China's Tang and Song dynasties: printing, the compass and paper money
Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence
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Printing in China (cards A to C; summaries in our words). Card A, dynasty dates: the Tang dynasty ruled China from 618 to 907 CE, and the Song dynasty from 960 to 1279 CE. In the 53 years between, rival rulers split the land. Card B, a printed scroll dated 868 CE, made in the Tang years and found in a cave among thousands of documents sealed in the early 1000s: it was printed from carved wooden blocks, and a note at its end gives the date and says it was made to be given away. Card C, Shen Kuo, a Song official and scholar, in a book written about 1088: he reports that a commoner named Bi Sheng made movable type from baked clay in the 1040s. Each piece held one character, and the pieces could be taken apart and used again.
Who wrote card C, and how long after Bi Sheng's work, Ari asks?
- A historian of our time, writing about Song printing today
- Shen Kuo, a Song scholar, about 40 years after the work
- Bi Sheng, the maker, writing in the same year as the work
- The printer of the 868 scroll, writing in the Tang years
Card B was made in 868 and card C was written about 1088. About how many years apart are they, Bo asks?
- About 120 years
- About 53 years
- About 220 years
- About 40 years
Card B's end note says the scroll was made to be given away. What does that suggest about its purpose, Jun asks?
- The maker wanted copies to reach many people through carved blocks
- The maker was preparing the way for Bi Sheng's movable type
- The maker wanted to record the prices of goods sold in a crowded market
- The maker wanted to keep the writing hidden from ordinary people
What changed in how pages were made between card B and card C, Luz asks?
- Nothing changed, because both cards show printing from carved wood
- Printing moved from small reusable pieces to single carved blocks
- Printing moved from a Tang capital to a Song capital
- Pages once carved as one block came to be set from reusable pieces
Which dynasty ruled China when card B was made, and which when Shen Kuo wrote card C, Milo asks?
- Neither ruled, because rival rulers split the land in both years
- Song ruled in 868, and Tang ruled about 1088
- Tang ruled both years, since Shen Kuo wrote about older times
- Tang ruled in 868, and Song ruled about 1088
Card C says Bi Sheng was a commoner and Shen Kuo was an official. What does that show about card C, Noah asks?
- Bi Sheng became an official soon after he made the clay type
- A scholar-official recorded an invention by someone outside the government
- Shen Kuo's report is weak, because he was an official and not a printer
- Officials ran the printing trade, and commoners were not allowed to invent
Shen Kuo wrote card C decades after Bi Sheng's work. How should a historian treat his report, Pia asks?
- As worthless, because it was written after the work was done
- As useful evidence, but one that other sources should confirm
- As proof of each detail, because an official of the Song wrote it
- As Bi Sheng's own words, since the book describes his clay type
How many years did the Song dynasty rule, using the dates on card A, Ren asks?
- 2,239 years
- 329 years
- 289 years
- 319 years
Suppose a new scroll printed from blocks and dated 800 CE were found. What would it change, Tala asks?
- It would show nothing, since scrolls cannot be dated
- It would show that movable type began in the year 800
- It would make card B false, since two scrolls cannot both be old
- It would show block printing was used before card B's year
Card C says clay pieces could be taken apart and used again. How might that change printing, Zee asks?
- A printer no longer needed paper or ink to make a book of any kind
- A printer could print just one page, again and again, from the same set
- Readers could learn to read without a teacher
- A printer could set many pages without carving a new block each time