HKDSE Chinese History Practice Paper: Institutions And Reforms From Qin To Qing

HKDSE Chinese History Practice Paper: Institutions and Reforms from Qin to Qing

2026-11-03

HKDSE Chinese History: Qin to Qing

HKDSE Chinese History practice paper on institutions and reforms from Qin to Qing, 12 questions, 100 marks, 75 minutes, with answers, marking points and A4 printing.

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Paper details　Level: S6 | Subject: Chinese History | Time: 75 minutes | Marks: 100 | Questions: 12

Section A (Questions 1 to 4, 30 marks)

Read each question and write the correct answer with an explanation.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
1	Shang Shang Yang carried out reforms in the state of Qin. State two of his measures and explain how they made Qin strong and wealthy.	Measures: abolishing the well field system and allowing land to be bought and sold; rewarding farming and warfare with ranks for military merit; setting up counties and a system of collective responsibility; standardising weights and measures. Farming households produced more, soldiers fought harder for rank, and household registers let the state tax and conscript directly, so Qin became rich in grain and strong in arms and was able to unify China later.
2	After unifying the six states, how did the First Emperor of Qin build centralised power? Answer in terms of political institutions, script and weights and measures.	Politically he replaced fiefs with commanderies and counties whose governors were appointed and dismissed by the centre and could not inherit their posts; at court the three excellencies and nine ministers served an emperor who held all power. In script he imposed the small seal script and abolished the variant characters of the six states. In weights and measures he issued standard vessels and axle widths. Orders therefore reached the localities directly and taxes and trade used one set of standards.
3	Emperor Wu of Han adopted several measures to strengthen central power. State three of them and explain the purpose of each.	The extension of grace order let kings divide their lands among their sons, so each kingdom shrank and could no longer challenge the centre. State monopoly of salt and iron together with price equalisation filled the treasury and weakened merchants. Making Confucianism the state doctrine and founding the imperial academy unified thought and trained loyal officials. Inspectors were also sent to watch the regions.
4	The civil service examination was created in the Sui dynasty and completed in the Tang. Describe how it was created and explain its effect on social mobility. If 3,000 candidates sat and 30 were admitted, find the number admitted per hundred candidates.	Creation: Emperor Wen of Sui ended the nine rank system and chose officials by subject examinations; Emperor Yang of Sui set up the presented scholar examination, which established the system; the Tang added the classics and presented scholar papers along with sealed scripts and palace examinations. Effect: men from humble families could enter office through study, the monopoly of great clans was broken and social mobility rose. With 3,000 candidates and 30 places, one candidate in every hundred was admitted.

Section B (Questions 5 to 8, 32 marks)

Answer the following questions. Show your working and units, and support your points with historical facts.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
5	Why did the An Lushan rebellion break out? Analyse the military system and court politics, and outline its effects on the Tang dynasty.	In military terms the militia system broke down and was replaced by paid troops, while military governors held regional armies, revenue and administration, so the provinces outweighed the centre. At court, Emperor Xuanzong neglected government in his later years and trusted Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong, losing control of the frontier commands. The eight year war ruined the north, pushed population south, weakened the centre and brought warlord rule and eunuch power, ending the high Tang.
6	Wang Anshi financial reforms included the green sprouts law, the service levy law and the market exchange law. Describe two of them and analyse why the reforms failed.	The green sprouts law lent grain or cash to farmers before harvest at interest, to undercut usury and raise revenue. The service levy law allowed payment in cash instead of labour service, so farmers lost less time. The market exchange law had the state buy surplus goods at fair prices and sell when supplies were short. The reforms failed because loans were forced on households, the burden fell on poorer farmers, great landlords and officials opposed them, local officials abused the rules, and the new laws were repealed after Emperor Shenzong died.
7	What were the aims of Zheng He voyages? Compare them with the European voyages of discovery in terms of motive and outcome.	Aims: to display Ming power and build a tribute order centred on China, to search for the missing Emperor Jianwen, and to open overseas trade and obtain treasures. Comparison: Zheng He was driven mainly by politics and diplomacy, his fleets were funded by the state, no colonies were founded, and voyages ended when policy changed. European voyages were driven by commercial profit and missionary zeal, backed by crowns and merchants, and led to colonies and trading posts that reshaped world trade.
8	The Treaty of Nanjing required China to pay 21 million silver dollars in 4 annual instalments. Find the average yearly payment and state two other main terms of the treaty.	Average yearly payment is 21 million divided by 4, that is 5.25 million silver dollars. Other terms: Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain; five ports, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai, were opened to trade; tariff rates were fixed by agreement so China lost tariff autonomy; the cohong monopoly was abolished and British merchants could trade with any Chinese merchant.

Section C (Questions 9 to 12, 38 marks)

Write fuller answers and support them with specific historical examples.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
9	The self strengthening movement aimed at strength and wealth. Describe what it did and analyse its limits.	It set up the Zongli Yamen for foreign affairs, founded the Jiangnan Arsenal and the Fuzhou dockyard for military industry, created the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company and the Kaiping mines, sent students abroad and opened the Tongwen Guan for interpreters and technicians, and built the Beiyang fleet. Limits: it copied hardware without changing institutions, official supervision of merchant firms kept efficiency low, conservatives blocked funding, and defeat by Japan in 1894 showed that hardware alone could not save the state.
10	The Hundred Days Reform lasted only about a hundred days. Analyse the reasons for its failure and the political weaknesses of the reformers.	The emperor Guangxu had no real power, which lay with Empress Dowager Cixi. The reformers relied on a few officials and the emperor, without troops or provincial support. Their measures threatened banner men, old officials and examination candidates. They acted too fast, issuing many decrees in a hundred days that localities could not carry out, and Yuan Shikai disclosure of the plot brought the coup forward. Politically they had no popular base and never won the provincial governors, relying only on a court struggle.
11	The 1911 Revolution overthrew the Qing and founded the Republic of China. State its achievements and explain why politics remained unstable afterwards.	It ended the monarchy and two thousand years of imperial rule, and created the first republic in Asia with a provisional constitution proclaiming popular sovereignty and separation of powers. Instability followed because revolutionaries and constitutionalists had different aims; Yuan Shikai held the Beiyang army, became provisional president, then made himself emperor, and warlord rule followed; foreign interests in China were untouched; provincial forces grew strong while central authority stayed weak; and public understanding of a republic was thin.
12	What were the background and the effects of the May Fourth Movement? Answer in terms of diplomacy, thought and society.	Background: at the Paris Peace Conference after the First World War the German rights in Shandong were handed to Japan, a diplomatic defeat; the New Culture Movement had spread ideas of democracy and science; students and townspeople resented the Beijing government. Effects: diplomacy put national sovereignty on the public agenda and Shandong was later recovered; Marxist ideas entered China and intellectuals split into new currents; workers and shopkeepers struck and closed shops, mass politics grew and women and youth took a larger role.

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