Chapter 4: China in the Middle Ages
Review Worksheet
1. Define Census: (pg. 283) a count of the number of people.
2. What did Confucius believe about a good government?
(page 258)
believed that a good government depended on having wise leaders
3. Who did Zhu Yuanzhang drive out of China? drove out the Mongols
(Yuan) from China (1 point)
What dynasty did he start? Founder of the Ming Dynasty page 282
4. What is the Diamond Sutra (page 264) Earliest/first printed book When was it
printed? printed in A.D. 868
5. What are the Jesuits? (page 286)
Christian missionaries or… special group of Roman Catholic Priests…society
of Jesus…highly educated Roman Catholic priests
6. What does the Silk Road connect?
connecting China/Asia with the markets of the Mediterranean/ Europe
7. Define monastery: (page 257)
Places where monks and nuns mediate and worship/or/ religious
communities where monks live and work
8. What did Zheng He do for China? (page 284)
Zheng He led expeditions/ voyages for the Chinese government.. Increased
China’s influence abroad/ collected tribute/ traded for China
9. Define Novels: (page 283)
Long fictional stories
10. Ming Dynasty (page 282) means “brilliant ”Founded by Zhu Yuanzhang (Hong
Wu) ruled from 1368-1644 or Nanjing capital city of China
11. Marco Polo: (page 273) came from Venice, Italy and traveled to China. When
he returned to Europe he wrote a book about China.
12. Li Bo was one of China’s favorite poets. He lived during the Tang
dynasty and wrote “Still Nights Thoughts” / or one of the most
popular poems in China. Page 264
13. Tang dynasty (page 255) lasted from A.D. 618 to 907 It followed the Sui
dynasty. Name two powerful rulers Taizong and Empress Wu.
China’s economy: strengthened/ land to farmers
Civil Service Exams: restored
China’s Culture: thrived/ landscape paintings/ nature poems
14. Chang’An (page 264) was theCapital city of China under these two
dynasties: the Tang and Song dynasties.
15. Genghis Khan (page 269 & 271) was born C.1167 and died 1227. His name at
birth was “Temujin” but later it was changed to Genghis Khan
What was a big accomplishment? Brought together Mongol laws in a new
law code / Fought to conquer lands beyond Mongolia / united the Mongols
16. Sui dynasty (page 253)
Lasted from A.D. 581-618
Was founded by a general named Wendi
17. Define Porcelain: (page 262)Fine clay baked at high temperature
18. Song dynasty ruled China from A.D. 960 to A.D. 1279.
(pages 255-256)
19. What 5 items were traded by the Chinese along the Silk Road? (page 262)Silk,
tea, steel, paper, and porcelain
20. What type of paintings were common in China during the Tang and Song
dynasties? (pg. 265)
Landscape Or… paintings about nature
21. Why did farming improve under the Tang dynasty?
(page 261)
stabilized the countryside OR peace to the countryside gave land to
farmers. New type of rice (grew well in poor soil)/ irrigation and farming
techniques
22. What topics did Chinese poets write about?
(page 264) – The beauty of nature
Thrill of seasons changing, Joy of having good friends,Cruelty/sadness of
friends parting
social injustice/ problems of the poor23. The fiercest and most successful warriors of this period (and probably of all
times) were the Mongols
24. Which public works project of the Sui dynasty encouraged trade between
northern and southern China?
The Grand Canal
25. List in order the dynasties after the fall of the Han (with dates!) –
26. What are two reasons for the popularity of Neo-Confucianism? (page 258)
The Tang government gave it support / or/ government support / used it a
way to strengthen government/ used in civil service examinations
Philosophy taught that followers could find peace of mind and live in
harmony with nature (picked up Buddhist and Taoist (Daoist) beliefs/ this
life is just as important as the afterlife/ beliefs about the spiritual world
Song government adopted it as their official philosophy (or belief system
27. Why did Buddhism become popular in the late AD 100s? (page 256)
China was going through a civil war (great suffering) –OR-Buddhism
taught people that they can escape suffering
28. Why did trade grow under the Tang dynasty? (page 261)
Tang rulers had roads (took over the Silk Road) and waterways built .
29. What are two reasons for the success of the building of a huge Mongol
empire ?
(p 269-270)A. skilled warriors on horseback
B. use of terror and cruelty/ great archers / waging war (people surrender
w/o fighting / borrowed gunpowder
C. Encouraged trade / taxed the products traded/ or/ tolerant of other
religions
30. Why did the Ming emperors built a large fleet of ships? List two reasons.
page 284
A. show off China’s power / increase China’s influence around the world /
curious about the outside world
B. trade
C. collect tribute (a special tax)
31. What happened to the size of China under the Song dynasty?
Song rulers did not have enough soldiers to control their large empire
Or…China lost some of its territory / it became smaller
32. When studying for the civil service exams, students would have to study the
writings of Confucius.
33. After the death of Zheng He, Confucian officials wanted to stop Chinese
voyages. List three reasons why. (page 286)
34. Dominated by the Mongol leaders, the Yuan dynasty was started by Kublai
Khan and lasted about 100 years.
Page 272
35. The Sui dynasty brought an end to civil war by uniting 17 kingdoms and
initiated a period of economic prosperity by forcing farmers to work on the Great
Wall and / or the Grand Canal.(page 255)
36. Only emperors and their families were allowed to live in the Forbidden
City.(page 283)
37. What Chinese inventions allowed the printing of books? Describe why
printing was so important -invention of paper during Han dynasty
Woodblock (cut characters of an entire page on a block of wood, laid ink
and then paper on top of it to print off pages) Movable type- (invented in
the 1000s by Pi Sheng- each character is a separate piece; pieces can be
moved around to make sentences) 1st book to be printed was the Diamond
Sutra–printing decreased the price of books and therefore spread literacy
Helped spread ideas led to the printing of paper currency it helped the
economy prosper/grow
38. Why did agriculture improve under the Tang dynasty? What effect did that
have on society? Taizong gave land to farmers and stabilized the countryside/
peace. (page 255 and 261)
Improved irrigation and introduced new kinds of rice that produced more
per acre / grew well in poor soilWith more food available, the number of
people in China increased / cities grew