Name: _____________________ Block: _____
China Unit Study Guide
Test: Friday, December 9th
What kinds of questions will be on the test?
 Multiple choice
 Geography
 Chronology (put events in the correct order)
 Short Answer
 Open Response
What do you need to be able to do?
 Explain the terms in your own words
 Use the bolded words to do the things listed below
Leadership: How did leaders unify China?
Terms: Middle Kingdom, Mandate of Heaven, Dynastic Cycle. Middle Kingdom,
Feudalism, infrastructure, Bureaucracy, Autocracy, Han Synthesis, Civil Service,
Regressive Force, Cultural Diffusion
Use the terms to do the following things
 Explain why China refers to itself as the Middle Kingdom
 Explain the role of the Mandate of Heaven in the Dynastic Cycle
 Explain why feudalism failed to unify China
 Explain the cause the Warring States Period
 Explain how the Han Dynasty synthesized Chinese ideas to unify China
 Explain why dynasties continued to use a bureaucracy and autocracy the Qin
established and describe how they changed it
 Explain why the Han created and other dynasties used the civil service system
 Describe how Mongol leaders, Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan, gained,
maintained and lost legitimacy
 Use evidence to explain whether the Mongols were a regressive force or agents
of cultural diffusion
Philosophy: How did Chinese philosophies influence government and society?
Terms: Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, filial piety, 5 relationships, yin and yang
Use the terms to do the following things
Describe the main ideas of Confucianism, Legalism and Daoism
Compare the ways these philosophies unified China by influencing government, family,
social class and education
Innovations: What sparked innovations and what changed because of them?
Terms: golden age, urbanization, commercialization
Use the terms to do the following things:
 Explain the innovations of the Shang dynasty
 Describe the innovations of the Tang and Song golden age
 Explain how these innovations encouraged urbanization and commercialization
Trade Networks: How did the Silk Road allow ideas, goods and people to spread?
Terms: Silk Road, spread of Buddhism
Use the terms to do the following things:
 Describe the risks and benefits of traveling along the Silk Road
 Explain what empires were linked to one another during the Han Dynasty because
of the Silk Road
 Explain how the Silk Road created an image of China for people in other parts of
Eurasia
 Explain how Buddhism spread to China and why it was appealing to the Chinese
Academic Skills:
 Locate important physical features and historical cities on a map of China
 Place and describe each dynasty in proper sequence (you don’t have to memorize
dates but you will need to put events in the right order)
 Construct a thesis statement and use evidence and analysis to support it
Focus question:
What political, social and economic factors were most influential in creating a unified
culture in China?
How to study:
 Use your handouts, notes from class and the textbook to help you complete the
study guide.
 Do not look up the key terms in a dictionary. The definitions will not help you
understand the terms as they relate to what we studied
 Think about how you would answer the focus question using evidence and
analysis
 Meet with me during X block or after school
Information about China can be found on the following pages in the textbook:
River Dynasties in China
p.46-71
An Empire Unifies China
p. 97-101
Han Emperors in China
p. 181-186
Two Great Dynasties in China
p. 287-293
The Mongol Conquests
p. 294-298
Empires of the Great Khan
p.299-302