Deck 6: Ancient China to 221 BCE

Question 1

Early Chinese civilization lacked

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 1

a true priestly caste.

Question 2

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.

Answer 2

Because of its difficulty, literacy was rare.

Question 3

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?

Answer 3

Answers would include Confucianism and 5 relationships,Daoism and nature,Legalism and force,Era of Warring States,and Moism and reciprocal relationships.

Question 4

The cradle of Chinese civilization

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

Question 5

The Yellow River was

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

Question 6

Most historians agree that China's greatest single cultural force was

A) Lao Zi.
B) Legalism.
C) Confucius.
D) the Mandarins.
E) the Dao de Jing.

Question 7

Which of the following best describes Shang society?

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

Question 8

During the Zhou period,peasants were generally

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

Question 9

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.

Question 10

Yellow River flooding brought

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

Question 11

Elaborate on the role of geography in Chinese history.

Question 12

The idea of the "mandate of heaven"

A) promoted peace and stability.
B) benefited the peasantry.
C) made rulers more religious.
D) was used to justify revolts.
E) held little appeal among ordinary Chinese.

Question 13

It would be most accurate to describe China during the Shang Dynasty as

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

Question 14

Compare and contrast China with other ancient civilizations.

Question 15

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

Question 16

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

Question 17

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 18

The Chinese used oracle bones to

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

Question 19

We know more about the Zhou than the Shang because

A) of better archaeological evidence.
B) the Zhou developed an extensive literature.
C) of Confucius and Lao Zi.
D) the Zhou were wealthier.
E) the Zhou traded more extensively with outsiders.

Question 20

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

Question 21

In contrast to what many people would think,the product that provided the most wealth for early China was

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

Question 22

Daoism began as

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

Question 23

Highly educated corps of Confucian officials were known as ____________________.

Question 24

Mandarins were members of the group of government officials who

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

Question 25

According to Confucian ideas,

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 26

The early Chinese dynasties managed to control warfare and the people's religion by

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

Question 27

Silk production in China was important for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

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 28

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 29

A nature-based philosophy de-emphasizing the role of government would best describe

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

Question 30

Daoist political views emphasized that people

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

Question 31

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 32

The text attributed to Confucius is the ____________________.

Question 33

Metal technology in early China would best be described as

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 34

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

Question 35

The pictographic writing of the Chinese

A) led to a fairly simple and straightforward phonetic language.
B) was replaced by a polysyllabic spoken language.
C) has not changed much since its earliest beginnings, except that it incorporated a number of words from neighboring societies.
D) was developed as early as 2500 B.C.E.
E) uses a monosyllabic logograph to denote actions as well as words.

Question 36

Moism can best be described as

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

Question 37

The purpose of the oracle bones appears to have been

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

Question 38

As China expanded under the Zhou Dynasty,

A) 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 39

Most of the revenue from the tax on salt went to

A) Extend and develop the Silk Road.
B) build the Great Wall.
C) support large armies.
D) extend the Grand Canal.
E) promote the silk industry.

Question 40

The Dao de Jing expounds upon the philosophy of ____________________.

Question 41

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

Question 42

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

Question 43

The yellow wind-blown soil that improved agriculture in China's cradle is known as ____________________.

Question 44

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

Question 45

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

Question 46

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