Chapter 3: Ancient China

The idea of the Mandate of Heaven was a. introduced in the Bhaghavad gita. b. borrowed from Tibetan nomads in the fifth century B.C.E. c. introduced by the Zhou dynasty and it served to legitimize its power. d. contained in the Rites of Mao. e. a concept that last only a short time in Chinese history.

introduced by the Zhou dynasty and it served to legitimize its power.

The legendary "three sovereigns" of prehistoric China were a. Fu Xi, Ling Pioa, and Shong Tui. b. Shen Nong, Ling Pioa, and Shonh Tui. c. Fu Xi, Shen Nong, and Huang Di. d. Ling Pioa, Shong Tui, and Huang Di. e. Chiang, Deng, and Sun.

Fu Xi, Shen Nong, and Huang Di

What "modern" idea was advanced by Confucius over two thousand years ago? a. To the victor go the spoils. b. A virtuous government will sadly but inevitably make its people corrupt. c. Government depends on the will of the people. d. Barbarians must not be accepted but crushed by military power. e. Political democracy is the only form of government.

Government depends on the will of the people.

A belief in the need for a strong ruler, restrictive regulations, and harsh punishments was the foundation of the philosophy of a. Confucianism. b. Legalism. c. Daoism. d. Tangism. e. Huangism.

Legalism.

The earliest known forms of true Chinese writing date to which Chinese dynasty? A.) Shang B.)Zhou C.)Qin D.)Han E.)Ming

Shang

Which of the following was true about Shang government? a. The government was ruled by a king so powerful that he needed only a hand-full of officials to administer all of China. b. The king had an army of two million soldiers to help him govern. c. The territorial divisions of the empire were under the control of subordinate rulers who came from the Japanese islands. d. The king was viewed as an intermediary between heaven and earth. e. The local chieftains were responsible for defending the empire.

The king was viewed as an intermediary between heaven and earth.

What types of people would have been most likely to prefer the philosophy of Daoism? a. Those who liked a community oriented approach to living. b. Those who wanted to strive for an improvement in the quality of communal life. c. Those who liked an individualized approach to life that advocated a natural way of going along with the flow of events. d. Those who preferred a rigid dogma of rigid regulations and strict behavior patterns. e. Those who believed in multiple reincarnations.

Those who liked an individualized approach to life that advocated a natural way of going along with the flow of events.

The major nomadic threat to the Qin came from the a. Xiongnu. b. Mongols. c. Manchus. d. Han. e.Jin.

Xiongnu

Historians date the 'Bronze Age' as the period between a. 1200 to 3000 BCE b. 2000 BCE to the year 0 c. 0 to 500 CE d. 500 to 1500 CE e. None of the above.

1200 to 3000 BCE

Which of these ancient civilizations survived, intact, until the twentieth century? a. Egyptian b. Aztec c. Hittite d. Chinese e. Aryan

Chinese

"If the government seeks to rule by decree, and to maintain order by the use of punishment, the people will seek to evade punishment and have no sense of shame. But if the government leads by virtue and governs through the rules of propriety, the people will feel shame and seek to correct their mistakes." This statement reflects the ideas of a. Legalism. b. Doaism. c. Zhouism. d. Confucianism. e. Qin Shi Huangdi.

Confucianism

What was the "well-field system"? a. It was an animistic belief designed to protect the health of the land. b. It allowed peasants plots of their own to work, as well as working the lands of their lords. c. It was developed only in the first century, in response to the rise of socialist thought. d. It was a water-diversion system which insured that every farm had the amount of water it needed. e. It was originally developed by Aryan invaders to improve agricultural productivity in western China.

It allowed peasants plots of their own to work, as well as working the lands of their lords

Which dynasty created the first unified empire in China? a. Shang b. Zhou c. Qin d. Han e. Ming

Qin

Which of the following correct about the nature of the Zhou merchant and slave classes? a. Merchants were independent operators and slaves were a majority of the population. b. The merchants traded only in domestic goods and the slaves worked only in irrigation. c. The merchants were the property of the local lord and the slaves were probably individuals who had been seized in warfare. d. The merchants became the de facto rulers who humanely freed their slaves. e. Under the Zhou the merchant classes were enslaved by the emperors.

The merchants were the property of the local lord and the slaves were probably individuals who had been seized in warfare.

In what valleys did ancient Chinese civilization originate? a. Yellow and Yangtze rivers b. Yangtze and Mekong rivers c. Indus and LuMai rivers d. Lo Min and Hainan rivers e. Nanjing and Hunan rivers

Yellow and Yangtze

Which of the following is not a true statement? a. All evidence indicates that the first agricultural villages in China developed only along the Pearl River. b. Ancient Chinese villages evolved over thousands of years to form the first unified state under the Qin. c. Chinese topography caused its civilization to develop apart from advancements in other parts of Asia. d. Nomadic attacks from the north were an ongoing factor in the development of China. e. Early Chinese literature was didactic and elitist.

a. All evidence indicates that the first agricultural villages in China developed only along the Pearl River.

The significant cultural contribution of the Shang dynasty was the work that was cast in a. iron. b. gold. c. bronze. d. porcelain. e. copper.

bronze

Ancient Chinese villages were organized on the basis of a. nuclear family units. b. race. c. clans. d. phratries.

clans.

Under the Qin dynasty many powerful regional lords were a. dominating Chinese politics. b. assassinated or exiled to foreign lands. c. able to organize repeated military coups. d. forcibly resettled to China's new capital.

forcibly resettled to China's new capital

The terra-cotta figures near the Qin First Emperor's burial mound demonstrate the a. use of ceramics as a sculpture medium, replacing the ivory-casting of the Shang. b. huge expenditures that were devoted to afterlife preparation for the monarch. c. continuation of the Shang practices of human sacrifices. d. freeing of the individual soul under the influence of Doaism. e. transience of human life.

huge expenditures that were devoted to afterlife preparation for the monarch.

All are correct about the "five relationships" except: a. the son was subordinate to the father. b. the husband to the wife. c. the younger brother to the elder brother. d. the proper relationship between friend to friend. e. all were subject to the emperor.

husband to wife

The principle of filial piety a. made the needs and desires of patriarchal family heads the family's central concern. b. was a concept that undermined the significance of the Chinese family. c. subordinated the father's role in the Chinese family. d. was not developed in China. e. led to the end of female subordination to males.

made the needs and desires of patriarchal family heads the family's central concern.

In ancient Chinese popular belief, a. necessary rituals had to be performed after the death of a relative in order to prevent dead relatives from becoming haunting ghosts. b. spirits were viewed as being present only in the heavenly bodies. c. the many philosophies that explained the nature of things and gave people solace and emotional inspiration were outlawed by the government. d. Daoism never developed a religious dimension. e. ritualism always led to moralism.

necessary rituals had to be performed after the death of a relative in order to prevent dead relatives from becoming haunting ghosts.

Examples of Zhou advances in agricultural technology included the a. development of bronze plowshares. b. use of artificial fertilizers and stirrup harnesses. c. technique of leaving fallow land to better use soil nutrients. d. planting of corn and yams. e. the permanent ending of flooding along the Yellow River.

technique of leaving fallow land to better use soil nutrients.

According to the Zhou concept of the Mandate of Heaven a. the king was expected to rule in a compassionate and effective manner because he was selected by the gods to rule in order to maintain the order of the universe. b. the king, as a god, was the arbiter of the use of power on earth. c. the gods ruled that all must obey the king without question. d. the chief priest was the supreme ruler. e. territorial chieftains chose kings from the members of the Grand Assemblage.

the king was expected to rule in a compassionate and effective manner because he was selected by the gods to rule in order to maintain the order of the universe.

What was one of the major preoccupations of Chinese philosophers of the late Zhou dynasty? a. to determine the meaning of life b. to determine the finer arts of warfare c. to determine the essential quality of human nature d. to determine how to centralize the empire e. to understand the major tenets of the human consciousness.

to determine the essential quality of human nature

During the Zhou dynasty, China a. abolished slavery in order to increase agricultural production. b. undertook large-scale water control programs to regulate the flow of rivers and distribute water to the fields. c. continued to consider merchants as the property of the Buddhist monasteries. d. moved from a largely agricultural to an industrial society. e. was conquered by the Aryans.

undertook large-scale water control programs to regulate the flow of rivers and distribute water to the fields.