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.

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

   • Weak: card B says why paper was used and who made it, not what it did to wealth
   • Weak: a card about money from long ago cannot be used as evidence
   • 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
3. 2.

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

   • Iron workers, who sold more coins once receipts spread through the town
   • Farmers, who could now bring in two harvests a season
   • Merchants, who could move large sums without hauling heavy coins
   • Soldiers in the north, who were fed with grain from the south
4. 3.

   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 are about unrelated things, so they cannot be compared
   • 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
   • More rice was possible and a canal existed, but no card links the two
5. 4.

   Historians estimate about 50 million people in the mid-700s and about 100 million around 1100. How did the number change, Luz asks?

   • It reached 100 million, but the size of the rise cannot be found
   • It about doubled, rising by roughly 50 million
   • It about tripled, rising by roughly 150 million
   • It about halved, falling by roughly 50 million
6. 5.

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

   • Weak: an estimate from long ago cannot be used as evidence now
   • Strong: card C gives 100 million as the total from a census
   • Weak: card C gives an estimate, and early counts missed many people
   • Strong: historians counted each person who lived in China around 1100
7. 6.

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

   • Iron coins were made lighter, so no paper was needed
   • The government made the first receipts, then merchants took the job over later
   • Nothing changed, because merchants went on making the notes
   • Merchants first made the receipts; then the government took over the notes
8. 7.

   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 B: paper receipts show how the grain could be paid for in cities
   • Card A: it shows southern grain was carried north on the canal
   • No card: the cards give no evidence about moving grain
9. 8.

   A new record shows Chengdu shops gave out paper receipts in 990. What does it change on card B, Ren asks?

   • It shows paper money was used in the cities of the Song
   • It shows the government made paper money before the merchants did
   • It shows card B is wrong about heavy iron coins
   • It fits "around 1000" and adds a firm date for private receipts
10. 9.

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

    • Population growth caused the emperor to order the rice
    • The new rice may have helped feed more people, but no single cause is named
    • The rice alone explains why the population doubled
    • The rice came after the population reached 100 million, so it cannot be linked to the growth
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 school book printed this year that repeats the claim
    • A court record of the order, made in the same years
    • A folk song written down 700 years later about old harvests