How did the Sui dynasty prepare the way for later Chinese unity?
It founded the Roman Senate, establishing a bicameral legislature that checked the power of elected consuls It reunified China after centuries of division and expanded the Grand Canal to connect major regions It abolished all written examinations, replacing scholar-officials with hereditary warlords loyal to the emperor It conquered Mali and Ghana, incorporating West African gold trade routes into a trans-Saharan empire
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What was the Tang dynasty known for?
Total isolation from all foreign contact, closing ports and expelling every foreign merchant and monk A revolutionary regime that abolished the emperor and established a republic modeled on French ideas A cosmopolitan empire with strong administration, poetry, Buddhist influence, and Silk Road connections The first pyramid-building dynasty in East Asia, constructing massive royal tombs modeled on Egyptian practice
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How did civil service examinations shape imperial China?
They trained only cavalry soldiers in horsemanship and archery to defend the northern frontier against nomads They helped recruit scholar-officials through mastery of classical texts rather than only family rank They replaced all written tests with oral recitation since paper was too scarce for widespread government use They elected emperors by popular vote every five years, with all male subjects over sixteen eligible to stand
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What was the Song dynasty known for?
The conquest of Rome by Chinese legions, establishing a Sino-Roman empire stretching from Britain to Korea The permanent closure of all maritime trade, forcing merchants to rely exclusively on overland Silk Road caravans The invention of cuneiform writing, which spread from Song China westward to Mesopotamia via Central Asia Economic growth, urban life, Neo-Confucian learning, printing, paper money, and advances in technology
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Why did printing matter in medieval China?
Printing was invented only by Gutenberg in Germany around 1440, with no prior precedent in China or East Asia Printing ended literacy because monks and scholars lost their copying monopoly and abandoned the craft entirely Printing was used exclusively for minting coins, with the Song treasury controlling all presses to prevent counterfeiting Woodblock and movable-type printing helped texts, examinations, religious works, and practical knowledge circulate more widely
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What was the Yuan dynasty?
A West African trading empire centered on the Niger River that controlled gold and salt routes to the Sahara The Mongol-ruled dynasty in China founded by Kublai Khan, linking China more tightly to Eurasian exchange A Spanish colonial governing council established in Mexico City to administer New Spain after Aztec conquest A Byzantine legal compilation ordered by Emperor Justinian I to preserve and organize centuries of Roman law
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Why do Marco Polo's travels matter for medieval Europe and China?
He founded the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan by leading Venetian colonists across the Atlantic to central Mexico He wrote the Rule of Benedict, prescribing daily prayer, work, and study for Western Christian monastic communities He commanded the Songhai army that defeated the Mali Empire and captured Timbuktu in the late fifteenth century His account of Yuan China helped Europeans imagine Asian wealth, cities, and trade routes more vividly
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What did Zheng He's voyages show about early Ming China?
The end of Chinese shipbuilding, since the voyages were so costly the Ming court banned all future ocean travel They showed large-scale maritime organization and diplomatic reach across the Indian Ocean world A revolt against the Gupta Empire in India that spread Buddhist missionaries into Southeast Asia and East Africa A Viking settlement in Greenland established by Leif Erikson, predating Zheng He's voyages by four centuries
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A historian argues that the Ming dynasty's decision to end Zheng He's treasure fleet voyages after 1433 had lasting consequences for China's role in world trade. Which explanation best supports that argument?
Hint: Consider the timing: European maritime exploration was just beginning around the same decades China chose to pull back from the seas.
Ending the voyages strengthened China's overland Silk Road trade so much that maritime trade became unnecessary for centuries By turning inward and restricting maritime activity, China ceded long-distance ocean trade leadership to European powers just as they began expanding overseas The Ming court redirected the fleet's resources into conquering Japan, which became China's main trading partner instead The decision had no lasting effect because Chinese merchants continued building treasure fleets privately throughout the Ming and Qing periods
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