Ancient China MCQs Quiz Multiple Choice Questions & Answers

1. According to Confucius, what is the foundation, whence all other virtues spring?

1. the duty of children to revere their parents
2. an understanding of the spiritual world
3. the willingness to work hard and get an education
4. being from an aristocratic family

2. At the end of the Han dynasty in A.D. 221, the population of China had

1. stayed the same as it had been in A.D. 2
2. decreased by 40 million since A.D. 2
3. decreased by 10 million since A.D. 2
4. increased by 40 million since A.D. 2

3. How did Qin Shihuangdi eliminate possible rivals and gain an important tax base?

1. He made wealthy families pay a bribe so that their sons could have powerful roles in his government.
2. He put his soldiers on the roads between the estates of wealthy landowners and made them pay heavy tolls to travel on them.
3. He seized the estates of wealthy landowners and gave the lands to the peasants; he then taxed the peasants.
4. He forced all the sons of wealthy landowners to join his army but allowed their families to pay large bribes to get them out of military service.

4. How was the central bureaucracy of the Qin dynasty organized?

1. There were 4 divisions: judicial, military, religious, and agricultural.
2. There were 3 divisions: civil, military, and censorate.
3. There were 2 divisions: one for the urban areas and one for the rural areas
4. There were 5 divisions: one for each of the five provinces.

5. How were government officials chosen in the Han dynasty?

1. by birth
2. by military service
3. by a competitive examination
4. by lottery

6. The Legalists believed that a strong ruler was needed to

1. support Daoism
2. keep order
3. maintain good trade relations with other empires
4. show compassion

7. The words The universe is sacre, you cannot improve it. If you try to change it, you will ruin it.reflect the beliefs of which philosophy?

1. Confucianism
2. Daoism
3. Legalism
4. ethics

8. was not made in Europe until the twelfth century

1. paper
2. steel
3. clothes
4. glass

9. What was the effect of the technical advancements in the Han dynasty?

1. national self-sufficiency that led to a decrease in trade
2. more people with free time to study religion
3. a general decrease in economic prosperity
4. a general increase in economic prosperity

10. Which of the following statements about Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism is true?

1. They all seek to understand humanitys relationship with the divine.
2. All three philosophies assume that people are essentially good.
3. They are primarily concerned with the material world and social stability.
4. All three philosophies preach the value of working hard to create a better life on Earth.

11. Which of the following territories were added to the empire during the Han dynasty?

1. parts of Central Asia
2. parts of India
3. Xianyang
4. Xiongnu

12. Which of the following was a factor in peasant uprisings in the late Han dynasty?

1. the difficulty of civil service examinations
2. the Han governments emphasis on the teachings of Confucius
3. concentration of land in the hands of the wealthy
4. invasions by nomadic tribes from the north

13. Which of the following were factors that helped Qin Shihuangdi unify China economically and geographically?

1. He created a single monetary system and built roads throughout the empire.
2. He created a uniform system of taxation and required everyone to speak a single language.
3. He was a model of kingly virtue, inspiring his people to love and respect him.
4. He paid laborers good wages to build the Wall of Ten Thousand Li.

14. Who added the territory south of the Chang Jiang to the empire

1. Han Wudi
2. Ban Gu
3. Xianyang
4. Xiongnu

15. Who were the Xiongnu?

1. the laborers who built the Wall of Ten Thousand Li
2. the army of terra-cotta soldiers whose job was to protect the emperor in the afterlife
3. a group of bureaucrats whose job was to police other bureaucrats
4. a tribe of nomadic horsemen who roamed the territory north of China

16. Whose helped enable Chinese trade in Southeast Asia and India

1. Xianyang
2. Xiongnu
3. Han Wudi
4. rudder

17. Why did Qin Shihuangdi have a canal dug from the Chang Jiang to Guangzhou?

1. so he could travel by barge
2. to improve trade in the empire
3. to supply his army with water
4. to block invaders

18. Why did the Legalists advocate harsh laws and stiff punishments for keeping public order?

1. That was the best way to ensure that superior men would rise to the top.
2. Those were the only laws that could be administered fairly.
3. They wanted strong laws so that the ruler would be free to show compassion.
4. They believed people were not capable of being good.

19. wrote biographies that combined political and social history

1. Han Wudi
2. Ban Gu
3. Xianyang
4. Xiongnu