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

   Analects 2.3 compares being led by laws with being led by virtue. What difference does it name, Bo asks?

   • Led by laws, people feel shame and become good; led by virtue, they just try to avoid punishment
   • Led by laws, people avoid punishment, not shame; led by virtue, they feel shame and grow good
   • Led by laws, people break the laws openly; led by virtue, they rarely break them
   • Led by laws, people avoid punishment but feel proud; led by virtue, people feel nothing
4. 3.

   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
   • Obeying anyone older than you without asking any questions
   • Doing to a friend whatever that friend once did to you in return
   • Giving each of your friends the same gift on the same day of the week
5. 4.

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

   • 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
   • More laws go with fewer thieves and robbers
6. 5.

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

   • Both doubt that laws and punishments alone bring order
   • Both want harsher punishments than the Legalists did
   • Both were written by a Qin adviser in the 200s BCE
   • Both say people should live with no leader of any kind
7. 6.

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

   • The English is a translator's choice, made over 2,000 years later
   • Legge heard the sayings from Confucius's students in person
   • The English words are exactly the words Confucius spoke
   • Translation changes nothing because languages say things the same way
8. 7.

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

   • Weak: card D says historians describe schools without judging the best
   • Weak: card C says the Han did not use Confucian ideas in schools
   • 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
9. 8.

   Card C says the Han dynasty ran from 206 BCE to 220 CE. About how long did it last, Ren asks?

   • About 425 years
   • About 14 years
   • About 2,230 years
   • About 220 years
10. 9.

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

    • A Han school record listing the Analects as a lesson
    • A copy of the sayings written closer to Confucius's lifetime
    • A new English translation printed this year with notes added
    • A chart of the three schools drawn in a new order this year
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 during the Qin, 221 to 206 BCE, so the Qin used his ideas
    • 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