McTeach Blog

Here are the review questions for Chapter Seven – China Builds an Empire:

Lesson One:

1. How were floods, droughts, and hunger in China connected?
2. How did Confucianism promote social order?
3. Why did Confucianism lose influence?
4. What type of harmony did Daoists try to bring into their lives?
5. How did Buddhism help people endure suffering?
6. Look at the map on page 215, and answer the question: How long did it take for Buddhism to spread from India through east Asia?
7. How did Wendi reunify China?
8. Why was Taizong considered a just leader even though he murdered many relatives to get power?
9. Why would the arts flourish under a powerful dynasty like the Tang?

Lesson Two:

1. How does having a law code that applies everywhere benefit a country?
2. How did the new type of rice imported from Southeast Asia help the population grow?
3. How did producing extra food affect people’s jobs?
4. Why did the Song Dynasty begin to print paper money?
5. Why did most trade take place in cities and towns rather than in the country?
6. How does terracing make it easier for the farmers to work the land?
7. Why does rice need to be grown on level ground?
8. Which arts flourished under the Tang and Song dynasties?
9. Why is paper preferable to silk cloth and strips of wood for writing?
10. How would the growth of bureaucracy under the Tang and Song create a demand for printed materials?
11. According to the poem on page 228, what problems did scholar-officials sometimes face?