Zheng He's voyages and why Ming China turned inward

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Why the voyages stopped (cards A to D; summaries in our words). Card A, the first sea ban (haijin), 1371: private sea trade was restricted, and legal foreign trade went through official tribute missions. Private merchants could not trade overseas legally, and many turned to smuggling. Card B, the voyages stop: in 1421 the capital moved from Nanjing to Beijing, closer to the northern frontier. The reign of the emperor who sent the fleets ended in 1424, and a new emperor ended further voyages. The next emperor sent one last voyage, 1431 to 1433. Card C, the ban ends: in 1567 the policy came to an end, and private merchants could trade by sea legally again. Card D, historians' explanations: historians disagree about why the voyages stopped. Some point to rivalry between civil officials and the court officials who ran the voyages; others point to competition over money, or to traders' own interests. One historian rejects the idea that the voyages stopped because they cost too much. One source adds that each sea ban was made for a specific reason, not from an age-old wish to turn inward.

2. 1.

   The first sea ban ran from 1371 (card A) to 1567 (card C). About what percent of those years came after the last voyage ended in 1433 (card B), Ren asks?

   • About 134 percent, since 134 years came after 1433
   • About 32 percent, the share of the ban's years that came before 1433
   • About 680 percent, since 134 out of 196 years is about 6.8
   • About 68 percent, since 134 of the 196 years came after 1433
3. 2.

   A student writes, "China turned inward because the voyages cost too much." Which part of card D challenges that, Tala asks?

   • Card D says the sea ban began in 1371, so cost cannot have mattered
   • Card D says the voyages cost nothing, so cost could not have mattered whatever
   • Card D says historians agree on cost, so the claim is the sole explanation given
   • One historian rejects the cost explanation, and others point to rivalry or money
4. 3.

   How might a private merchant and a court official each have seen the sea ban in card A, Zee asks?

   • The merchant welcomed the ban, since it removed legal rivals from trade
   • Both saw the ban the same way, since both lived under the same government in Ming China
   • The official lost trade, while the merchant gained as a ruler of the tribute missions
   • A merchant lost legal overseas trade, while an official may have valued tribute missions
5. 4.

   Card A says legal trade went through tribute missions. Which chain explains the turn to smuggling, Ari asks?

   • Smuggling grew because the capital moved to Beijing in 1421, and the ban played no part
   • Smuggling grew first, which then led the court to restrict private sea trade in 1371
   • Private merchants could not trade legally, so those who wanted to trade turned to smuggling
   • Tribute missions paid merchants well, so merchants smuggled to share the profits from the missions
6. 5.

   Card D ends by saying each sea ban was made for a specific reason. What idea does that challenge, Esme asks?

   • That the voyages ended in 1424, since card D gives other dates for the end
   • That the sea bans were ordered by the Ming government, since card D names other rulers
   • That China turned from the sea out of an age-old wish to turn inward
   • That any sea ban could be explained, since reasons are hard to learn from the sources
7. 6.

   Which sequence of events matches card B, Jun asks?

   • The capital moved in 1421, the reign ended in 1424, and one last voyage came in 1431
   • One last voyage came first, then the capital moved in 1421 and the reign ended in 1424
   • The voyages ended in 1424 and no emperor sent a fleet again after that year
   • The reign ended in 1421, the capital moved in 1424, and the last voyage came in 1433
8. 7.

   Which source would best test the idea that competition over money ended the voyages, Kira asks?

   • A list of the ports that the fleets visited on the seven voyages
   • A modern essay that repeats card D's list of explanations in new words
   • Court budget records showing what the voyages cost and what else was paid for
   • A map of the northern frontier that shows where the capital moved in 1421 to Beijing
9. 8.

   How is card D different from a court record made in the 1420s, Luz asks?

   • It is the final answer on the voyages, since it gathers the main explanations
   • It is worthless, since a summary written long after the events cannot help
   • It is a record from the 1420s that lists why officials ended the voyages in that decade
   • It is a modern summary of different explanations, not a record of the officials' choice
10. 9.

    Card D says some historians point to rivalry between civil officials and the court officials who ran the voyages. Which statement is careful, Milo asks?

    • It is the main cause, since rivalry among officials ended the voyages for good
    • It cannot matter, since officials at court did not make decisions about fleets
    • It is one explanation among several, and card D does not show it was the main cause
    • It is settled, since the historian who rejects the cost explanation agrees with it
11. 10.

    Why does card D list several explanations without choosing one, Pia asks?

    • The writer wanted students to guess, since just one explanation is correct
    • The evidence does not settle the question, so historians disagree
    • The explanations came from the Ming court, which chose not to pick one
    • The writer forgot which explanation was right, so each of them was listed