China and Early Japan

Question 1

What happened to China after the collapse of the Han Dynasty

Answer 1

China fell into an extended period of division and civil war

Question 2

How was Confucianism impacted after the fall of the Han? Provide 2 examples

Answer 2

1 Turned to different creeds/Messianic
2 Buddhism became popular

Question 3

How did Buddhism spread to China

Answer 3

Brought by missionaries and merchants traveling over the Silk Road

Question 4

Who took over the Sui Dynasty? What was his goal for China

Answer 4

Yang Jian. Sought to create a unifying ideology for the state to enhance its efficient

Question 5

Define Tribute

Answer 5

An act, statement or gift that shows gratitude, respect, or admiration

Question 6

What were 2 issues that lead to the downfall of the Tang Dynasty

Answer 6

1 corrupt leaders
2 drought

Question 7

What led to the final collapse of the Dynasty

Answer 7

The Kirghiz defeated Uighurs and turned on the Tang government in its moment of weakness and overthrew it

Question 8

Song Dynasty Date

Answer 8

960-1279

Question 9

Why did the early Song Emperors have a harder time defending their territory than that of the Tang

Answer 9

He was unable to reconquer the northwestern part of the country from the nomadic Khitan people

Question 10

Describe the Grand Council

Answer 10

Apex of the government hierarchy, assisted by a secretariat and a chancellery; it included representatives from all 2 authorities, civil, military and censorate

Question 11

How did the Song try to help the poor regarding the Civil Service Examinations

Answer 11

Training academies were set up to have kids pass

Question 12

Describe the Scholar Gentry

Answer 12

They were called this because the gentry prized education and became the primary upholders of the Confucian tradition

Question 13

How did the Song try to resolve the land problem?

Answer 13

By returning to the successful programs of the early Tang and reducing the power of the wealth landed aristocrats.

Question 14

What were 3 changes to Commerce/Trade during the Tang and Song

Answer 14

1 Guilds
2 Grand Canal
3 Paper Currency/Credit

Question 15

Why did most trade along the Silk Road pass through the Takilmakan Desert?

Answer 15

If you went the direct route “go in and you won’t come out”

Question 16

Why did the Maritime routes become popular

Answer 16

The Silk Road was so hazardous

Question 17

What were the Chinese ships known as? How did Marco Polo describe the “junks”

Answer 17

Junks - 4 masts and could carry several hundred men, many more than contemporary ships in the West

Question 18

What were three products exported from China

Answer 18

1 Tea
2 SIlk
3 Porcelain

Question 19

What dynasty did the Mongols succeed in taking over

Answer 19

The Song Dynasty

Question 20

How was Mongol society organized in the 1160s

Answer 20

they were organized loosely into clans and tribes and even lacked a common name for themselves

Question 21

Why do historians describe the Mongols as in a constant “state of stress”

Answer 21

Because they had no source of subsistence beside their herds

Question 22

Genghis Khan

Answer 22

1162 - 1227

Question 23

Genghis Khan was also known as

Answer 23

Temuchin

Question 24

How did Khan’s childhood inspire him to take power

Answer 24

His father was murdered by a rival and was forced to seek refuge in wilderness

Question 25

1206

Answer 25

was elected Genghis Khan ("universal ruler") at a massive tribal meeting in the Gobi Desert

Question 26

How did Fire-Lance impact battle during this time period

Answer 26

It started cannons. Fire-lance was able to spew out 30-40 yds

Question 27

What changes did Genghis Khan have to make in order to be an effective ruler? How was this different than traditional Mongolian life/culture?

Answer 27

Set up a capital city to administer the new empire, but prohibited his fellow Mongols to practice sedentary occupations or living in cities. Before the Mongols were purely nomadic had a simple life

Question 28

What happened to the empire after Khan's death

Answer 28

Was divided into several separate Khanates, each under the autonomous rule of one of his sons by his principable wife

Question 29

Who becomes the leader of the Yuan Dynasty

Answer 29

Khubialai Khan

Question 30

How did the Mongols adapt to the Chinese political system.

Answer 30

Made use of local talents in bureaucracy

Question 31

How were the Mongols culturally different than the Chinese

Answer 31

China was Buddhist

Question 32

What were 3 reasons on why Mongols were effective rulers

Answer 32

1 Relatively tolerant economic policies of the southern Song 2 Bringing much of Eurasian landmass under a single rules 3 Encouraged long distance trade

Question 33

What were 2 reasons historians believe caused the Mongols to leave Central Asia for China

Answer 33

- drought and overpopulation may have depleted the available pasture on the steeps -Lack of food

Question 34

Why do other historians contribute Khan's greatness to his reliance on the Ordos

Answer 34

Ordos - a system of reconstructing tribes into decimal units whose top level of leadership was organized on bureaucratic lines. The Mongols applied it to create disciplined military units

Question 35

Although linked to the Black Death, Mongols brought Pax Mongolia to Asia. Describe it.

Answer 35

Era of widespread peace, described as "the idea of the unified conceptualization of the globe" creating a "basic informational circuit" that spread commodities, ideas and invention

Question 36

What are 2 reasons as to why historians believe Zheng He made 7 voyages outside of China

Answer 36

1 Show the world about China 2 Trade

Question 37

List the 4 major islands of Japan

Answer 37

Hokkaido Honshu Kyushu Shikoku

Question 38

Describe the climate of Japan

Answer 38

It has a temperate climate like the US. It is slightly warmer on the east coast

Question 39

Where do the majority of people live in Japan Why

Answer 39

Along the east coast, warmer, surrounds Tokyo, farmers are able to harvest 2 crops of rice

Question 40

Japan is an island nation. How has that impacted their national and cultural identity? How does that compare to China

Answer 40

Volcanic soils are extremely fertile which helps farmers. There are many earthquakes, some destroy entire cities. Earthquakes can than trigger tsunamis that destroy areas along the coast.

Question 41

Why would a shogunate system be beneficial in times of chaos

Answer 41

It kept everyone stable and in one position

Question 42

Shogun

Answer 42

Attemped to increase the powers of the central governemnt while reducing rival arstiocratic clans to vassal status

Question 43

How did Buddhism influence the Tang Dynasty

Answer 43

Buddhism spreads along the Silk Road. Buddhism spread like crazy and was so adaptable

Question 44

Describe the city of Chang'an

Answer 44

It was the capital of the Han Dynasty

Question 45

What became the "cement" that held everything together for the Song Dynasty?

Answer 45

Confucianism, it establishes a balance, everyone has a role

Question 46

Describe how Civil Service Exams helped the aristocratic families

Answer 46

1 Had money to pay 2 Held in major cities

Question 47

Describe how students cheated on the civil service exam

Answer 47

Brought in Confucian texts writes on paper writes on hands

Question 48

What were 3 reasons on why the Mongols became one of the "shortest lived of the great dynasties"?

Answer 48

1 Excessive spending on foreign conquest 2 growing internal stability 3 factionalism and corruption at court and in the bureaucracy

Question 49

Why do you think the Ming Dynasty brought back Confucianism after the Mongols eliminated it

Answer 49

Gives them peace in times of chaos

Question 50

The Japanese consider themselves a "divine nation" why?

Answer 50

Gods birthed them so they called themselves a divine nation

Question 51

Why would a shogunate system be beneficial in times of chaos

Answer 51

It kept everyone stable and in one position

Question 52

When Buddhism spreads to Japan what are the 2 sects? How did it differ than Chinese Buddhism

Answer 52

1 Mahayana/ Theravada 2 Zen Buddhism

Question 53

When reading about the "Three Great Unifiers" what did they all have in common

Answer 53

to create a stronger Japan

Question 54

Shang

Answer 54

Bronze age Orcal bones early calligraphy ying yang first dynasty

Question 55

Zhou

Answer 55

800 yrs long (longest dynasty) coinage bureaucracy MOH/Dynastic Cycle Confucian/Daosim

Question 56

Qin

Answer 56

Tettercotta army shin wang di legalism 19 years (quickest dynasty) great wall of china ban confusim/ daosim

Question 57

Han

Answer 57

golden age not too strict not too lenient about 400 yrs silk road infrastructure Confucius

Question 58

Confuciansm

Answer 58

confusious analects "place" filial piety 5 relationships

Question 59

Daoism

Answer 59

Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching Dao Natural Instincits

Question 60

Legalism

Answer 60

People born evil --> strict rules