Deck 3: New Civilizations Outside the West Asian Core Area, 2300 Bce-350 Ce

Question 1

Characteristics of the supreme god Di in Shang religion include all of the following except:

A) Di is not approachable by humans.
B) Di unleashes the power of storms.
C) Di is unconcerned with the fate of humans.
D) Di will be in the same supernatural sphere as other spirits when humans die.
E) Di will intercede on behalf of humans by the pleas of their ancestors.

Answer 1

Di is unconcerned with the fate of humans.

Question 2

To Confucius, the fundamental element of society was the

A) king
B) city
C) maintenance of tradition
D) characteristic of respect
E) family

Answer 2

family

Question 3

Other than oracle bones, one of the main sources of information on Shang China is

A) records from western traders reporting the wealth of north China.
B) The Book of Records.
C) mummies.
D) royal and elite tombs.
E) excavation of cities.

Answer 3

royal and elite tombs.

Question 4

Loess was

A) dust from gold ore, which was used for paint.
B) a kind of moss used for fuel.
C) a leafy green vegetable used for food.
D) a method of spinning silk cocoons.
E) a rich dust blown in from Central Asia.

Question 5

Geographic determinism is shown in the build-up of the south in China more than the north because:

A) rice is extremely labor intensive
B) it rains more in the north.
C) rice feeds more people per cultivated acre, leading to increased population in the south.
D) people of the north were unable to engineer their environments as well as those in the south.
E) Northern China is a desert.

Question 6

Significant insight into the lives, activities, and feelings of early Chinese people of the Zhou period is available to scholars because of:

A) oracle bones.
B) long-lasting archeological remains.
C) The Book of Songs.
D) The Mandate of Heaven.
E) Emperor Wu's immense stele of inscribed laws.

Question 7

The first writing in China that has survived was

A) etched in animal "oracle" bones.
B) etched in clay tablets.
C) written on paper.
D) inscribed on buildings.
E) etched on a stele.

Question 8

The Mandate of Heaven meant that the ruler retained the right to rule as long as

A) he remained the strongest in the kingdom.
B) he remained a wise and principled guardian of his people.
C) he performed the correct ritual sacrifices.
D) he produced a male heir.
E) he kept the loyalty of the military.

Question 9

What does the practice of feng shui accomplish?

A) It is part of the process of silk production.
B) It orients buildings in harmony with the terrain and the forces of nature.
C) It scares away ghosts of the ancestors.
D) It is a treatment in traditional Chinese medicine.
E) It is a term for "Divine Judgment," a kind of karmic response from Heaven.

Question 10

Two indigenous Chinese philosophies that emerged from the Warring States Period are

A) Confucianism and Buddhism.
B) Confucianism and Hinduism.
C) Confucianism and Jainism.
D) Confucianism and Daoism.
E) Confucianism and Judaism.

Question 11

The greatest rival of Confucianism was:

A) Daoism.
B) Confucianism.
C) Legalism.
D) Moism.
E) Rationalism.

Question 12

Confucius' writings were handed down orally for several generations before it was compiled in written form as:

A) Book of Documents
B) Book of Songs
C) Book of Changes
D) Analects

Question 13

Confucius most admired which political figure for maintaining harmony in his rule and being a dutiful servant of the state?

A) King Wu
B) King Wen
C) Prince Cheng
D) Duke Zhou
E) Duke Dao

Question 14

The Shang elite were what part of society?

A) warriors.
B) priests
C) scholars.
D) merchants
E) farmers.

Question 15

Mengzi's belief in human nature was that people

A) were innately corrupt.
B) would lead only if a charismatic ruler were to take charge of them.
C) must depend on one another to create a just society.
D) would do the right thing if a ruler led by example.
E) would always be at war with one another.

Question 16

Compared with the Shang dynasty god, Di, the Zhou main god Tian was

A) much more demanding and harsh.
B) compassionate and understanding.
C) equally uninvolved in the affairs of humans.
D) retributive and moody.
E) generous and wise.

Question 17

During the Shang period, ancestor worship became important because

A) ancestors had special influence with the gods.
B) it was a way of spreading Chinese rule to other East Asian societies.
C) ancestors were necessary to ensure the birth of male children.
D) matrilineal descent was important for fertility.
E) it allowed people to claim specific inheritance of property.

Question 18

The Chinese acquired silk by

A) encouraging Chinese "silk pirates" who raided merchant shipping.
B) importing raw silk from Europe.
C) hiring Japanese labor to work in textile mills.
D) conquering the neighboring Mongol regions.
E) raising silkworms and pioneering silk cloth production.

Question 19

Which of the following is not one of the ways that Confucian philosophy attempts to create societal harmony?

A) By emphasizing the idea that the country is parallel to the family
B) By expanding the traditional feelings of benevolence toward family so that they apply to all of humanity
C) By avoiding violence and promoting justice, loyalty, and dignity
D) By emphasizing the goodness of human nature and seeking to promote it through education, particularly of public officials
E) By emphasizing individual freedoms

Question 20

Which early Zhou writing is attributed to Sunzi?

A) The Book of Documents
B) The Art of War
C) The Book of Prayer
D) The Book of Changes
E) Spring and Autumn Annals

Question 21

Celtic is a member of which language group?

A) Indo-European
B) Altaic
C) Semitic
D) Bantu
E) Sino-Tibetan

Question 22

How did Nubia become a "corridor" for long-distance trade before 3000 B.C.E.?

A) Government policies carefully regulated and promoted trade.
B) Egypt built a river highway for the passage of goods.
C) Nubia had no natural resources of its own and so needed to import them.
D) It connected sub-Saharan Africa with North Africa.
E) Actually, Nubia never did participate in the African trade networks, preferring isolationism.

Question 23

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
Shang

Question 24

The later Eastern Zhou period is characterized by

A) warfare and fragmentation of central order.
B) invasion from the north.
C) extension of trade via the Silk Road.
D) a conservative government under a Legalist system.
E) ren, or "humaneness," of the government toward its citizens.

Question 25

In the Nubian kingdom's matrilineal system, the monarch who usually inherited the throne was the

A) daughter of the dead queen.
B) son of the dead king's sister.
C) niece of the dead queen.
D) first-born son of the monarch.
E) first-born child of the monarch, male or female.

Question 26

Why was the Nubian offer to aid Palestine a mistake?

A) Palestine lost.
B) Nubia had nothing to offer militarily.
C) The Palestinians misconstrued the offer and attacked the Nubians.
D) The Assyrians invaded Egypt as retaliation, driving the Nubians southward.
E) Egypt, angered by Nubia's siding against its ally, Assyria, invaded Nubia.

Question 27

What is a distinctive feature of Celtic military activity?

A) Warriors fought naked and took the heads of enemies.
B) Warriors fought with special armor.
C) Warriors used military bands to set the tempo for marching, and to keep up morale.
D) Warriors engaged in symbolic warfare, which obviated injuries.
E) Warriors fought only as a last resort after diplomacy failed.

Question 28

The earliest political and economic influence on Nubia was

A) Egypt.
B) the Sudan.
C) Mali.
D) Kush.
E) Meroë.

Question 29

Unlike other ancient cultures in Europe and western Asia, Celts believed in

A) the belief in the afterlife for everyone, rather than just for the elite.
B) human sacrifice.
C) more than 400 nature-based gods and goddesses.
D) fertility cults with an emphasis on feminine religious power.
E) the belief in reincarnation.

Question 30

The concept of yin and yang represented the complementary nature of

A) religion and the state in Chinese society.
B) good and evil in Chinese morality.
C) male and female roles in the natural order.
D) the wisdom of age and the strength of youth.
E) warrior and emperor in times of trouble.

Question 31

Druids were

A) Celtic priests in Gaul and Britain
B) keepers of henges
C) the warrior elite of Germanic lands.
D) spell-casters who ate human hearts.
E) we don't know

Question 32

Kush, the Egyptian name for Nubia, flourished in trade by using:

A) horses and chariots.
B) the Nile River.
C) a thoroughfare of roads connecting Nubia to Egypt.
D) isolationism kept the Nubians from contact with anyone.
E) letting trade-seekers come to them.

Question 33

One of the best text sources we have about the Celts was written by

A) compilers of the Bible
B) Plato
C) Julius Caesar
D) Constantine the Great
E) the Celtic historian's guild.

Question 34

Celtic women

A) never contributed property to a marriage.
B) had no freedom in their sexual relations.
C) could inherit their husbands' estates.
D) were regular combatants on the battlefield.
E) were considered more "royal" than men.

Question 35

Why did the center of power shift to Meroë in the fourth century B.C.E.?

A) There was a plague epidemic throughout Egypt.
B) It was a better location for agriculture and trade.
C) Nubia allied militarily with peoples in sub-Saharan Africa.
D) The king of Meroë was the strongest man in the Eastern Hemisphere.
E) Egyptian culture weakened and became degenerate.

Question 36

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
loess

Question 37

Which of the following were part of Celtic society?

A) elite classes of warriors
B) professional groups of priests
C) commoners laboring on their lands
D) groups of bards
E) all of the above

Question 38

The fundamental idea of Daoism can be summarized as

A) accepting the world as you find it, avoiding useless struggles, and adhering to the "path" of nature.
B) unquestioning obedience to authority and reverence for structure brings success.
C) emphasizing aggressive action and radical change.
D) emphasizing communal action to promote the betterment of society.
E) technological and social progress can solve all social ills.

Question 39

By 300 B.C.E., Celtic people were found in what regions?

A) Hungary and Turkey
B) Italy and Greece
C) Britain and France
D) Spain and Ireland
E) All of these

Question 40

Which of the following is true of Egyptian cultural influence on Nubia?

A) Nubian child hostages learned the Egyptian culture, religion, and language.
B) Nubians served as archers in the Egyptian armed forces and so learned Egyptian culture.
C) Nubians traded for Egyptian goods.
D) Nubians built Egyptian-style towns and temples to Egyptian gods and goddesses.
E) All of the above.

Question 41

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
feng shui

Question 42

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
nomads

Question 43

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
Zhou

Question 44

According to the chapter, why was China's development unique?

Question 45

Describe the role that geography, climate, and natural resources had on the classical Chinese civilizations which emerged in East Asia after 2000 B.C.E.

Question 46

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
Laozi

Question 47

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
Celts

Question 48

The Warring States Period was a time of political and social change in China. How do Daoism and Confucianism reflect these changes?

Question 49

If you were a Roman traveler, how would you describe Celtic society and explain the Celts' lack of state building?

Question 50

What was the importance of trade to the native civilizations that emerged along the Nile south of Egypt?

Question 51

Discuss the importance of the Chinese concept of "harmony" in both religious and political terms. How does this concept manifest itself in political and religious structures? Does this concept remain stable?

Question 52

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
Meroë

Question 53

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
Confucius

Question 54

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
Druids

Question 55

What was the importance of the Mandate of Heaven in the transition from the Shang to the Zhou period?

Question 56

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
Scythians

Question 57

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
oracle bone

Question 58

Instructions: Identify the following term(s).
yin/yang

Question 59

In contrast to the civilizations discussed in previous chapters, what do the civilizations in China, Nubia, and Celtic Europe have in common? How were they shaped by long-distance trade?

Question 60

Briefly discuss pastoral nomadism as it unfolded across the Eurasian steppes after 1000 B.C.E.

Question 61

Using Map 3.1, describe the extent of the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

Question 62

Refer to Map 3.3 and describe the influence that deserts, river valleys, and mountainous terrain had on the migration patterns of the nomads.

Question 63

Refer to Map 3.4 and discuss why the Celts had a widespread influence in Europe despite their lack of a unified state.

Question 64

Using Map 3.1, identify the natural barriers that isolated China. Also locate the major waterways, including the Yangzi and Yellow Rivers, and explain how those were used to facilitate trade, despite the natural barriers.

Question 65

Refer to Map 3.2 and describe why Nubia was a "corridor" of trade in East Africa.

Question 66

Refer to Map 3.4 and explain why the Celtic people had a different cultural identity and way of life than Mediterranean Europeans. Did this way of life affect their urban development?

Question 67

Refer to Map 3.3 and describe the geographical connections between the Xiongnu and the Scythians with the Kushan, Saga and Parthian Empires.

Question 68

Refer to Map 3.2 and compare the distribution of settled territory in proximity to the Nile in Egypt and in Nubia. What accounts for the differences in population distribution?

Question 69

Refer to Map 3.2 and compare the resources and strategic locations of Egypt and Nubia. Do you agree with the statement "Nubia was richer than Egypt"?

Question 70

Refer to Map 3.3 and describe the geographical features of the Steppe Nomads. Which topographical features provided obstacles and which ones provided pastoral opportunities?

Question 71

If Confucianism emphasized social engagement, its great rival, Daoism, urged__________ .

Question 72

Refer to Map 3.2 and label the important rivers, cities, deserts, and bodies of water. What resources were available to the Nubians? How were geographic features important to Nubia's historical development?

Question 73

Definitive history began with what period of Chinese rule?