emperor of the Han Dynasty. He practiced Confusianism.? Wudi
43) Name two things that were invented during the Han dynasty. Paper,seismograph ,
44) What was the most valued good in China? Silk
45) Why did trade routes expand and what goods were traded? It expanded because the Han armies were
conquering Central Asia and they needed horses so they traded silk for them
46) What besides goods were traded along the Silk Road? Ideas and religion
47) What type of religion came to China through the Silk road? Buddhism
48)What was the Golden Age of China? The Tang and Song dynasties
49)What did the poetry of the Tang Era focus upon? On the beauty of nature and friendship
50)What were three inventions or innovations during the Tang Dynasty? Gunpowder, improvements on porcelain
and steelmaking, woodblock printing
51)Who were the Mongols and what did they do? They were a group of fierce warriors from a country north of
China and they conquered land from the Pacific Ocean to Eastern Europe
52)What did Marco Polo do for the Mongol king Kublai Khan? He went on a fact finding adventure and shared the
information about the things he saw
53)What happened after Marco Polo returned home? He a wrote a book about his adventures that became very
popular