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

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Song China's economy (cards A to C; summaries in our words). Card A, the Grand Canal: sections were joined into one waterway and finished by the Sui dynasty in 609. Today it runs about 1,776 kilometers from Beijing to Hangzhou. Grain grown in the rice lands of the south was carried north on it to feed officials and soldiers. Card B, paper money: in Sichuan, heavy iron coins were hard to carry in large sums, so around 1000 Chengdu merchants began giving out paper receipts, called jiaozi, for coins left with them. In 1023 the Song government set up an office in Chengdu to make the notes itself. Card C, Champa rice: Emperor Zhenzong, who ruled from 997 to 1022, had a fast-ripening rice from Champa (in what is now Vietnam) given to farmers. In some places it let farmers bring in two harvests a season. Historians estimate China's people at about 50 million in the mid-700s and about 100 million around 1100; early counts missed many people.

2. 1.

   The Sui finished the canal in 609. The government began making paper money in 1023. How many years apart are those dates, Ari asks?

   • 26 years
   • 1,632 years
   • 414 years
   • 424 years
3. 2.

   Card B links heavy coins to paper notes. Which step came between the two, Bo asks?

   • Iron coins were replaced by gold coins across the Song lands for good
   • Farmers began bringing in two harvests a season
   • Chengdu merchants gave out paper receipts for coins left with them
   • The government set up an office to make the notes itself
4. 3.

   A student says, "Card B shows paper money made the Song richer." How strong is that claim, Esme asks?

   • Strong: the government took over the notes, so paper money must have raised incomes
   • Strong: card B says merchants grew rich from the receipts they gave out
   • Weak: a card about money from long ago cannot be used as evidence
   • Weak: card B says why paper was used and who made it, not what it did to wealth
5. 4.

   Card B explains paper receipts. Which group does it show gaining a benefit from them, Jun asks?

   • Farmers, who could now bring in two harvests a season
   • Iron workers, who sold more coins once receipts spread through the town
   • Merchants, who could move large sums without hauling heavy coins
   • Soldiers in the north, who were fed with grain from the south
6. 5.

   Card A says grain moved north by canal. Card C says a fast-ripening rice reached farmers. What do they support together, Kira asks?

   • The cards disagree, because one is about 609 and the other the 1000s
   • The new rice was carried north on the canal after the emperor's order
   • The cards are about unrelated things, so they cannot be compared
   • More rice was possible and a canal existed, but no card links the two
7. 6.

   A student says, "China had exactly 100 million people around 1100." How strong is that claim, Milo asks?

   • Strong: card C gives 100 million as the total from a census
   • Weak: an estimate from long ago cannot be used as evidence now
   • Strong: historians counted each person who lived in China around 1100
   • Weak: card C gives an estimate, and early counts missed many people
8. 7.

   What changed about who made paper notes between the first receipts and 1023, Noah asks?

   • Nothing changed, because merchants went on making the notes
   • Merchants first made the receipts; then the government took over the notes
   • The government made the first receipts, then merchants took the job over later
   • Iron coins were made lighter, so no paper was needed
9. 8.

   A Song official wants northern officials and soldiers fed. Which card best backs using the canal, Pia asks?

   • Card C: Champa rice shows farmers could raise more grain
   • Card A: it shows southern grain was carried north on the canal
   • Card B: paper receipts show how the grain could be paid for in cities
   • No card: the cards give no evidence about moving grain
10. 9.

    Card C gives a population estimate and tells of a fast-ripening rice. Which statement is best supported, Tala asks?

    • The new rice may have helped feed more people, but no single cause is named
    • The rice came after the population reached 100 million, so it cannot be linked to the growth
    • The rice alone explains why the population doubled
    • Population growth caused the emperor to order the rice
11. 10.

    Card C says the emperor had the rice given out. Which source would best check this, Zee asks?

    • A list of the canal's sections from the Sui years
    • A folk song written down 700 years later about old harvests
    • A court record of the order, made in the same years
    • A school book printed this year that repeats the claim