Deck 6: Ancient China to 221 BCE

Question 1

Which of the following best describes Shang society?

A)Matriarchal
B)Hierarchical
C)Egalitarian
D)Fluid
E)None of the options are correct.

Answer 1

Hierarchical

Question 2

Which of the following was missing from the early Chinese civilization?

A)A true priestly caste.
B)A formal government.
C)An advanced system of writing.
D)The form of ancestor worship that would develop much later.
E)A coordinated system for teaching the young the importance of societal harmony.

Answer 2

A true priestly caste.

Question 3

In what way might a ruler lose the "mandate of heaven"?

A)Adultery or incest.
B)Failing to personally lead his armies in battle.
C)Failing to stop invaders.
D)Excessive taxation.
E)Disrespect to mandarins.

Answer 3

Failing to stop invaders.

Question 4

What was one of the aspects of the idea of the "mandate of heaven"?

A)The mandate helped with flood recovery.
B)It benefited the peasantry.
C)The rulers became more religious.
D)It was used to justify revolts.
E)The mandate held little appeal among ordinary Chinese.

Question 5

What seems to have been the primary purpose of the oracle bones?

A)medicinal.
B)divination.
C)legal.
D)agricultural.
E)literary.

Question 6

What is the best description of metal technology in early China?

A)highly developed.
B)used, in the main, for practical purposes.
C)beautiful but unimaginative.
D)difficult to master.
E)inferior to that of other early civilizations.

Question 7

What was one of the major impacts of the Yellow River flooding?

A)The floods provided much-needed water for irrigation, on a regular and easily-managed basis.
B)It caused massive destruction to Chinese crops regularly, with resultant famines.
C)The flooding caused political fragmentation, as the people could not agree on the best method for flood control.
D)It led to the the collapse of the Xia civilization.
E)The Chinese began the development of major flood control projects, including a vast system of levees.

Question 8

What did the characters in the pictographic writing of the Chinese represent?

A)A fairly simple and straightforward phonetic language.
B)A polysyllabic spoken language.
C)A blending of many different writing systems.
D)Late development of a complex writing system.
E)A monosyllabic logograph that can denote actions as well as words.

Question 9

What is a nature-based philosophy de-emphasizing the role of government and also known as the "Way"?

A)Confucianism.
B)Daoism.
C)Legalism.
D)Buddhism.
E)Hinduism.

Question 10

Who do most historians agree was China's greatest single cultural force?

A)Lao Zi.
B)Sun Yat Sen
C)Confucius.
D)The Mandarins.
E)Mozi.

Question 11

What was the general status of peasants during the Zhou period?

A)The peasants were enslaved on a hereditary basis.
B)They were mired in a share-cropping existence, with no protection from the central government.
C)They were hard working, but not miserable, and sometimes even prosperous.
D)They lacked needed equipment and work animals such as horses.
E)They were happier than the aristocrats, because they controlled their own lives.

Question 12

In which of the following ways was China different from other early civilizations?

A)The earliest settlements were along rivers.
B)There was a real lack of dependence on agriculture.
C)They lacked a system of writing.
D)They were more isolated than others.
E)They lacked any real governmental structure.

Question 13

How did the Chinese use oracle bones?

A)To help determine their next emperor.
B)To communicate with departed ancestors about important family matters.
C)To maintain agricultural records.
D)To help them decide which crops to plant.
E)To help the king determine how the ancestors thought the society should be run.

Question 14

Which of the following ideas most represents the teachings of Confucius?

A)Only aristocrats could be gentlemen.
B)The rich owed nothing to the poor.
C)The state was like a well-run family.
D)Gentlemen should avoid politics.
E)The family was more important than the state.

Question 15

How would it be most accurate to describe China during the Shang Dynasty?

A)They were lacking in the skills of metalworking which made trade with other areas necessary.
B)It was a mainly rural, agricultural society.
C)They were protected from invasion by its steppes and deserts.
D)China was isolated to a great degree, but not as much as Egypt or Mesopotamia.
E)The Chine rulers were heavily influenced by the Egyptian concept of dynastic rule.

Question 16

Why do we know so much more about the Zhou than the Shang?

A)There is better archaeological evidence on the Zhou than the Shang.
B)The Zhou developed extensive literature and written records.
C)The information came from Confucius and Lao Zi.
D)The Zhou were wealthier.
E)The Zhou traded more extensively with outsiders.

Question 17

Where was the cradle of Chinese civilization?

A)Centered on the great Northern Plain's grasslands, where millet grew abundantly.
B)South of the Yangtze River's swamplands, where there were many rice farms.
C)The Yellow River valley, where rich soils made a wide variety of crops possible.
D)Along the Yangtze River, but over time became centered around the Yellow River valley.
E)It actually began with non-Chinese peoples who were still hunter-gatherers.

Question 18

What might most accurately be said about Chinese writing?

A)It is essentially pictographic.
B)Five thousand pictograms had to be memorized.
C)It dates back only to the Zhou period.
D)Because of its difficulty, literacy was rare.
E)It began to be used first during the Hsia Dynasty.

Question 19

What was occurring in the Chinese government and ruling class as China expanded under the Zhou Dynasty?

A)The local aristocrats became feudal lords.
B)The central government began to reinvent itself for the changing times.
C)The monarch became more revered than ever.
D)The authority of the central government was altered yet remained strong.
E)The royal government grew stronger.

Question 20

Which of the following best describes the Yellow River?

A)It was benevolent like the Nile.
B)It was in an under-populated area.
C)It was tamer than the Yangtze.
D)It was subject to damaging floods.
E)It was located on the border between China and Mongolia.

Question 21

Which of the following products provided the most wealth for early China?

A)copper.
B)tea.
C)silk.
D)salt.
E)iron.

Question 22

The ____________________ proved to be China's longest-lived and most formative dynasty.

Question 23

Confucius taught that all human affairs, public and private, were structured by the ____________________.

Question 24

Which of the following is not a reason silk production in China was important?

A)Its use as payment for taxes.
B)As a material useful for writing and painting.
C)As payment of bribes.
D)As payment for public health and education.
E)As currency for purchasing war horses.

Question 25

What political views did the Daoist emphasize?

A)People get the government they deserve.
B)People are naturally evil and government must restrain them.
C)People should be enslaved to ensure peace.
D)People should be left to their own devices as much as possible.
E)People should defer to their rulers, who are naturally much wiser.

Question 26

Most of the Chinese philosophies arose in which of the following?

A)Xia
B)Hundred Schools Period
C)Shang
D)Early Zhou
E)None of the options are correct.

Question 27

To what use did the Chinese rulers apply most of the revenue from the tax on salt?

A)Extension of and development of the Silk Road.
B)To build the Great Wall.
C)To support of large armies.
D)Extension of the Grand Canal.
E)Promotion of the silk industry.

Question 28

Confucius insisted on gentility, the three components of which were ____________________.

Question 29

The concept of the mandate of heaven was developed during the ____________________ Dynasty.

Question 30

The central valley of the ____________________ was the cradle of China's earliest civilization.

Question 31

In the sixth century B.C.E. ____________________ was used to make improved plowshares and so the population and economy increased by about 400 percent.

Question 32

Highly educated corps of Confucian officials were known as ____________________.

Question 33

____________________ was popularized during the centuries of breakdown in Zhou authority.

Question 34

What would be the best description of the purpose of the group of government officials known as the Mandarins?

A)They made and changed laws according to Confucian principles, with or without the support of the Emperor.
B)They had the task of implementing Confucian laws concerning the family.
C)They opposed the teachings of Confucius, calling for the acceptance of the ideas of Lao-tsu instead.
D)They monitored the Emperor to ensure that he governed according to Confucian principles.
E)They oversaw the implementation of Confucian ideas in the Chinese educational system.

Question 35

What is the best description of the beliefs of the followers of Moism?

A)They follow an example of harsh punishment inflicted on the weak.
B)They want to return to nature.
C)They believe in the idea of "an eye for an eye" type of reciprocal relationship.
D)They follow an inconsistent philosophy with no real philosopher.
E)They follow the Golden Rule of "do unto others".

Question 36

Which of these was most valued by Chinese aristocrats of the Zhou Period?

A)The use of the Silk Road during the Zhou Dynasty.
B)Trade and foreign empires, for highly prized fabrics and perfumes.
C)Trade with their close neighbors.
D)Silk cultivation and silk-weaving.
E)The horses they obtained from Central Asian nomads.

Question 37

In its early stages which of the following best describes Daoism?

A)Daoism was an outgrowth of the Legalist cause.
B)It began as a mysterious, supernatural religion.
C)It was a philosophy of the educated classes.
D)Daoism was mostly a superstition of the peasants.
E)It represented an attempt to implement Confucian ideas.

Question 38

The Dao de Jing expounds upon the philosophy of ____________________.

Question 39

The two important innovations of the Shang Period are writing and ____________________ production.

Question 40

How did the first Zhou rulers justify their overthrow of the Shang?

A)By maintaining strict surveillance over the people.
B)By maintaining strict control over both weapons and religious objects.
C)By convincing the people that they ruled through a mandate from heaven.
D)By keeping most of the population illiterate and tied to the land.
E)By monopolizing the trade in metals, salt, and silks.

Question 41

Elaborate on the role of geography in Chinese history.

Question 42

What lasting contributions to Chinese government, culture, and society distinguished the Zhou Dynasty period?

Question 43

Term for identification: Shang Dynasty

Question 44

Elaborate on the development of China identifying significant concepts and individuals.

Question 45

Term for identification: Yellow River

Question 46

Term for identification: Yangtze River

Question 47

Term for identification: Daoism

Question 48

Assess the significance of Confucian philosophy in China. Compare and contrast Confucianism with Daoism, Legalism, and Moism. What are the common denominators of these philosophies?

Question 49

Term for identification: oracle bones

Question 50

Term for identification: Zhou

Question 51

Term for identification: logographs

Question 52

Although ancient China had an agricultural foundation, there were increases in the amount and importance of manufacturing of relatively rare but important goods.  What were some of the high-demand production goods associated with China?

Question 53

Term for identification: Analects

Question 54

Term for identification: legalism

Question 55

Term for identification: moism

Question 56

Explain the influence of the ideal of education on Chinese culture.