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DSE Chinese History Practice Paper: Institutions from Qin and Han to Sui and Tang (12 Questions, 100 Marks, 75 Minutes)
DSE Chinese History: Qin, Han, Sui and Tang
DSE Chinese History: 12 original questions, 100 marks, 75 minutes on Qin and Han centralisation, the nine-rank system and the Tang Three Departments.
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Paper details Level: S6 | Subject: Chinese History | Time: 75 minutes | Marks: 100 | Questions: 12
Section A: Qin and Han institutions and unification (Questions 1-4, 34 marks)
Answer all questions in this section.
| # | Question | Answer and marking notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | After unifying the six states, Qin adopted measures to centralise power. Name three measures and explain how each weakened local power. (9 marks) | Marking points, three marks each, measure plus effect: commanderies and counties with centrally appointed governors replacing hereditary lords, so no local army; standardised weights, measures, coinage and script, erasing the old borders of the six states; relocation of wealthy families to Xianyang and confiscation of weapons, removing the resources of local resistance. |
| 2 | Compare the Qin system of Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers with Emperor Wu of Han inner court, and explain why the inner court was created. (9 marks) | Marking points: Qin had Chancellor, Grand Commandant and Imperial Secretary for administration, military and scrutiny, with Nine Ministers below, all under the emperor (3); Emperor Wu added an inner court of trusted secretaries drafting and reviewing edicts, reducing the outer court chancellor to an executive role (3); the aim was to weaken the chancellorship and strengthen imperial power (3). |
| 3 | Early Han followed Huang-Lao laissez-faire, while Emperor Wu later revered Confucianism alone. Analyse the background of this change. (8 marks) | Marking points: early Han faced a broken economy and a shrunken population, hence laissez-faire and light taxation (3); by Emperor Wu time the economy had recovered, yet vassal kings remained unreliable and the Xiongnu threat grew (3), so a doctrine supporting a unified centralised state was needed and Dong Zhongshu advice was adopted (2). |
| 4 | Qin unified China in 221 BC and fell in 207 BC. How many years did it last? Give two reasons for its rapid collapse. The Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising broke out in 209 BC, 12 years after unification. (8 marks) | It lasted 14 years (2). Reasons, three marks each: heavy corvee and taxes for walls, palaces and tombs; harsh penalties and collective punishment, which triggered the uprising of 209 BC, only 12 years after unification. |
Section B: Institutions from the Wei-Jin period to Sui and Tang (Questions 5-8, 32 marks)
Answer in complete sentences.
| # | Question | Answer and marking notes |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | How did the nine-rank system operate in the Wei, Jin and Northern-Southern dynasties, and what abuses did it create? (8 marks) | Operation: court-appointed judges rated candidates on family background and conduct into nine grades for appointment by the personnel ministry (4). Abuses: birth outweighed ability, producing the saying that no poor family reached the top grade, so offices were monopolised by great clans (4). |
| 6 | Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei adopted sinicisation. Name three measures and state their aims. (8 marks) | Measures, two marks each for any three: moving the capital to Luoyang; adopting Chinese surnames for the imperial clan; banning Xianbei dress and making Chinese the official language; encouraging marriage with Chinese elite families. Aim (2): consolidate rule over the Central Plains, speed ethnic fusion and win elite support. |
| 7 | Sui was founded in 581 and reunified China in 589. How many years apart? Give two reasons for its rapid fall. (8 marks) | They were 8 years apart (2). Reasons, three marks each: Emperor Yang exhausted labour on the Grand Canal and three Korean campaigns; harsh law, refusal of advice and natural disasters provoked nationwide revolt. |
| 8 | How did the Three Departments and Six Ministries of early Tang divide their work, and what were the administrative advantages? (8 marks) | Division of work: the Secretariat drafted edicts, the Chancellery reviewed and could veto, the Department of State Affairs executed through the Six Ministries (4). Advantages: mutual checks reduced error, raised efficiency, and left the final decision with the emperor (4). |
Section C: High Tang, institutional change and historical argument (Questions 9-12, 34 marks)
Source A (illustrative extract written for this paper, not from any publisher)
“The key to government is getting the right people; with worthy officials the realm orders itself. Selection now rests on written examination, so men of humble birth have a path. Yet if examiners are partial, favour-seeking returns. Where the law is upheld the worthy may rise; where it fails, even they cannot.”
Support your answers with historical evidence.
| # | Question | Answer and marking notes |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | What was the relationship between the equal-field system and the zu-yong-diao tax, and why did both fail in the mid-Tang? (9 marks) | Relationship: land was allocated by household, and tax in grain, cloth and labour service was levied on that allocation, so the two supported each other (4). Collapse: population growth left too little land to allocate; merger of estates and monastery holdings hollowed out the system; the rebellion destroyed household registers and the tax base, and the two-tax system replaced it (5). |
| 10 | The civil examination was created under Sui and developed under Tang. Explain its impact on aristocratic clan politics. (8 marks) | Emperor Yang of Sui created thejinshi examination; Tang held regular examinations (3). Impact: selection shifted from birth to learning, so commoners could enter office and clan monopoly weakened, broadening the ruling base (3); but quotas were small and the practice of submitting previous work persisted, so aristocratic influence did not vanish at once (2). |
| 11 | The An Lushan rebellion ran from 755 to 763. How many years did it last? Analyse two effects on Tang politics. (9 marks) | It lasted 8 years (2). Effects, three and a half marks each: military governors held their own troops and taxes, so central orders carried little weight; the militia and equal-field systems collapsed, revenue shifted to the south-east, and eunuch and factional problems deepened, ending the Tang golden age. |
| 12 | Tang lasted from 618 to 907. How many years? Assess the claim that institutions alone can prevent dynastic decline, using historical evidence. (8 marks) | It lasted 289 years (2). Sample judgement, six marks: institutions can slow but not cure decline. The Three Departments and the examination raised efficiency and widened participation, yet after the rebellion no institutional design could contain military governors, eunuchs and factions; institutions must adapt to social and economic change, or they become tools of vested interests. |
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A TutorZone practice paper; original questions and passages, not publisher material.
