reading guide: Chinese Classical Civilization
Terms : Hide Images
| 7284666546 | What was the first dynasty of China? | Shang dynasty | 0 | |
| 7284666547 | Why was China able to escape frequent invasion and have a distinctive Chinese identity? | region was isolated | 1 | |
| 7284666548 | Did the Chinese experience chaos with the decline of the Shang Dynasty? | no | 2 | |
| 7284666549 | Which River Valley Civilizations were invaded? | Middle East and India | 3 | |
| 7284666550 | Explain Chinese yin/yang | every feature is balanced by an opposite | 4 | |
| 7284666551 | What is Dao? | a way to relate to the yin/yang harmony, avoiding excess and appreciating the balance of opposites | 5 | |
| 7284666552 | What is continuity? | an unbroken pattern | 6 | |
| 7284666553 | What stayed the same for China ? | earlier cultural traditions | 7 | |
| 7284666554 | Why do you think China has maintained clear links to its classical past? | China is proud of its country's past and its achievements | 8 | |
| 7284666555 | Define dynasty | a family of kings | 9 | |
| 7284666556 | Explain the course of a dynasty | strong start, developed strong political institutions and active economy, grew weaker, tax revenues decline, new dynasty gains power | 10 | |
| 7284666557 | What usually brought a dynasty's decline? | internal rebellions and outside invasions | 11 | |
| 7284666558 | Westerns conceive of the past as progress from past to present. How do Chinese conceive of history? | in terms of cycles as dynasty after dynasty took over | 12 | |
| 7284666559 | Name 3 dynasties during the Classical Time period | Zhou, Qin, Han | 13 | |
| 7284666560 | Which Dynasty had thhe biggest territory? | Han dynasty | 14 | |
| 7284666561 | When & Who built the Great Wall of China? | Shi Huangdi 220-206 BCE | 15 | |
| 7284666562 | Duration of Zhou Dynasty? | 1029-258 BCE | 16 | |
| 7284666563 | Name 2 reasons for the decline of Zhou | decline in political infrastructure and frequent invasions | 17 | |
| 7284666564 | Explain the problems the Zhou dynasty ran into because they did not establish a powerful government | ruled through alliances with loyal generals so they lacked direct control of territories | 18 | |
| 7284666565 | Who did the Zhou displace? | Shang dynasty | 19 | |
| 7284666566 | What did the Zhou rulers give to the people for loyalty? | land | 20 | |
| 7284666567 | What did the supporters provide for the Zhou rulers in exchange for land? | troops and tax revenues | 21 | |
| 7284666568 | The decline of the Zhou dynasty occurred when aristocrats? | solidifed their own power base and ignored central government | 22 | |
| 7284666569 | How did the Zhou contribute in territory? | took over Yangtze River Valley providing rich farming lands plus two agricultures encouraging population growth | 23 | |
| 7284666570 | How did the Zhou contribute to the role of central government? | claimed direct links to Shang rulers, introduced Mandate of Heaven | 24 | |
| 7284666571 | How did the Zhou contribute with the Mandate of Heaven? | remained key justification for imperial rule (heaven had transferred its mandate to rule China to Zhou emperors) | 25 | |
| 7284666572 | How did the Zhou contribute in human sacrifice? | banned sacrifice and urged more restrained ceremonies to worship gods | 26 | |
| 7284666573 | How did the Zhou contribute in language? | used standard spoken language to promote linguistic unity (Mandarin) | 27 | |
| 7284666574 | When the Zhou empire began to fail what did the philosophical scholars use to lessen the confusion? | philosophical ideas | 28 | |
| 7284666575 | When did Confucius create his thoughts on political ethics? | during late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE | 29 | |
| 7284666576 | What was the period between 402 BCE to 201 BCE called? | Era of the Warring States | 30 | |
| 7284666577 | Who was fighting during the Era of the Warring States? | regional rulers | 31 | |
| 7284666578 | What were they fighting over during the Era of the Warring States? | who should be the next leader of China | 32 | |
| 7284666579 | What dynasty took over after the Era of the Warring States? | Qin dynasty | 33 | |
| 7284666580 | Whose was the emperor in the Qin dynasty? (what did he call himself?) | Qin Shi Huangdi (means First Emperor) | 34 | |
| 7284666581 | How did China get its name? | came from the name Qin | 35 | |
| 7284666582 | What did Shi Huangdi order the powerful regional aristocrats to do? | to leave their regions and appear at court, assuming control of their feudal lands | 36 | |
| 7284666583 | Who did Shi Huangdi appoint to each region and why? | officials from nonaristocratic groups so they would owe their power to him and not develop their own independent bases | 37 | |
| 7284666584 | What did Shi Huangdi build to guard against barbarian invasion? | Great Wall of China | 38 | |
| 7284666585 | How many miles long is the Great Wall? | over 3000 miles | 39 | |
| 7284666586 | The Great Wall was wide enough for? | chariots to move along its crest | 40 | |
| 7284666587 | What type of labor was used to build the Great Wall? | forced labor | 41 | |
| 7284666588 | How did the Qin Dynasty benefit from the national cencus? | provided data for calculation of tax revenues and labor service | 42 | |
| 7284666589 | During the Qin Dynasty, the government standardized what? | coinage, weights, and measures | 43 | |
| 7284666590 | How did the Qin Dynasty alter the axles of carts? | axle length was regulated to promote clear road planning | 44 | |
| 7284666591 | How did the Qin Dynasty improve Chinese script? | made uniform, completing process of creating single basic language | 45 | |
| 7284666592 | How was agriculture improved during the Qin Dynasty? | new irrigation projects and promotion of manufacturing especially of silk cloth | 46 | |
| 7284666593 | Why were books burned during the Qin Dynasty? | thinking was likely to be rebellious to his autocratic rule according to Shi Huangdi | 47 | |
| 7284666594 | Why was Shi Huangdi unpopular? | attacked scholars and made high taxes to support building of Great Wall and military expansion | 48 | |
| 7284666595 | What happened when Shi Huangdi died? | aggrieved peasants organized massive revolts | 49 | |
| 7284666596 | What dynasty took over after Qin dynasty collapsed? | Han dynasty | 50 | |
| 7284666597 | When did the Han dynasty take over? | 202 BCE | 51 | |
| 7284666598 | How long did the Han dynasty last? | over 400 years up to 220 CE | 52 | |
| 7284666599 | What did the Han dynasty keep from the Qin dynasty? | centralized administration | 53 | |
| 7284666600 | What did the Han reduce from the Qin dynasty? | brutal repression | 54 | |
| 7284666601 | Into what territories did the early Han rulers expand to? | Korea, Indochina, central Asia | 55 | |
| 7284666602 | Who did the Han come into contact with? | India, Parthian Empire in Middle East, trade with Roman Empire in Mediterranean | 56 | |
| 7284666603 | What was the result of the emperor Wu Ti enforcing peace in Asia? | bureaucracy improved, food surpluses, emphasized Confucian values | 57 | |
| 7284666604 | Describe life during Han dynasty | everyone was prosperous | 58 | |
| 7284666605 | Wu Ti reversed many of Qin's policies and urged the support for? | Confucianism | 59 | |
| 7284666606 | What were the 2 reasons for Han rule to decline? | central control weakened and invasions from central Asia (Huns) | 60 | |
| 7284666607 | Dates when China was in a state of chaos during the decline of Han? | 220-589 CE | 61 | |
| 7284666608 | What would survive the Han collapse? | political structures and cultural values | 62 | |
| 7284666609 | The Qin stressed? | central authority | 63 | |
| 7284666610 | The Han expanded the powers of the? | bureaucracy | 64 | |
| 7284666611 | Define bureaucracy | government by many bureaus, administrators, and officials | 65 | |
| 7284666612 | Under the Zhou rule, tightly knit patriarchal families controlled villages. How and why did the Qin and Han dynasties change this practice? | emphasized strong local rule and did it to streamline and expand bureaucratic systems and procedures | 66 | |
| 7284666613 | Who did the Qin and Han put in power on local levels? | great landlords | 67 | |
| 7284666614 | By the end of the Han period how many bureaucrats were there? | about 130,000 bureaucrats | 68 | |
| 7284666615 | What did Wu Ti establish for bureaucrats? | civil service exams | 69 | |
| 7284666616 | How did the new civil service exams puts checks on the upper-class rule? | individuals from lower ranks could be recruited | 70 | |
| 7284666617 | How long has the Han Chinese Bureaucracy lasted? | from the Han period until the 20th century | 71 | |
| 7284666618 | In what ways did the government sponsor intellectual life during the Han dynasty? | organized research in astronom and maintained historical records | 72 | |
| 7284666619 | During the Han dynasty, the government became a keeper of? | Chinese beliefs | 73 | |
| 7284666620 | During the Han dynasty, how did the government support the economy? | organized production of iron and salt; standardized currency, weights, and measures; sponsored public works including complex irrigation and canal systems; tried to regulate agricultural supplies | 74 | |
| 7284666621 | Did these Han rulers direct the daily lives of people? | No, techonology did not allow this | 75 | |
| 7284666622 | Describe the legal system. | strict code of law (employed torture and execution), taxes, every male peasant required annual labor | 76 | |
| 7284666623 | The Huns might have toppled a dynasty but they? | could not create a better system to run China so the system and its bureaucrats normally endured | 77 | |
| 7284666624 | What period did the Chinese way of viewing the world develop? | classical period | 78 | |
| 7284666625 | The Chinese would tolerate different beliefs as long as? | they did not contradict basic political loyalties | 79 | |
| 7284666626 | Explain harmonious earthly life | proper balance between earth and heaven | 80 | |
| 7284666627 | What was the purpose of using chopsticks? When did this occur? | The use of chopsticks began at end of Zhou to encourage a code of politeness | 81 | |
| 7284666628 | What role did tea play? | It encouraged a code of politeness at meals like chopsticks | 82 | |
| 7284666629 | Confucius or ___________ lived when? | Kung Fuzi 551-478 BCE | 83 | |
| 7284666630 | Confucius was not a ___________ leader | religious | 84 | |
| 7284666631 | What did Confucius believe in? | a divine order but he refused to speculate | 85 | |
| 7284666632 | Confucius maintained? | if personal virtue emphasized, would have a solid political life | 86 | |
| 7284666633 | Explain Confucius's proper hierarchy belief | respect one's social superiours including and fathrs and husbands as leaders of the family (patriarchy) | 87 | |
| 7284666634 | According to Confucius, how were society's leaders supposed to behave? | modestly and without excess, shunning abusive power and treating nicely people who were in charge | 88 | |
| 7284666635 | What kind of system was Confucianism? | a system of ethics - do unto others as your status and theirs dictate | 89 | |
| 7284666636 | Name a book that recorded Confucian doctrine | the Analects | 90 | |
| 7284666637 | Confucius set out to rectify political disorder by what type of behavior? | individual virtuous behavior, both by ruler and the ruled | 91 | |
| 7284666638 | Confucius largely recommended ____________ and __________; people should know ______________, even under ____________ | obedience, respect, their place, bad rulers | 92 | |
| 7284666639 | Confucius urged a political system that would not be based on ________ but _________________ | rank, intelligence | 93 | |
| 7284666640 | According to Confucius, how should rulers behave? | be humble, always courteous and eager for service, and anxious to learn | 94 | |
| 7284666641 | How did legalists feel about Confucians virtues? | disdained them | 95 | |
| 7284666642 | What did legalists favor? | authoritarian state that ruled by force | 96 | |
| 7284666643 | Did the legalists ever capture widespread approval? | no | 97 | |
| 7284666644 | What was a down fall of Confucianism? | did not seek popular loyalty | 98 | |
| 7284666645 | The Confucian creed was most easily accepted by what class? | upper class | 99 | |
| 7284666646 | Why did peasants need more than Confucianism? | to understand and survive their harsh life | 100 | |
| 7284666647 | Many peasants strove to attract? | the blessing of conciliatory spirits | 101 | |
| 7284666648 | What eventually happened to these rites? | Gradually, ongoing rites among normal masses mixed Confucian vaues urged by upper classes | 102 | |
| 7284666649 | When did Daoism begin? | roughly same time as Confucianism (last centuries of Zhou) | 103 | |
| 7284666650 | Daoism embraced__________ and added ________________. | nature's harmony, a sense of nature's mystery | 104 | |
| 7284666651 | Who furthered Daoism? | Laozi | 105 | |
| 7284666652 | When did Laozi live? | during 5th century BCE | 106 | |
| 7284666653 | What does Dao mean? | the way of nature | 107 | |
| 7284666654 | Daoist believed that political activity and learning were? | irrelevant to a good life | 108 | |
| 7284666655 | Why did Daoism become popular? | it guaranteed that China's people would not be united by a single religious or philosophical system | 109 | |
| 7284666656 | What was the Five Classics? | a set of classic literature that provide an important tradition | 110 | |
| 7284666657 | When were the Five Classics written? | during early Zhou and edited during time of Confucius | 111 | |
| 7284666658 | What were the Five Classics used for? | a basis for civil service examinations | 112 | |
| 7284666659 | What were the Classic of Songs? | a collection of Chinese poems | 113 | |
| 7284666660 | How many poems were in the Classic of Songs? | over 300 poems | 114 | |
| 7284666661 | The Chinese literary tradition developed on the basis of? | mastering the Classic of Songs plus Confucian writing | 115 | |
| 7284666662 | What topics were written about in the Classic of Songs? | love, joy, politics, family life | 116 | |
| 7284666663 | Explain the artistic style of China at this time | largely decorative, stressing careful detail and craftsmanship; styles reflected precision and geometric qualities of Chinese symbols | 117 | |
| 7284666664 | Calligraphy became? | an important art form | 118 | |
| 7284666665 | Monumental building during this era? | No, aside from the Great Wall, palaces, and tombs, because of the absence of a single religion | 119 | |
| 7284666666 | Calendar developed when? | by 444 BCE | 120 | |
| 7284666667 | The calendar was based on how many days? | 365.5 days | 121 | |
| 7284666668 | Astronomers? | calculated movement of Saturn and Jupiter, observed sunspots; purpose was to make celestial phenomena predictable | 122 | |
| 7284666669 | Earthquakes? | invented kind of seismograph to register earthquakes | 123 | |
| 7284666670 | Medical research? | developed precise anatomical knowledge and studied principles of hygiene that could promote longer life | 124 | |
| 7284666671 | Mathematics? | studied math of music leading to advances in acoustics (they focused on how things worked) | 125 | |
| 7284666672 | List the 3 main social groups of Classical China: | landowning aristocracy and educated bureaucrats; laboring masses, peasants, urban artisans; mean people | 126 | |
| 7284666673 | Who were the mean people? | group beneath peasantry who performed unskilled jobs | 127 | |
| 7284666674 | Did the Chinese have slaves? | weren't dependent on slaves for actual production; did have few household slaves | 128 | |
| 7284666675 | What kind of goods were traded at this time? | luxury items for the upper class produced by skilled artisans | 129 | |
| 7284666676 | List a few items traded | silks, jewelry, leather goods, furniture | 130 | |
| 7284666677 | What was China's main crops? | wheat and rice | 131 | |
| 7284666678 | How was the merchant class viewed | Confucian emphasis on learning and political serviced led to scorn for lives devoted to moneymaking | 132 | |
| 7284666679 | List 6 inventions that improved the economy/agriculture | ox-drawn plows, new collar for draft animals, pulleys and winding gear, iron tools and lamps, first water-powered mills, paper | 133 | |
| 7284666680 | What was the result of better agriculture practices? | helped increase the size of the population on the countryside | 134 | |
| 7284666681 | How did families solidify the economy? | Tight family organization helped solidify economic views | 135 | |
| 7284666682 | How were parents viewed? | Confucius said, "There are no wrongdoing parents" | 136 | |
| 7284666683 | What would happen if a parent injured or killed a disobedient child? | law courts did not prosecute them | 137 | |
| 7284666684 | Chinese popular culture stressed? | strict control of one's emotions | 138 | |
| 7284666685 | How were women expected to act? | They were subordinate to their husbands but still had clearly defined roles in the family | 139 | |
| 7284666686 | Explain the hierarchical order for children | Boys superior to girls and oldest son has highest position over everybody else | 140 | |
| 7284666687 | Which child would inherit property and position? | oldest son | 141 | |
| 7284666688 | Classical Chinese _________, ________, ___________ and political structure _________________________ contact. | technology, religion, philosophy, evolved with very little outside | 142 | |
| 7284666689 | How did most Chinese see the world? | in terms of a large island of civilization surrounded by barbarian people with nothing to offer except the periodic threat of invasion | 143 | |
| 7284666690 | Chinese and neither the need nor the desire to? | learn from either societies | 144 | |
| 7284666691 | Did the Chinese have a desire to teach the rest of the world? | No, the Chinese didn't have a missionary spirit | 145 | |
| 7284666692 | What altered China's religious map? | the spread of Buddhism from India, during and after Han decline | 146 | |
| 7284666693 | What did Confucianism provide? | a vital supplement, making bureaucracy a trained corps with some common ideals | 147 | |
| 7284666694 | What did political stability aide? | economic growth | 148 | |
| 7284666695 | A strong economy provided? | vital tax revenues | 149 | |
| 7284666696 | How did the Chinese view government and society? | as a whole | 150 | |
| 7284666697 | How did the different belief systems get along? | Confucianists and Daoists tolerated each other, but there was considerable hostility and mutual disdain | 151 | |
| 7284666698 | Explain how the penal system worked | strict policing including stern punishments and torture which combined with Confucianism to make accused individuals confess | 152 | |
| 7284666699 | Why did the Chinese culture have immunity from outside forces? | Chinese society was an overall whole making it immune to outside influence | 153 | |
| 7284666700 | In the Classical Age, China had the world's largest and best run? | yes | 154 | |
| 7284666701 | How and who disseminated the Chinese inventions over the globe? | Chinese merchants and Central Asian nomads spread them over much of Eurasia and North Africa through trade | 155 | |
| 7284666702 | What societies were transformed by the Chinese? | societies in Japan, Rome, Middle East, and England | 156 | |
| 7284666703 | Why is the road to the west called the Silk Road? | Silk and other luxury items were traded along the route | 157 | |
| 7284666704 | How did the Chinese government encourage trade? | Han- encouraged trade with western regions; Chinese emissary- traveled to Western India to trade | 158 |
