17 Test: East Asia in the Early Modern Era (h)
1. All of the following are contributing causes for the fall of the Ming dynasty except:
A. a “little ice age”
B. Japanese invasion
C. economic inflation
D. peasant uprisings
2. How did Hongwu establish and maintain his control over the Chinese imperial bureaucracy?
A. He staffed it with loyal Manchus.
B. He used purges to remove the disloyal.
C. He raised bureaucrats’ salaries.
D. He actually lost control over the bureaucracy.
3. What was the traditional relationship between China and its neighbors?
A. China was often under the suzerainty of other nations.
B. Other states were often tributary to China.
C. China depended heavily on them for important trade goods.
D. China cut itself off from foreigners.
4. What form of theater featuring elaborate makeup was especially popular among Japan’s samurai in the
Tokugawa period?
A. Peking opera
B. kabuki
C. tragedy
D. pantomime
5. What term best describes Japan’s traditional approach to the influence of foreign cultures and ideas?
A. suspicion
B. assimilation
C. selective borrowing
D. rejection
6. What term describes the Korea’s relationship to China through much of its history?
A. tributary state
B. independent state
C. province
D. hegemonic power
7. Which of the following was not a cause of China’s tremendous population growth in the early modern
period?
A. A climatic shift that improved food production B. food crops from the Americas
C. large-scale immigration from Japan
D. immunological resistance to diseases
8. What Catholic order experienced some degree of success among officials in China?
A. Franciscans
B. Cistercians
C. Carmelites
D. Jesuits
9. What allowed the order in the previous question in particular to be successful?
A. Chinese Taoists admired the simplicity of the Franciscan ethos.
B. Chinese Buddhists found kinship with their strict ascetic tradition.
C. The Confucian scholar-gentry admired their intellectual achievements.
D. Chinese Buddhist emphasis on compassion was compatible with service to the poor.
10. How did Tokugawa Ieyasu’s “alternate residence” system limit the daimyo?
A. Their families were hostage in Edo
B. The daimyo could not effectively raise an army spending every other year in Edo
C. The expense of maintaining two residences prevented the daimyo from raising armies
D. all of the above
1
11. Which of the following was not a source of Kangxi’s success as a ruler?
A. He had a very long reign, allowing him to establish consistent, stable rule.
B. He used a multiethnic military effectively to crush rebellions when necessary.
C. He converted to Christianity and solidified an alliance with Portugal and Spain.
D. He invested imperial funds to establish industry, such as porcelain factories.
E. He embraced Confucian ideas and maintained the Han bureaucracy.
Read the following excerpt of the Qing Emperor Qianlong’s 1793 letter to King George III of England
and answer questions 12-16.
“We have perused [read] the text of your state message and the wording expresses your earnestness. From it
your sincere humility and obedience can clearly be seen. It is admirable and we fully approve. …
As to what you have requested in your message, O King, namely to be allowed to send one of your subjects to
reside in the Celestial Empire to look after your country’s trade, this does not conform to the Celestial Empire’s
ceremonial system, and definitely cannot be done. …
Moreover, the territories ruled by the Celestial Empire are vast, and for all the envoys of vassal [inferior] states
coming to the capital there are definite regulations. … There has never been any precedent for allowing them to
suit their own convenience. … Furthermore, there are a great many Western Ocean countries altogether, and
not merely your one country. If, like you, O King, they all beg to send someone to reside at the capital, how
could we grant their request in every case? It would be absolutely impossible for us to do so. How can we go
so far as to change the regulations of the Celestial Empire … because of the request of one man—of you, O
King? …
We have never valued ingenious articles, nor do we have the slightest need of your country’s manufacturers. …
You, O King, should simply act in conformity with our wishes by strengthening your loyalty and swearing
perpetual obedience so as to ensure that your country may share the blessings of peace.”
12. Emperor Qianlong seems to treat King George as:
A. an equal.
C. a superior.
B. an inferior.
D. a threat.
13. What reason does the emperor not give for denying the king’s request?
A. historical precedent
B. current regulations
C. lack of interest in British goods
D. fear of foreign influence
14. What did the British evidently want to do?
A. buy Chinese manufactured goods
C. establish an embassy in Beijing
B. establish a mission of the Church of England
D. buy Hong Kong
15. What did Qianlong ask of the King of England?
A. loyalty and obedience
C. European guns
B. trade goods of equal value to Chinese goods
D. support against the Japanese
16. In light of your textbook’s comments about the following century of Chinese history, what can one
reasonably conclude about this excerpt?
A. George III was preoccupied with the American Revolution.
B. Qianlong was concerned about the rate of opium addiction in China.
C. The Chinese had a false sense of security that proved disastrous.
D. The Chinese manipulated the dynastic cycle to control Britain.
2
17. What religion was outlawed in the early Tokugawa Era in Japan?
A. Buddhism
B. Christianity
C. Shinto
D. Taoism
18. What was the term for a military dictator who wielded political power in feudal Japan?
A. samurai
B. shogun
C. daimyo
D. scholar-gentry
19. What is the term for the claim that a dynasty is “supposed” to rule China?
A. Zhongguo
B. Mandate of Heaven
C. consolidation
D. hangul
20. With what ethnic group did Nurhaci unite the Jurchens to create the Manchu state and banners?
A. Han
B. Mongols
C. Koreans
D. Tibetans
21. What dynasty replaced the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty, known as the “bright,” initiated something of a golden
age in the fifteenth century?
A. Ming
B. Han
C. Qing
D. Plantagenet
22. How did the Qing test the loyalty of Han men?
A. They forced the Chinese to convert to the Tibetan form of Buddhism.
B. They forced the Chinese to wear their hair in a queue.
C. They forced the Chinese to swear an oath to the Yellow Dragon banner.
D. They created public schools for Chinese children and indoctrinated them.
23. Why were the Japanese especially interested in trade contacts with the West in the 1500s?
A. The daimyo were fighting each other and wanted firearms, guns and castles.
B. The samurai wanted chain mail to protect themselves in battle.
C. Many Japanese were nearsighted and wanted spectacles.
D. The Japanese were fascinated by throat-singing and jazz.
24. What term best describes the system of government developed by the Tokugawa Shogunate?
A. absolutist imperium
B. centralized feudalism
C. democracy
D. theocracy
25. What term refers to a decentralized and hierarchical political and social order?
A. tribute
B. propriety
C. feudalism
D. samurai
26. Why did dyarchy allow the Qing to rule effectively?
A. It encouraged officials to spy on each other, guaranteeing the emperor’s power.
B. It allowed the Qing to impose tariffs on Western merchants.
C. It created a balance between Chinese Confucians and Manchu elites.
D. By having an emperor in Beijing and another in Tibet, they could control China’s vast area.
27. Buddhism in China:
A. was divided into many sects.
C. was tied to political movements
B. adapted to Chinese culture in distinctive forms.
D. all of the above.
3
28. What state was the first to establish diplomatic relations with China as an equal rather than as a tributary
state?
A. Great Britain
B. France
C. Russia
D. Italy
29. What was the main issue that pitted the Jesuits against the Franciscans and Dominicans in China?
A. translation of “Word of God” as Dao Tien (literally,“Way of Heaven”), respectively
B. how to handle the Chinese practice of bigamy
C. whether or not Chinese Christians had to publicly swear an oath of allegiance to the pope
D. whether or not ancestor veneration was a ritual compatible with Christianity
30. Which of the following was a benefit for China as a result of its eighteenth-century population boom?
A. More people were available for labor and boosted demand for trade goods.
B. It gave them better people for the bureaucracy.
C. It allowed China to establish colonies in far-off places like Hawaii and Australia.
D. Dividing farms made it easier to have efficient agricultural production.
31. What religion was outlawed in the early Tokugawa Era in Japan?
A. Buddhism
B. Christianity
C. Shinto
D. Taoism
32. All of the following are correct about the reign of Qianlong except:
A. Signs of internal decay, such as the corruption of Heshen, appeared.
B. The White Lotus rebellion freed Hunan and Shangxi from Qing rule.
C. The emperor was hard-working, tolerant, and intellectually curious.
D. The Chinese population and territory grew through much of the 1700s.
33. Which of the following is not an accurate statement about the family in China in the Ming-Qing era?
A. The cultural ideal was the joint family.
B. There was a cultural preference for sons over daughters.
C. Individuals had freedom in choosing spouses.
D. Families were often connected to each other in clans.
34. What was the term for the professional military retainers in Japan, roughly analogous to knights?
A. ninjas
B. samurai
C. daimyo
D. sipahis
35. Which of the following was not a legacy of Confucianism in China?
A. civil service exams
B. a disdain for merchants
C. a drive for scientific advancement
D. favoritism for tradition and continuity
36. Which of the following is not an accurate statement about the civil service exams in the Qing period?
A. Quotas were established for all major ethnic groups.
B. Manchus were favored in the system.
C. Quotas were established for each province.
D. People sometimes purchased their degrees.
37. What was the only Western country allowed to trade with Japan under sakoku?
A. The United States
B. France
C. Uganda
D. the Netherlands
4
Items 38-52 refer to this
graphic presentation.
Match the correct letter on
the cycle with each item.
38. Mr. Sherry called this
stage Consolidation.
A. New
Dynasty
Established
B
D
C
39. Mr. Sherry called this
stage Chaos.
40. Mr. Sherry called this
stage Conquest.
41. Mr. Sherry called this
stage Decline.
42. In 1644, the Manchus
claimed the Mandate of
Heaven.
43. Li Zicheng led a peasant rebellion against the Ming and captured Beijing.
44. Heshen skimmed money from the Qing government for himself and his family.
45. Kangxi reorganized the Qing government to use the dyarchy system.
46. The influx of American and Japanese silver created massive inflation for the Ming dynasty.
47. Galdan used the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism as a way to unite the Mongols to invade Chinese
territory.
48. The Ming established efficient porcelain factories.
49. The Yongle Emperor built the Grand Canal connecting Nanjing with Beijing.
50. Qianlong felt secure rebuffing Lord Macartney’s mission from England.
51. Kangxi reorganized the banner system to establish imperial garrisons in major cities and to include Han
troops.
52. What is the traditional term for this pattern?
A. The Cycle of Reincarnation
C. The Cycle of Equanimity
B. The Dynastic Cycle
D. The Theory of the State
53. Which of the following is not an accurate statement about the English in China?
A. They were the first European state to establish an embassy in Beijing in the 1700s.
B. By the nineteenth century, the British East India Company sold opium in China.
C. They were initially restricted to trading at Canton.
D. Their proposals for trade and diplomatic concessions were rejected by Qianlong.
5
For Items 54-58, match the
appropriate letter on the cycle of
equanimity to each item.
A.
political
unit
E.
military
54. The dyarchy system
55. Daimyo investing in
manufacturing under sakoku
56. The banner system
57. The construction of the Grand
Canal
58. Chinese merchants settling
throughout Southeast Asia in the
Ming era
D.
economic
resources
B.
services
C.
populace
59. Which of the following
statements best represents the relationship between this cycle and that on the previous page? (mark all that
apply)
A. While this cycle is moving in a positive manner, a political unit is likely in the consolidation phase.
B. A strong military was the key to state-building in China because the bureaucracy came predominantly
from the military.
C. When a political unit slides into the decline phase, one can expect that there will be major weaknesses
somewhere in this cycle.
D. There is no relationship whatsoever. These cycles are completely useless for understanding history.
60. Hongwu’s use of purges and Yongle’s use of the eunuchs and the Board of Censors represent which
mechanism for gaining and maintaining power?
A. political patronage
B. police state
C. elections
D. populism
61. Which of the following is an explanation offered in your textbok for Yongle’s support for Zheng He’s
voyages? (mark all that apply)
A. Yongle had a personal curiosity about the wider world.
B. The Chinese wanted to project their power for the sake of economic and political gain.
C. Yongle had heard that there was a great civilization on the eastern side of the Pacific.
D. Yongle wanted to determine if his rival, Jianwen, had escaped to southeast Asia.
62. Which of the following was not a key feature of Confucianism?
A. It stressed the importance of propriety.
B. It was all about social harmony.
C. It emphasized tradition rather than innovation. D. It emphasized religious practice.
63. Who were the three great unifiers of Japan in the early modern era?
A. Oda Nobunaga, Date Masamune, and Meiji
B. Kangxi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Saigo Takamori
C. Date Masamune, Matteo Ricci, and Francis Xavier.
D. Oda Nobunage, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
6
64. What term refers to the central administration of the ruler in question 18?
A. parliament
B. daimyo
C. bakufu
D. macaque
65. What aspect of Confucianism was particularly important in practical terms throughout Asia?
A. familial models
B. civil service exams
C. the Tao
D. its ritual veneration of ancestors
66. Which of the following was a problem China’s population explosion in the 1700s caused?
A. Smaller farms were more susceptible to famine.
B. Increasing pressure on the land created social unrest.
C. Han Chinese farmers moving into other provinces sparked ethnic tensions.
D. All of the above.
E. None of the above.
67. What country did Toyotomi Hideyoshi unsuccessfully try to invade in the late sixteenth century?
A. China
B. Russia
C. Australia
D. Korea
68. Industrial and commercial developments in Europe and China:
A. differed because the Chinese governments exercised more control over trade and manufacturing
than European governments did and also because European culture was prejudiced against
commercial activity.
B. were the same in that both societies’ governments encouraged freedom and innovation in the
bourgeoisie, but differed in that Christianity took a dim view of greed while Taoism thought it
was morally acceptable.
C. differed because the European bourgeoisie was more free from government control and because the
Chinese culture was more supportive of commercial activity.
D. differed because the Chinese government exercised more direct control over the bourgeoisie than
European governments did and also because Chinese culture was prejudiced against commercial
activity.
69. Which of the following is an example of xenophobic tendencies in nascent Japanese nationalism?
A. Ronin rejected daimyo authority.
B. Hideyoshi’s support for western merchants
C. the popularity of Buddhism
D. discrimination against the Eta and Ainu
70. Which of the following was not a benefit of Tokugawa policies for the Japanese in the long run?
A. The expenses of the alternate residence system forced the daimyo to invest capital in business
and manufacturing.
B. Japan was protected from the corrosive effects of Western expansion and imperialism
because of sakoku.
C. The heavy taxes on peasants provided the central government with capital for investment.
D. A bourgeoisie developed to cater to the needs of daimyo and samurai, creating a wealthy
merchant class that could drive Japan’s future economic growth.
71. Which policy did the Japanese enact to address the chaos of the Sengoku era?
A. banned firearms
B. banned Christianity
C. reinforced class distinctions
D. all of the above.
7
72. What technology was particularly important in Yi Song-gye’s repelling of the Japanese invasions of the
sixteenth century?
A. firearms
B. turtle boats
C. castle construction
D. Godzilla
73. Which of the following was a tendency in Japanese culture and society due to their relative homogeneity?
A. The Japanese have enjoyed considerable national cohesion.
B. There have been xenophobic tendencies at times in Japanese history.
C. The Japanese have discriminated against minorities, such as the Ainu and Eta.
D. All of the above
74. The Yi dynasty in Korea:
A. Conquered the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido in the early seventeenth century.
B. Opened Korea up to Western traders, but isolated itself from Japan.
C. Isolated Korea to Western traders, but maintained close relations with China.
D. Allowed Russian and Chinese merchants, but allowed only Jesuit missionaries from France.
75. Why did Vietnam not suffer the humiliation of losing territory to Western powers?
A. It was not on any of the major maritime spice trade routes, so the Western powers were
largely uninterested in Vietnam.
B. The Vietnamese were a strongly unified people who successfully repelled Western invaders.
C. The Vietnamese gladly embraced Catholicism and established a local Jesuit-run theocracy.
D. Vietnam is so ruggedly mountainous that the Western powers thought it would be too much
trouble to conquer.
76. Which of the following is evidence of Korea’s independence from Chinese orthodoxy in the early modern
era?
A. The Confucian civil service examination was open everyone, not just the gentry.
B. The Koreans used a phonetic alphabet called hangul.
C. The Koreans adopted Daoism and renounced Shinto as the dominant religion.
D. The Yi dynasty rejected the tributary system and used Jurchen mercenaries to repel Chinese
forces.
77. What made Vietnam vulnerable to Western meddling from the seventeenth through eighteenth centuries?
A. the precedent set by the Chinese
B. red bearded lemurs
C. the collapse of the global tulip market
D. civil war
78. Which statement best expresses the long-term benefit for Japan in question 70?
A. Japan’s vast gold supplies allowed the Japanese to invest and modernize in the 1700s.
B. By the time Japan was forced to open and modernize in the late 1800s, it had critical
indigenous economic institutions to build on.
C. Peasant rebellions forced Japan created indigenous democratic political institutions by the
time the Japanese came into contact with Enlightenment ideas from America in
the 1820s.
D. Killer whales sank Japanese whaling ships, forcing them to develop serious warships by the
1800s.
8