Confucius and other early Chinese thinkers: ideas about order and government

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Sayings and what became of the ideas (cards A to E). Card A, translated sayings: Analects 2.1 (Confucius): "He who exercises government by means of his virtue [goodness] may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it." Analects 2.3 (Confucius): "If the people be led by laws, and uniformity [order] sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame. If they be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them by the rules of propriety [right conduct], they will have the sense of shame, and moreover will become good." Analects 15.23 (Confucius): "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others." Confucius calls the rule in 15.23 reciprocity. Daodejing, chapter 57 (credited to Laozi): "...the more display there is of legislation [laws], the more thieves and robbers there are." Card B, about the translations: translated by James Legge, the Analects in The Chinese Classics (1893) and The Four Books (1900), the Daodejing in The Sacred Books of the East (1891). Card C, a chart of what happened (columns When | What happened): 221 to 206 BCE | the Qin dynasty, guided by Legalist advisers, ruled with harsh laws; 206 BCE to 220 CE | the Han dynasty kept a government of officials, and added the Confucian view that officials should be educated and good; 136 BCE | the Confucian classics became the base of official education; later centuries | many Chinese drew a lesson from the Qin: law without good conduct is a weak base for a stable society. Card D, a note: historians describe what each school taught and how it spread; they do not judge which school was best. Card E, a note written for this sheet: Confucius lived about 551 to 479 BCE.

2. 1.

   In Analects 2.1, the ruler is compared to the north polar star. What is the comparison saying, Ari asks?

   • A good ruler is far away, so people cannot reach the ruler
   • A good ruler stays steady and others turn toward the ruler
   • A good ruler keeps moving, and others follow from a distance
   • A good ruler must count the stars to guide travelers
3. 2.

   Analects 15.23 gives a rule that Confucius calls reciprocity. Which action follows it, Esme asks?

   • Not reading a friend's diary, since you would not want yours read
   • Giving each of your friends the same gift on the same day of the week
   • Obeying anyone older than you without asking any questions
   • Doing to a friend whatever that friend once did to you in return
4. 3.

   The Daodejing clause on card A is credited to Laozi. What does it claim, Jun asks?

   • More laws go with fewer thieves and robbers
   • Thieves and robbers make rulers write laws
   • More laws go with more thieves and robbers
   • The clause argues for more laws, as Legalist advisers did
5. 4.

   Analects 2.3 and Daodejing 57 come from different schools. How do both differ from the Legalist view in card C, Kira asks?

   • Both say people should live with no leader of any kind
   • Both want harsher punishments than the Legalists did
   • Both were written by a Qin adviser in the 200s BCE
   • Both doubt that laws and punishments alone bring order
6. 5.

   Card B says James Legge translated the sayings in the 1890s. What should a careful reader remember, Luz asks?

   • Legge heard the sayings from Confucius's students in person
   • The English is a translator's choice, made over 2,000 years later
   • Translation changes nothing because languages say things the same way
   • The English words are exactly the words Confucius spoke
7. 6.

   Which chain best matches card C, Milo asks?

   • The Han ended Confucian education in 136 BCE, and later centuries agreed
   • The Han used harsh laws, then the Qin added Confucian ideas, then the lesson came
   • The Qin used harsh laws, the Han added Confucian ideas, then a lesson was drawn
   • The Qin used harsh laws, so people agreed laws alone were enough to rule
8. 7.

   Card C says the Confucian classics became the base of official education in 136 BCE. What change does that mark, Noah asks?

   • No other school of thought was taught anywhere after 136 BCE
   • Confucian ideas were removed from schools by the Han in 136 BCE, after the Qin
   • Confucian ideas were first taught in school under the Qin in 221 BCE
   • Confucian ideas went from one school of several to a base of education
9. 8.

   A student says: 'The Han used Confucian ideas, so history proves Confucianism was the best school.' How strong is that claim, Pia asks?

   • Strong: an idea that a dynasty uses for centuries must be the best idea
   • Strong: card C says the Han ended the other schools of thought
   • Weak: card C says the Han did not use Confucian ideas in schools
   • Weak: card D says historians describe schools without judging the best
10. 9.

    Which find would best help decide whether the Analects words come from Confucius's own time, Tala asks?

    • A new English translation printed this year with notes added
    • A chart of the three schools drawn in a new order this year
    • A Han school record listing the Analects as a lesson
    • A copy of the sayings written closer to Confucius's lifetime
11. 10.

    A student's note says: 'Confucius lived during the Han dynasty, which is why the Han used his ideas.' Which fix is right, Zee asks?

    • He lived about 551 to 479 BCE, long before the Han began in 206 BCE
    • He lived between the Qin and the Han, so both used his ideas in turn
    • He lived during the Han, but the Qin used his ideas first
    • He lived during the Qin, 221 to 206 BCE, so the Qin used his ideas