The Shang Dynasty

The Shang Dynasty

1600 BC - 1046 BC

Multiple Choice

Which of the below best describes what a dynasty is?

• A democratic government run by the people where new officials are elected every four to six years.

• When a land is ruled by one family for a long period of time and power is handed down to each new generation.

• When the land is ruled by a single emperor for a long period of time.

• When warlords rule over different small areas of the land and are loyal to the king or emperor.

• A period of time that is defined by its technology, art, and architecture.

• farming villages along the Huang

• expansion of small kingdoms

• kept gov. power in family (1 ruler)​

• controlled flooding of Huang

• lasted 600 yrs.​

Rise of the Shang​

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Multiple Choice

Which answer choice is an accurate explanation of this paragraph?

• The people of the Shang dynasty slowly changed the way they used the land to live.

• The people of the Shang dynasty were able to stop rivers from ever flooding.

• The people of the Shang dynasty stopped using the land when they settled permanently.

• The people of the Shang dynasty stopped living off the land because rivers flooded.

Multiple Choice

The Shang dynasty started in what region of China?

• Yangtze River Valley

• Huang He River Valley

• Gobi Desert

• Tibetan Plateau

Multiple Choice

What was the government system of the Shang?

• Monarchy (Rule by a King/Queen)

• Democracy (Rule by the People)

• Oligarchy (Rule by the Rich)

• Republic (People Elect Their Leaders)

• oracle bones - 1st written records

  • wrote on bones/tortoise shells

  • kings tried seeking advice from ancestors

• developed FIRST writing system in China

  • pictographs

• thousands of characters (memorization)

• language is diff. across China, but characters are same

Writing

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tn.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/how-shang-invented-story-of-china/how-shang-invented-story-of-china/?student=true&focus=true

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is true of Shang writing?

• Its characters stood for words instead of sounds

• It used only pictographs rather than logographs.

• It does not have any similarities to modern Chinese.

• all of the above

Multiple Choice

What did Shang kings use to seek advice on important issues from their ancestors?

• jade discs

• bronze weapons

• oracle bones

• cowrie shells

Multiple Choice

True or False: The Shang had multiple spoken languages, but only one written language.

• True

• False

• best known for bronze metalworking

• increased farming productivity

• more powerful army

  • horse-drawn chariots

• used in religious ceremonies/offering to ancestors

• showed wealth + power​

• silk became important resource

"Bronze Age"

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Multiple Choice

Why did Shang armies have advantages over their enemies?

• Size of Army

• Well-Trained Military Leaders

• Bronze weapons

• Gunpowder

Multiple Choice

What is the meaning of "ancestors" based on this paragraph?

• crops and health

• aunts and uncles

• frightening spirits

• dead family members

• gov./rulers grew corrupt

• resented by people

• state of Zhou to the west attacked

• outnumbered, BUT slaves joined

• surrendered + accepted Zhou king as new ruler

Fall of the Shang

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Multiple Choice

The Shang Dynasty prospered during what Age?

• The Bronze Age

• The Stone Age

• The Iron Age

• The technological Age

Multiple Choice

If two nobles from distant parts of China met during the Shang dynasty, what would be the easiest way for them to communicate?

• by speaking, because they spoke the same language

• by trading, because they used the same type of money

• by writing, because they wrote with the same characters

• by fighting, because they fought with the same weapons

Multiple Choice

Which dynasty took over after the fall of the Shang?

• Qin

• Han

• Zhou

• Ming

Multiple Choice

How did Zhou, a frontier state, most affect the Shang dynasty?

• Rebels from Zhou overthrew the king

• Warriors from Zhou led the royal army

• Jade mines in Zhou made the king wealthy

• . Travelers through Zhou promoted foreign trade