Unit 1 Reading Quiz

Which of the following best explains the changes in the population of Song Dynasty China as shown in the table?

• Immigration to China increased due to religious persecution of Buddhists in India and Southeast Asia.

• Agricultural output increased as a result of the use of the new crop strains such as Champa rice, the use of iron plows, and expanded irrigation.

• Less warfare with neighboring states and nomadic peoples also meant fewer casualties in wars and a population increase.

• The Confucian emphasis on the importance of family led many Chinese to have more children.

Answer explanation

What is the graph showing? Which answer choice would most likely lead to such changes in population?

All of the following developments occurred during the Song Dynasty period (960-1279 C.E.) Which development was most pivotal in the development of China as an economic world power?

• The widespread use of gunpowder technology in combat began during the Song period.

• The invention of movable-type printing took place during the Song period.

• The Neoconfucian synthesis of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism was completed during the Song period.

• China’s population doubled and Chinese urban centers experienced massive growth during the Song period.

Answer explanation

What is the table showing and which of these answer choices would have the most to do with a growing economy?

All of the following developments in Song Dynasty China were important factors in the accumulation of wealth outlined in the first paragraph EXCEPT

• replacing trade on the Silk Roads with trade on the Indian Ocean network

• an increase in agricultural production in China

• increased Chinese production of manufactured goods

• an increase in technological innovations in China

Answer explanation

All of the answer choices reflect true developments in China except for one. Which trade network did China make the most use of? Would they really just stop using that trade network?

Which of the following best describes the author’s claim about the Chinese examination system in the second paragraph?

• The system provided limited but important opportunities for social advancement in Chinese society.

• The system strongly reinforced rigid class distinctions between nobles and commoners in Chinese society.

• By offering opportunities to female scholars, the system elevated the prestige of women in Chinese society.

• By encouraging conformism and obedience, the system prevented efforts to reform and modernize Chinese society in the nineteenth century.

The passage best illustrates which of the following dynamics in South Asia c. 1200 - 1450 C.E.

• Tension between Hindu and Muslim communities in South Asia sometimes erupted into open conflict

• Syncretism between Hindu and Muslim communities often created new, blended cultures

• Sufis and Bhaktis, though of different religions, shared much in common due to their mystical practices

• Buddhism broke away from Hinduism in South Asia and spread to East Asia

The excerpt demonstrates the continued influence on eighteenth century Japan of which of the following?

• The Christian tradition of children respecting their parents

• The Buddhist encouragement of female spirituality

• The Islamic practice of women appearing modestly in public

• The Confucian emphasis on filial submission

Answer explanation

Because the Song Dynasty of China was such a rich and powerful empire, Chinese culture had a massive influence on other East Asian societies, including Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Confucian ideals like filial piety and the importance of a hierarchy were among the concepts that spread from China to other parts of East Asia.

The image comes from a book of astronomy made for a Turkic Muslim ruler and shows a constellation of stars that was drawn from ancient Greece. Muslim scholars’ incorporation of cultural and intellectual influences from pre-Islamic societies can best be used as evidence that

• most educated Muslims continued to speak European languages well into the fifteenth century

• European merchants had established trade outposts throughout Muslim Central Asia

• Muslim scientists rejected the contributions of scientists from other cultures as heretical

• Muslim states and empires were vital to the processes of intellectual transfer in Eurasia

Answer explanation

Remember that Dar al-Islam was based in the Middle East, and the Middle East was a vital bridge between three continents: Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Based on the passage, scientific and scholarly achievements in Dar al-Islam could best be described as

• being the recipients of funding from foreign rulers

• serving strictly as copyists of earlier works that otherwise would have been lost

• expanding upon the legacy of earlier scientific works by conducting their own research

• learning from the superior scientific knowledge of medieval western European scientists

Based on the passage, which of the following made possible the Chinese cultivation of the staple crops described in the passage?

• The creation of new forms of governance in China during the Song dynasty

• The intensification of regional trade networks in East Asia and South Asia

• The diffusion of Buddhism into China

• The export of luxuries like silk and porcelain by diasporic communities along the Silk Roads

Answer explanation

Note that China only obtained Champa rice and the green lentils of India because special envoys were sent to obtain them. Which answer choice seems to reflect that?

Image 1 best illustrates which of the following features of the Chinese economy in the period 1200 to 1450?

• Technological innovations increased agricultural yields.

• The government sponsored land reforms.

• Confucian policies guided the way agrarian labor was performed.

• Improvements in manufacturing techniques resulted in increased production of handicrafts.