Topic 4- Ancient Civilization in China

Question 1

Who did China trade with?

Answer 1

Middle East and beyond.

Question 2

How did Chinese people view outsiders considered to be nomadic invaders?

Answer 2

They were viewed as barbarians who did not speak Chinese and lacked the skills and achievements of a settled society.

Question 3

Where was the Chinese heartland located?

Answer 3

It laid along the east coast and the valleys of the Huang, of Yellow River and the Chang River.

Question 4

What did the rivers in China provide?

Answer 4

Water for irrigation and served as transportation.

Question 5

What contributed to to the rise of a strong central government in China?

Answer 5

The need to control the flow of the river.

Question 6

How did the Huang River get its name?

Answer 6

From the loess, or fine windblown yellow soil, that it carries eastward from Siberia and Mongolia.

Question 7

Why did the Huang River earn the nickname “River of Sorrows”?

Answer 7

When heavy rains and winters melt off swelled the river, it ran high above the surrounding plains. If the dykes broke, floodwaters burst over the land, destroying crops, leading to mass starvation.

Question 8

What region did China’s first dynasty, the Shang, dominate?

Answer 8

Part of the Yellow River valley.

Question 9

Until when did the Shang rule the region of Yellow River valley?

Answer 9

About 1122 B.C.

Question 10

Who governed China during the Shang Dynasty?

Answer 10

Princes and nobles loyal to the Shang Dynasty.

Question 11

Shang China more closely resembled the small kingdoms of Aryan. True or false?

Answer 11

True.

Question 12

What evidence is there to support the idea that noblewomen may have had considerable status during the Shang period?

Answer 12

The burial place of Fu Hao, wife of the Shang king Wu Ding. Artifacts show that she owned land and helped to lead a large army against invaders.

Question 13

In what types of houses did noble families live in?

Answer 13

Large timber or stone houses.

Question 14

What did artisans provide for nobles?

Answer 14

• Bronze weapons
• Silk robes
• Jade jewelry

Question 15

What was the role of merchants?

Answer 15

• Organize trade

- Exchange local food and crafts for salt, certain types of shells, and other goods found in northeastern China.

Question 16

The majority of the Shang population consisted of what type of people?

Answer 16

Peasants

Question 17

Peasants lived in farming villages and many lived in thatch-roofed pit houses whose earthen floors were dug several feet below the surrounding ground. Why was this setup important?

Answer 17

Such homes preserved the heat in the winter and remained cool in the summer.

Question 18

What did peasants do for a living?

Answer 18

• All family members worked in the fields using stone tools to prepare the ground for planting or to harvest grain.
• When they were not in the fields they were repairing dikes.

Question 19

Who overthrew the Shang dynasty/civilization?

Answer 19

The Zhou dynasty in about 1122 B.C.

Question 20

To justify the Zhou’s rebellion against the Shang, what idea did the Zhou promote?

Answer 20

The idea of the Mandate of Heaven, the divine right to rule.

Question 21

According to the Zhou, what was the rationale behind the Mandate of Heaven?

Answer 21

The cruelty of the last Shang king outraged the gods so much that they had sent ruin on him. The gods passed the Mandate of Heaven to the Zhou, who “treated the multitudes of the people well.”

Question 22

What is the dynastic cycle?

Answer 22

The Chinese later expanded the idea of Mandate of Heaven to explain the dynastic cycle, or the rise and fall of dynasties.

Question 23

How was the dynastic cycle explained.

Answer 23

As long as a dynasty provided good government, it enjoyed the Mandate of Heaven. If the rulers became weak or corrupt, the Chinese believed that heaven would withdraw its support.

Question 24

What were signs that a dynasty has lost the favor of heaven?

Answer 24

• Floods
• Famine
• Other catastrophes

Question 25

What is feudalism?

Answer 25

A system of government in which local lords governed their own lands but owed military service and other forms of support to their ruler.

Question 26

How were farmers in China able to produce more food?

Answer 26

With the knowledge of iron working. Iron axes and ox-drawn iron plows replaced stone, wood, and bronze tools.

Question 27

Why were Chinese copper coins made with holes in the center?

Answer 27

So that they could be strung on cords.

Question 28

During the economic growth in the Zhou period, merchants benefit from new roads and canals organized by feudal lords. True or false?

Answer 28

True.

Question 29

Economic expansion in China led to an increase in population. True or false?

Answer 29

True.

Question 30

What was the Shang king and later Chinese emperors called? Why?

Answer 30

The Son of Heaven. In this way, Chinese rulers served as both priests and kings.

Question 31

What was thought to serve the community as a whole, ensuring such benefits as good harvests or victory in war?

Answer 31

The prayers of rulers and nobles to their ancestors.

Question 32

What were the two belief systems that emerged during the late Zhou times?

Answer 32

Confucianism and Daoism. Both put forward ideas on how to restore social order and maintain harmony with nature.

Question 33

Where were Confucius’s ideas collected?

Answer 33

The Analects.

Question 34

What did Confucius develop?

Answer 34

A philosophy, or system of ideas, that was concerned with worldly goals, especially those of ensuring social order and good government.

Question 35

Confucius believed that non of the key relationships except for friendship were equal. True or false?

Answer 35

True.

Question 36

According to Confucius, everyone had duties and responsibilities. What were the duties and responsibilities of superiors and inferiors?

Answer 36

Superiors should care for their inferior and set a good example, while inferiors owed loyalty and obedience to their superiors.

Question 37

What did Confucius believe would bring order and stability?

Answer 37

Correct behavior.

Question 38

What is filial piety?

Answer 38

Respect for parents.

Question 39

What did Confucius put about all other duties?

Answer 39

Filial piety, or respect for parents.

Question 40

What did Confucian values include?

Answer 40

• Honesty
• Hard work
• Concern for others

“Do not to others,” he declared, “what you do not wish yourself.”

Question 41

Confucius taught that it was a ruler’s responsibility to provide good government. True or false?

Answer 41

True.

Question 42

Confucius believed that people were naturally good. True or false.

Answer 42

True.

Question 43

What was Confucius’s idea around best rulers?

Answer 43

The best ruler, was a virtuous man who led by example: “If a ruler is upright, all will go well without orders. But if he himself is not upright, even though he gives orders, they will not be obeyed.”

Question 44

What did Daoists seek?

Answer 44

They sought to live in harmony with nature.

Question 45

What was the founder of Daoism known as?

Answer 45

Laozi or “Old Master”.

Question 46

What did Daoists reject?

Answer 46

The world of conflict and strife.

Question 47

How did Daoists view government?

Answer 47

As unnatural and, therefore, the cause of many problems. “ If the people are difficult to govern, it is because those in authority are too fond of action”

Question 48

Chinese scholars later turned writing into an elegant art form. What was it called?

Answer 48

Calligraphy.

Question 49

What did Chinese peasants turn to Daoist priests for?

Answer 49

For charms to protect them from unseen forces.

Question 50

What did Daoist priest search for?

Answer 50

A substance to bring immortality.

Question 51

Why did the Daoist priests experiment with alchemy?

Answer 51

To try to transform ordinary metals into gold.