Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. By the third century BCE, at about the same time that Rome began establishing
its imperial authority over the Mediterranean world, the government of China was
sufficiently unified that it could build a ______GREAT WALL_________ (2 words)
across the hills north of the Central Plain to protect the realm from the intruding
Central Asians who lived beyond it northern borders.
2. Even the most ancient Chinese _____WRITING_____found on oracle bones and
ceremonial bronze vesselsis closely related to modern Chinese.
3. The first Chinese signs were _____PICTOGRAMS______, which, as with the
development of cuneiform in Mesopotamia, soon became stylized, particularly after
the brush became the principal writing instrument.
4. The first Chinese literature, the Book of Changes, or _______YI JING________ (2
words) compiled later from ideas that developed in the Shang era, is a guide
interpreting the workings of the universe.
5. One of the oldest collections of Chinese poetry; the _____BOOK OF SONGS______
(3 words) is still taught in Chinese schools today.
6. Along with some chimes, bells were the primary instrument of Chinese ritual
music until the end of imperial rule in ___1911___.
7. At the heart of Confuciuss teaching is the principle of lia propriety in the
conduct of the rites of ______ANCESTOR_____ worship.
8. The noncommunist _______LITTLE DRAGONS_______ (2 words) of East Asia
Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Koreawould all attribute their economic
success in the 1980s to the Confucian heritage.
9. In the 15 years that the _____QIN_____ ruled China, the written language was
standardized, a uniform coinage was introduced, all wagon axles were required to
be the same width so that they would uniformly fit in the existing ruts on the
Chinese roads (thus accommodating trade and travel), a system of weights and
measures was introduced, and the country was divided into the administrative and
bureaucratic provinces much as they exist to the present day.
10. The Tomb of Qin Shihuangdi, discovered in 1974, contains an estimated 6,000
_____INFANTRYMEN______, most standing 4 abreast in 11 parallel trenches paved
with brick.
11. In the Tomb of ____QIN____ Shihuangdi although the bodies of the soldiers
appear to have been created by molds, the facial features and hairstyles all possess
unique attributes.
12. The traditional Chinese family was organized around basic
_____CONFUCIAN____ principles. Elder family members were wiser, and therefore
superior to the younger, and males were superior to females.