Ancient China

Question 1

Terra cotta army

Answer 1

army of clay soldiers built by Shi Huangdi to guard his grave site as a testament to china’s military might.

Question 2

Admonition for women

Answer 2

book written during Han dynasty by a woman for women about how to be inferior to Chinese men.

Question 3

Filial piety

Answer 3

respect for parents and elders (“xiao” – word for filial peity)

Question 4

Ethnocentrism

Answer 4

belief that your culture and nationality is superior to others. The Chinese thought this because they were more advanced than those around them.

Question 5

Xiongnu

Answer 5

China’s biggest threat, dating back to the Zhou Dynasty. Wudi, a Han emperor, defeated the Xiongnu in battle. Shi Huangdi built the Great Wall to keep out the Xiongnu.

Question 6

Maodun

Answer 6

leader of the Xiongnu. Once commanded that his archers kill whoever he pointed to. Killed Maodun’s steed, spouse and father to usurp power

Question 7

Wang mang

Answer 7

“socialist emperor” - ruler of China between the Former and the Later Han dynasties. Took control of China from a toddler because class divide between rich and poor so severe. Enforced land reform (rich gave up land to poor) to grow middle class and boost economy. Assassinated and Han family reclaimed authority. This kickstarted the Later Han Dynasty. Wasn’t as successful – many peasant revolts and uprisings. Caused infighting and led to 400 years without centralized government

Question 8

Liu bang

Answer 8

28/27/26. Liu Bang – Born as a peasant from the land of Han. Worked his way through the ranks and overthrew the Qin Dynasty; claiming the Mandate of Heaven after Shi Huangdi. Didn’t go to either extreme, taking middle ground after a botched Xiongnu kidnapping. Due to his family’s inability to help him – he took power away from ruling families. Used Legalist policies in gov. but used Confucianism in education. Hired people of merit to replace his family’s position.

Question 9

Han wudi

Answer 9

Wudi grandson of Lui Bang. After taking out Xiongnu – he took to education and establishing a Golden Age. Brought more centralized government to China. He was the one who built China’s first university with a Confucian curriculum. Enforced civil service exams to determine someone’s merit. Bureaucracy was so big that he had the highest quality of intellect. “Junzi” Confucian term for person of superior intellect

Question 10

Golden age

Answer 10

tea shredder, seismograph, anesthesia. (see inventions chart for more)

Question 11

Silkroad

Answer 11

4,000-mile-long trade route that connected China to the rest of the world. Greatest Chinese export was silk.

Question 12

Wuwei

Answer 12

a Daoist belief of disengaging from all worldly affairs. (Go w/ the flow) Believe that gov. is unnatural – that the best action is to take none. Nature will take its course and resolve all problems.

Question 13

The analects

Answer 13

compilation of Confucius’ greatest teachings.

Question 14

Mencius

Answer 14

spokesman of Confucius’ teachings. Had very ideal view of human nature. One of his greatest criticisms is that he failed to see reality

Question 15

The qin dynasty

Answer 15

started by Qin Shi Huangdi, ended 200 year period of warring states, technically China’s first empire

Question 16

Shi hung di

Answer 16

First person to implement legalism as a form of govt, believed that the strength of an empire depended on a good military and agriculture, forced nobles to move near him to keep an eye on them, recreated their palaces to make them feel comfortable in their new homes nearer to him, first person to unify China since the warring states, had a centralized govt, made everything uniform (weights and measures, written script, currency, etc), divided China into 36 districts, each district controlled by a governor, randomly checked on them, began to build the Great Wall of China, built terra cotta warriors, buried Confucianists alive, burned Confucianist books, executed or tortured those who defied him, died from poisoning himself on his quest for immortality, only ruled for 14 years, two years after his death his dynasty was officially overthrown

Question 17

Great Wall of china

Answer 17

known as the longest cemetery in the world because workers were treated harshly and worked in bad conditions, wall was built on top of their corpses

Question 18

Period of warring states

Answer 18

Zhou was seen as losing their mandate of heaven, they were extremely decentralized, for 200 years no one was powerful enough to claim the mandate of heaven, philosophers came up with ideas to restore China to its former state of glory

Question 19

Yang shao

Answer 19

early Chinese Neolithic village, existed before any dynasties, before everything else

Question 20

Legalisim

Answer 20

Han Feizi (?) was one of Legalism’s main contributors and disputed founder, cynical view of human nature, believe that people are evil by nature and it is the job of govt to have strict laws and harsh punishments to make people good, believed in a strong govt, art and literature not prioritized, believed that people having knowledge would spark rebellion against govt, helped China emerge from the period of warring states, needed strict and structured form of govt to keep people in line

Question 21

Lao Zi

Answer 21

supposed founder of Daoism, not positive if he actually existed

Question 22

Daoism

Answer 22

a religion and a philosophy, small self-sufficient communities secluded from society, feel that govt is unnatural, you have to follow the dao (the way), very vague, some people see it as a god and others see it as a force in the universe, “go with the flow” philosophy, live the most natural life possible, never strive for anything, if something doesn’t come naturally it shouldn’t come at all, focus on self reflection

Question 23

Wuwei

Answer 23

to disengage from all worldly affairs, important concept for Daoists, believed that action should never be taken, believed that things would happen as they should if people didn’t do anything

Question 24

Dao de jing

Answer 24

Translates to way of virtue, holy book for the Daoists

Question 25

Confusicious and confusinism

Answer 25

Confucius- his goal was to bring back the traditional values of China
The purpose of his philosophy is to bring respect back to China. The five relationships were how he suggested it should happen., Father>Son Older brother>younger brother, Husband>wife. ruler>subject, friend>friend. Social order will come if you accept your inferiority. Xiao- (filial piety) respect for elders, parents and ancestors. (most most important) Ren- (kindness) People should treat each other with kindness. Spoke of li- treating others with courtesy. (Golden rule) Government and education- society where government promotes education is the best. If people get education society will advance. By nature people are good corruption of society is what makes people bad. Confucius believed people with merit should rule. A select group of people are super superior known as the Junzi.
Average people with good work ethic should be part of the govt. promoted the idea of civil service exams.

Question 26

Yellow yangtze rivers

Answer 26

Yellow river is yellow because of the yellow silt it carries. (China’s sorrow/ River of sorrows) would flood frequently. River valley civilizations, both were used for food which created a surplus.

Question 27

Natural barriers of china

Answer 27

• Gobi Desert (north)
• Himalaya mountains- isolated China in their early years (west)
• Pacific Ocean (east)

Question 28

Yangshao

Answer 28

One of the first Chinese Neolithic villages.

Question 29

King yu

Answer 29

-sage kings

Founded the Xia, and he was considered a hero because of the projects that he was able to build to stop flooding.

Question 30

Xia dynasty

Answer 30

• don’t know too much about them still being excavated.

- no written records.

Question 31

Shang dynasty

Answer 31

• First to use written records
• used bronze weapons and horse drawn chariots adapted from Indo-Europeans
• modern Chinese is based on their writing system.
• ancestor worship

Question 32

Oracle bones

Answer 32

• wrote questions on the bone to communicate with the gods, and the bone was cracked and that was their answer.
• important to historians.

Question 33

Zhou dynasty

Answer 33

-invented the mandate of heaven for order and stability
-feudalism extremely decentralized
Dynasty was too big so they used a decentralized government
-iron tools and weapons they were unable to control the distribution of iron
-lost their mandate of heaven because of their local leader