Ancient China Unit Test
Do NOT write on this test booklet—write ALL answers on your answer sheet!!
Section 1-Vocabulary-Match the words and definitions by putting the correct letter on the line on the
answer sheet.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Feudal ism
Dynasty
Philosophy
Civil servant
Exile
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
F)
G)
A place where water can be found in a desert
A large group of friends and family
A power or law believed to be granted by God or a higher power
A system of government based on land owners and tenants
A person who works for a government
Living away from one’s native country; to be removed from an area
A form of government that is structured like a pyramid, with a few people at the top and
many at the bottom
Something that takes away the feeling of pain
The art of fine handwriting
An instrument for detecting earthquakes
An image of something that isn’t really there, such as water
A group of people traveling together
A line of rulers from the same family
The most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group
A ruler of Ancient China
H)
I)
J)
K)
L)
M)
N)
O)
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Emperor
Oasis
Bureaucracy
Calligraphy
Anesthetic
Section 2-Geography of China
16. What years did Ancient China flourish?
a. 1700 BCE-220CE
b. 1500 BCE-500CE
c. 2000 BCE-500CE
17. What is the highest elevation in China?
a. About 1,000 feet
b. About 2,000 feet
c. About 18,000 feet
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Seismograph
Mirage
Caravan
Clan
Mandate of heaven
18. Name the desert in Northwestern China that is home to oases, has violent desert sand storms
and is about 105,000 square miles.
a. Gobi
b. Tahrer
c. Taklimaken
d. Turfan
19. What physical feature in China is called the “roof of the world”
a. Turfan depression
b. Tibet-Qinghai Plateau
c. Mt. Everest
d. Gobi Desert
20. What region did the earliest Chinese settle in? Hint—Yellow River
a. Northeastern Plain
b. Northwestern Deserts
c. Middle Basin
d. North China Plain
21. True or False: China’s geography is one of great contrasts?
Section 3-Shang Dynasty
22. When did the Shang Dynasty rule Ancient China?
a. 2500 BCE-1700 BCE
b. 1700 BCE-1122 BCE
c. 1100 BCE-700 BCE
23. What are oracle bones?
a. Bones of ancient Chinese mummies
b. Turkey bones
c. Bones that were used by the ancient Chinese to interpret the future
24. True or False: The Shang government was led by a powerful king who controlled the land.
25. True or False: The Shang were among the first people in the world to discover how to make
bronze from a mixture of copper and tin.
26. True or False: The Shang were all one big social class that were treated equally.
27. True or False: Under the Shang, there were advances in art and writing.
28. True or False: One reason the Shang Dynasty ended was because the Kings and his noble spent
too much money on palaces, furnishings, and tombs, resulting in an economic crash.
Three Chinese philosophies
29. In what dynasty did “100 schools of thought emerge?”
a. Qin
b. Shang
c. Han
d. Zhou
30. What were the three most famous of these philosophies to emerge?
a. Sikism, Daoism, and Taoism
b. Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism
c. Leglaism, Confucianism, and Hinduism
31. Who started Confucianism?
a. Kongfuzi
b. Darfur
c. Zhoumien
d. Qin Shihuangdi
32. What is yin and yang
a. A fun symbol
b. A Chinese philosophy that say everyone is equal
c. A Chinese philosophy that believes the concept of opposing forces of nature
33. True or False: Hanfeizi founded Daoism.
34. True or False: Legalism is an ancient Chinese philosophy that believed most people were
naturally selfish.
The First Chinese Emperor
35. Who was the first Chinese Emperor?
a. Qin Shihuangdi
b. Kongfuzi
c. Hanfeizi
d. Tangsou
36. During the Qin Dynasty, how did the emperor standardize the culture of China?
a. By killing people if they did not follow his rules
b. By making money the same for everyone
c. By simplifying the writing system
d. All of the above
37. True or False: The Great Wall of China project kicked off during the Qin Dynasty.
38. True or False: The emperor of the Qin Dynasty prepared for his afterlife by preparing a tomb
with 6,000 life size figures that resemble an army to go with him in the afterlife.
The Han Dynasty
39. When did the Han Dynasty flourish?
a. 206 BCE-220 CE
b. 500 BCE-200 BCE
c. 800 BCE-350 CE
d. 350 BCE-500 CE
40. True or False: The Han excelled in warfare.
41. True or False: The Han’s government was a parliament.
42. What did the Han invent that helped them with agriculture?
a. The plow and the wheel
b. The wheelbarrow and the chain pump
c. The sow and the chain pump
d. The wheelbarrow and the shovel
43. What did the Chinese write on before they wrote on paper?
a. Silk
b. Papyrus
c. Tin
d. Wood
44. What did the Han invent that helped them determine direction?
a. Seismograph
b. Lodestone
c. Compass
d. Wheerbarrow
The Silk Road
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
True or False:
True or False:
True or False:
True or False:
True or False:
True or False:
The Silk Road was approximately 4,000 miles.
Zhan Qian is known as the father of the Silk Road.
The Silk Road went as far as Australia.
The Silk Road traded goods as well as ideas.
By 500 CE, the Chinese has learned how to make glass because of the Silk Road.
The Chinese learned how to farm potatoes because of the Silk Road.