Name: ____________________________
Period: __________________
Chapter 15: The Political Development of Imperial China
Learning Targets:
I can describe the reunification of China under the Sui and Tang dynasties.
I can explain how the imperial state developed and describe the role of the scholar-official class.
I can analyze the influence of Confucianism on how government officials were selected.
I can compare and contrast approaches to Confucian thought during the Song and Mongol periods.
I can evaluate the different methods of selecting officials in imperial China.
1. List important terms (every word in blue throughout) for this chapter and define each term: emperor,
imperial, dynasty, bureaucracy, warlords, aristocracy, civil service examinations, and meritocracy.
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2. China was ruled by a series of dynasties. You have learned in previous chapters about hierarchies and how
rule is passed from one person to another. How is the European process different than the Chinese? List
at least one difference and one similarity between the two systems. Both European rulers and Chinese
rulers passed the rule from father to son. This rule for both cultures was based on the idea that
God or some divine force in the universe had chosen this family to rule. Natural disasters usually
indicated that this force was displeased with how people or rulers were living their lives. One
difference would be that the Chinese could overthrow a bad ruler/family, but the Europeans could not.
3. What was the result of a dishonest bureaucracy at the end of the Han dynasty? (Give 3 results) Dishonest
bureaucracy led to three negative results for the Chinese people: high taxes, forced labor, and fights
between warlords. Rebellion by the farmers, who believed the Han dynasty had lost the Mandate of
Heaven, led to the end of the dynasty.
4. The Mandate of Heaven was an important concept to the Chinese. Under this authority could an emperor be
overthrown, and why would this be allowed or not? Under the Mandate of Heaven, the Chinese could
overthrow an emperor if he/she ruled badly. This is unique to the Chinese people.
5. How was China after the Han dynasty like Europe after the fall of Rome? When a strong, central
government lost power and collapsed, the kingdom divided into separate kingdoms in both Europe and
China.
6. How did the Tang emperors after 618 CE build on the work of the Sui emperors? Tang rulers built on the
accomplishments of the Sui emperors by strengthening the central government and increasing their
influence over the outlying areas.
7. There were many ways to choose the best people to help the emperor govern. Both the Tang and the Song
dynasties used some of these ways. Describe how each one chose to fill positions in government below. The
Tang dynasty relied on a large bureaucracy made up of mostly aristocracy……student description here.
The Han dynasty created the civil service exams. Which then led to the Song dynasty using these
exams to create a meritocracy….student description here.
8. Which dynasty first introduced the civil service examinations? The Han dynasty introduced the exams.
9. Which subjects were covered on these examinations? Poetry, legal and administrative issues, Chinese
poetry, and the teachings of Confucius.
10.
If you wanted a job in government service under the Song dynasty, which subject would you spend
most of your time studying? Most of my time would be studying the teachings of Confucius.
11. How did life improve for the lower classes under the Song dynasty? Because the exams were available to
everyone, lower classes could attend state-supported schools. They could attend university and if
they passed a local test, they could take the imperial exam in the capital. They gained the
opportunity to become government officials, something they did not have access to before.
12. Describe the testing conditions for the civil service exams under the Song dynasty. How is it both the same
and different than testing conditions in your classes today? Those taking the exams were locked in a
small room for several days. A second person copied each paper so the examiners (test scorer) would
not know whose paper they were grading. Answers vary for second part of question.
13.
Under meritocracy, how were officials chosen? Test scores indicated who could work for the
government.
14. Under the teachings of Confucius, there were five important relationships. Tell me what the five were and
the specific rule about how these relationships are to be conducted. The five relationships were: ruler
and subject, father and son, older sibling and younger sibling, husband and wife, and friend and
friend. Student answers vary for second part of question.
15. Who was Kublai Kahn and why was he important? After conquering China’s imperial capital, Kublai Kahn
established himself as the first Mongol leader of China. He called his dynasty the Yuan dynasty.
Mongols continued to rule China for the next 100 years.
16. Kublai Kahn ended the civil service exams and replaced them with what group of people? Why did he do
this? Kahn ended the civil service exams because he did not believe that Confucian learning was needed
for government jobs. He did not want to rely on the Chinese people to fill these positions, he chose
Mongols whom he felt he could trust. Some of these people were his family members (nepotism).
17. Ending the civil service exams created a shortage of capable workers and Kublai Khan tried to fix this by
doing what? Was this effective? Why or why not? Unfortunately, many Mongols were illiterate and this
created a shortage of workers. Kublai and later Mongol emperors were forced to appoint trusted
foreigners to government positions, even some Europeans. Chinese scholars were appointed only as
teachers and minor officials. Finally, in 1315 they had to reinstate the exams to find workers.
Student opinions vary.
18. Fill in the bottom chart showing the strengths and weaknesses of the civil service exams in China.
Strengths of civil service exams (5)
Weaknesses of civil service exams (5)
19. Which method of selecting officials led to the best leaders for China: aristocrats, scholars, or foreigners?
Write an 8 sentence structured paragraph with a claim and a concluding sentence supporting your opinion.
You will need three facts from the textbook, cited properly, to support your claim. Use the template below.
Sentence #1-Claim, state your
opinion and main sub points
Sentence #2- Fact #1 from your
text with citation
Sentence #3- Explaining Sentence
Sentence #4- Fact #2 from your
text with citation
Sentence #5- Explaining Sentence
Sentence #6- Fact #3 from your
text with citation
Sentence #7- Explaining Sentence
Sentence #8- Concluding Sentence