Medieval China

Question 1

Two differences between Tang & Song Dynasties

Answer 1

Tang is bigger

Song used political alliances while Tang used military force

Tang was open to foreign ideas whereas Song was not

Question 2

Dates of Tang & Song Dynasties

Answer 2

Tang: 618-907 CE

Song: 950-1278 CE

Question 3

What is a bureaucracy?

Answer 3

A system of government in which the most important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives

Question 4

What are the characteristics of a bureaucracy?

Answer 4

• Rules and job responsibilities are written down and clearly stated
• Clear hierarchy of power is concentrated among a few high-ranking managers
• Appointments and promotions of officers are formal because these officers will be held accountable
• Employees are hired based on skill and knowledge, not because of favoritism or luck
• Salaries are tied to a pay-grade
• Bureaucracies are unable or unwilling to adapt to changing conditions
• Micromanaging is common

Question 5

What are some examples of bureaucracies in the US?

Answer 5

Police officers

Universities

Question 6

What is an example of a bureaucracy in Medieval China?

Answer 6

The Civil Service Exam (CSE for simplicity)

Question 7

When was the CSE created?

Answer 7

Han Dynasty

Question 8

Why was the CSE created?

Answer 8

To avoid promoting those who were simply born noble and lacked talent or knowledge

Question 9

What were CSE tests based on?

Answer 9

Classics, poetry, and legal and administrative issues

Mainly based on the works on Confucius - respecting the hierarchy, be loyal to the emperor, etc.

Question 10

With the CSE, who began to run the government?

Answer 10

Scholar-officials

Question 11

Which medieval Chinese Dynasty mainly used the CSE?

Answer 11

Song Dynasty

Question 12

How were government positions filled in the early Tang Dynasty?

Answer 12

Aristocrats filled government positions through family connections, personal recommendations, or marriage.

Question 13

How were government positions filled in the late Tang Dynasty?

Answer 13

Late Tang Dynasty used the CSE but favored aristocrats. Tests were open to all (except merchants, actors, and beggars) and anyone could attend university. However, most could not afford the tutors, books, and time to study.

Question 14

What kind of bureaucracy was used in the Song Dynasty?

Answer 14

Meritocracy - rule by officers of proven merit

Question 15

What was the main religion of the Song Dynasty?

Answer 15

Neo-Confucianism - blending Confucianism with Buddhism and Daoism

Question 16

How did medieval China prevent cheating in the CSE?

Answer 16

Candidates were locked in small rooms with guards watching & exam papers were copied by a second person to avoid handwriting identification

Question 17

How did medieval China prevent favoritism in the CSE?

Answer 17

Those who passed had to wait several years before an appointment, jobs were far from their hometowns, & there was a 3-year wait before a promotion

Question 18

What were the benefits of having a medieval Chinese government position?

Answer 18

Respect, no tax, no military service

Question 19

Who was the CSE not open to?

Answer 19

Women

Question 20

What were two disadvantages of the CSE?

Answer 20

You might spend your whole life not to pass & not everyone could take it

Question 21

What were two advantages of the CSE?

Answer 21

Climbing social hierarchy, gain knowledge

Question 22

What are some examples of medieval Chinese achievments?

Answer 22

Gunpowder, rockets, paper, movable type, porcelain, tea, steel, compass, paper money, mechanical clock, etc.

Question 22

What was gunpowder first made for?

Answer 22

Immortality - Made by alchemists to extend life

Question 23

When were rockets invented?

Answer 23

Song Dynasty

Question 24

What were rockets initially used in, and what were they used in afterwards?

Answer 24

Initially used in fireworks and later used in warfare (two-stage rocket: first stage propelled rocket in the air, second stage dropped arrows down on the enemy)

Question 25

When was paper invented?

Answer 25

About the 2nd century

Question 26

What was the earliest Chinese paper made from?

Answer 26

Originally hemp, then mulberry tree bark, then rags

Question 27

How long were the Chinese the only ones who knew how to make paper?

Answer 27

More than 500 years

Question 28

What was the first kind of Chinese printing?

Answer 28

Woodblock printing

Question 29

How was woodblock printing used?

Answer 29

Directions for woodblock printing: First draw characters/symbols onto paper, then glue the paper to a wood block. When the glue is dry, carve out the glue around the characters, leaving the characters raised on the wood. Next, cover the characters with black ink, spread paper over the block, and smooth the ink with a brush.

Question 30

What was the better version of woodblock printing that the Chinese created?

Answer 30

The movable type

Question 31

When was the movable type inventend?

Answer 31

Around the 11th century

Question 32

How was the movable type made?

Answer 32

Carving character out of clay and baking them

Question 33

How was the movable type used?

Answer 33

Select the characters you need and place them in an iron frame in the order they would appear on the paper

Question 34

When was the first porcelain produced?

Answer 34

The first century

Question 35

How is porcelain made?

Answer 35

Combining clay with quartz and feldspar and baking it in a kiln at very high temperatures

Question 36

What are some characteristics of porcelain?

Answer 36

White, hard, waterproof

Question 37

How was tea made?

Answer 37

Steeping tea leaves in boiling water

Question 38

When did tea become popular?

Answer 38

The 8th century

Question 39

What elevation was tea grown?

Answer 39

Over 4,000 feet

Question 40

When were seeds involved in tea farming and trade?

Answer 40

18th century

Question 41

When was the first Chinese steel made?

Answer 41

Before 200 BCE

Question 42

What was the first Chinese metal made from?

Answer 42

Cast iron

Question 43

How was cast iron made?

Answer 43

Melting and molding iron ore

Question 44

How was steel made?

Answer 44

Blowing air into molten cast iron

Question 45

When was the first compass made?

Answer 45

3rd century BCE

Question 46

What were the first Chinese compasses made from?

Answer 46

Lodestone

Question 47

What were later Chinese compasses made from?

Answer 47

As steel needle rubbed with lodestone

Question 48

When were compasses used for sea travel?

Answer 48

At the time of the Song Dynasty

Question 49

By the second century, what did the Chinese do to ships?

Answer 49

Divide it into separate watertight compartments so that when there is a leak in one part of the ship the whole ship won't sink

Question 50

What did the Chinese make to cross rivers and lakes?

Answer 50

The paddlewheel boat

Question 51

When did the Chinese make the paddlewheel boat?

Answer 51

The 5th century

Question 52

How was the paddlewheel boat made?

Answer 52

By arranging a series of paddles in a wheel

Question 53

How was the paddlewheel boat used?

Answer 53

People walked on the treadwheel to spin the wheel to move the boat forward

Question 54

Who also developed a paddle-powered boat?

Answer 54

The Romans, but in was powered by oxen instead of humans

Question 55

When did the Chinese create a new type of bridge?

Answer 55

618 CE

Question 56

What was the new medieval Chinese bridge called?

Answer 56

The segmental arch bridge

Question 57

What was unique about the segmental arch bridge?

Answer 57

It had just segments of circles instead of full half-circles like the Romans

Question 58

What were some advantages of the segmental arch bridge?

Answer 58

Required less material & stronger

Question 59

When were game cards invented?

Answer 59

About the 9th century

Question 60

How were game cards made?

Answer 60

Printers used woodblock printing to make the cards from thick paper, and famous artists drew the designs that appeared on the backs of the cards.

Question 61

When were Europeans introduced to card games?

Answer 61

The late 1300s

Question 62

When was paper money invented?

Answer 62

Late 8th or early 9th century

Question 63

Before paper money, what was the only kind of currency?

Answer 63

Coins

Question 64

How was paper money printed?

Answer 64

Woodblock printing, like game cards

Question 65

When did Song printers start to use multiple wood blocks to print each bill?

Answer 65

1107 CE

Question 66

When was the first mechanical clock made?

Answer 66

About the 8th century

Question 67

What were some advantages of the mechanical clock?

Answer 67

More accurate than other timekeeping devices such as sundials and hourglasses

Question 68

How did the mechanical clock work?

Answer 68

The Chinese devised a wheel that made one complete turn every 24 hours by using dripping water to make the wheel turn.

Question 69

What would sound every quarter hour and full hour?

Answer 69

Every quarter hour drums would beat and every hour a bell would chime

Question 70

When was the mechanical clock improved?

Answer 70

1072 CE

Question 71

What were some benefits of the improved mechanical clock?

Answer 71

More complex and accurate

Question 72

When did the Chinese develop a way of fighting infectious diseases?

Answer 72

Before the 1st century CE

Question 73

What would the Chinese do when a person died from an infectious disease?

Answer 73

Burn a chemical that released a poisonous smoke that killed whatever caused the illness - the smoke was a disinfectant.

Question 74

During the Song Dynasty, what was another way of killing infectious diseases?

Answer 74

Steaming the clothes of sick people

Question 75

Around the 10th century, how did the Chinese inoculate people against smallpox?

Answer 75

They took some scab from an infected person, crushed it into powder, then inserted the powder into the nose.

Question 76

Who ran a medieval Chinese family?

Answer 76

The father - the wife and children were supposed to be subservient

Question 77

What did medieval Chinese women do?

Answer 77

Take care of the home and raise children

Question 78

Who decided who someone married in medieval China?

Answer 78

Their parents

Question 79

Did medieval Chinese women have any power?

Answer 79

No legal power but sometimes economic power (but only in Tang Dynasty)

Question 80

What was the most prized among medieval Chinese women?

Answer 80

Beauty

Question 81

What did medieval Chinese noblewomen's beauty restrict them to?

Answer 81

They could not leave the house

Question 82

Lower-class women could leave the house. Why?

Answer 82

They had to do manual labor outside the house

Question 83

What was foot binding?

Answer 83

Repeatedly breaking the bones in the foot to restrict its size

Question 84

Why did medieval Chinese noblewomen practice foot binding?

Answer 84

A emperor praised a dancer's feet because they looked like "little lotuses"

Question 85

Why did lower-class women not practice foot binding?

Answer 85

If you have bound feet, you can't walk

Question 86

Who bound girls' feet?

Answer 86

Their mothers

Question 87

What are some examples of famous medieval Chinese women?

Answer 87

Princess Pingyang and Empress Wu Zeitan

Question 88

Who was Princess Pingyang?

Answer 88

The daughter of a military commander in the Sui Dynasty who led a rebellion against the emperor and lost and had to escape

Question 89

Why was Princess Pingyang famous?

Answer 89

She amassed 70,000 people by kindness and compassion, not force or bribery

Question 90

What happened when Princess Pingyang won the rebellion?

Answer 90

Her father became the emperor and started the Tang Dynasty

Question 91

Who was Wu Zeitan?

Answer 91

She was originally a concubine to the emperor, Gaozong

Question 92

How did Wu Zeitan become empress?

Answer 92

All her male relatives very mysteriously died (i wonder how).