China's Tang and Song dynasties: printing, the compass and paper money

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   The magnetic needle in Song China (cards A to C; summaries in our words; the Song dynasty ruled from 960 to 1279). Card A, Shen Kuo, a Song official and scholar, in his Dream Pool Essays (about 1088): a needle rubbed with lodestone points toward the south, but leans a little east of true south. He describes floating the needle in water or hanging it from a thread. Card B, Zhu Yu, a Song writer, in a book from the early 1100s: he records what he heard about ships at Guangzhou, where his father ran the trade office from 1094 to 1099. He says pilots steer by the stars at night and the sun by day, and by a south-pointing needle in cloudy weather. Card C, Zhao Rukuo, a Song official who from 1224 supervised trade at the port of Quanzhou, in a book finished about 1225: he describes foreign lands and goods, gathering much of it from what foreign merchants and sailors told him. He never traveled outside China.

2. 1.

   Which writers are retelling what other people told them, Ari asks?

   • Shen Kuo and Zhao Rukuo, who report what they saw at sea
   • Zhao Rukuo alone, because he was a government official
   • Zhu Yu and Zhao Rukuo, who report what they heard from others
   • Shen Kuo and Zhu Yu, who report in their books what they heard from others
3. 2.

   A student says, "Cards A and B show the Song invented the compass." How strong is that claim, Esme asks?

   • Strong: card A says Shen Kuo invented the needle he describes
   • Weak: books by Song writers cannot be used as evidence about the compass
   • Strong: two Song writers describe it, so no earlier people can have had it
   • Weak: the cards show a needle in use in Song times, not who made it first
4. 3.

   How do cards A and B fit together, and how far do they go, Jun asks?

   • A shows a needle pointing south and B shows pilots using one, not wide use
   • They disagree about which way the needle points when the sky is cloudy
   • Zhu Yu copied his account from Shen Kuo's book
   • Together they show that sailors on the open seas relied on the compass for steering
5. 4.

   Zhao Rukuo supervised trade at Quanzhou. Why is his book useful, and how is it limited, Kira asks?

   • He was a government official, so the book is of no use to any historian today
   • He knew the port and its merchants, but much rests on what others said
   • He saw the ports with his own eyes, so what he wrote cannot be wrong
   • He wrote about 1225, so the book shows how the compass began
6. 5.

   Why does card B mention cloudy weather, Luz asks?

   • It shows pilots feared the sea and stayed in port
   • It shows pilots preferred the needle to the stars on clear nights at sea
   • It marks when pilots needed the needle: when the sky was hidden
   • It shows that cloudy weather makes a needle point away from the south
7. 6.

   Cards A and B describe a south-pointing needle and pilots steering in cloudy weather. Which statement do the cards support, Milo asks?

   • The needle made Song ships the most accurate at sea in the world
   • Pilots stopped learning the stars and the sun once the needle arrived
   • A south-pointing needle could give direction when stars and sun are hidden
   • The needle pointed to true south, so pilots needed no other help
8. 7.

   Card C was finished about 1225, and the Song ruled until 1279. How many years of Song rule remained, Ren asks?

   • About 54 years
   • About 265 years
   • About 64 years
   • About 319 years
9. 8.

   Which card is best evidence of what pilots really did, and why, Pia asks?

   • Card C, because it was finished last, so it must be the most accurate
   • No card, because a needle cannot be evidence of anything
   • Card B, because it reports pilots' practice, though second-hand
   • Card A, because Shen Kuo was an official who knew how ships were steered
10. 9.

    A student says, "Cards B and C show Song ships crossed oceans by compass." How strong is that claim, Tala asks?

    • Weak: Song writers did not know about ships, so they cannot be used
    • Weak: B names a needle under clouds, and C lists ports, not compass voyages
    • Strong: card B shows pilots used the needle and card C shows far-off ports abroad
    • Strong: card C says Zhao Rukuo crossed the ocean to collect his facts
11. 10.

    Shen Kuo describes the needle itself, while Zhu Yu describes pilots. What is the best reason for the difference, Zee asks?

    • Shen Kuo wrote his book for pilots, and Zhu Yu wrote his for scholars
    • One of the writers must be wrong, because they disagree
    • They covered different matters: a needle's behavior and how ships steer
    • Zhu Yu wrote first, so Shen Kuo then explained the needle to pilots