Form 2 Chinese History Practice Paper: Qin And Han Rule, The Northern And Southern Dynasties, And The Sui-Tang Golden Age

Form 2 Chinese History Practice Paper: Qin and Han Rule, the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the Sui-Tang Golden Age

2026-11-05

Form 2 Chinese History – 12 questions – 100 marks – 75 minutes

Form 2 Chinese History practice paper: 12 questions, 100 marks, 75 minutes on Qin and Han rule, Wei-Jin aristocracy, Sui canals, civil service exams and the Tang golden age, with answers.

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Paper details　Form 2 Chinese History paper: 12 questions, 100 marks in 75 minutes on Qin and Han rule, Sui canals, civil service exams and the Tang golden age, with full answers.

Section A: Qin and Han Rule

Answer all parts and show your working in the year calculations.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
1	The First Emperor unified the six states in 221 BC and the Qin dynasty fell in 207 BC. (a) State two measures on writing or weights and measures used to consolidate the unification. (b) Explain the difference between the commandery-county system and the feudal enfeoffment system. (c) Calculate how many years the Qin dynasty lasted from unification to its fall. (d) Name the northern people against whom the Great Wall was built.	(a) Standardised the script in small seal style; standardised weights, measures and coinage (round coin with a square hole) (2 marks). (b) Under the commandery-county system the central government appointed governors and magistrates and posts were not hereditary; under enfeoffment land was granted to royal relatives and meritorious officials who held it hereditarily and could keep troops (2 marks). (c) From 221 BC to 207 BC, 14 years (2 marks). (d) The Xiongnu (2 marks).
2	Qin rule relied on harsh laws, heavy taxes and forced labour, which finally triggered large-scale revolts. (a) State the year and place of the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising. (b) Apart from harsh laws, give two other causes of the rapid fall of the Qin. (c) Explain what the rising “with bare poles” shows about the nature of late-Qin revolts.	(a) 209 BC, at Daze Township (3 marks). (b) Heavy taxes and corvee for the Great Wall, Epang Palace and the mausoleum; a incompetent Second Emperor and corrupt court; resistance of former noble families of the six states (any two, 3 marks). (c) It shows that the revolts started spontaneously among peasants and spread quickly rather than being organised by nobles (2 marks).
3	Early Han rulers adopted the Huang-Lao idea of non-action, and Emperors Wen and Jing continued a policy of recovery. (a) Give two concrete measures of the Huang-Lao policy in early Han. (b) Describe the achievements of the Wen-Jing reign in agriculture and public finance. (c) Explain why early Han adopted Huang-Lao thought instead of Legalism.	(a) Light corvee and low taxes, simple laws, rest for the people; fewer large construction works (any two, 3 marks). (b) In agriculture, rewarding farming and weaving and reducing land tax to one-thirtieth; in finance, frugality and reduced palace spending, so state granaries were full (3 marks). (c) After long wars the people were impoverished and production had to recover; Han rulers drew the lesson of Qin’s fall and blamed harsh laws and excessive use of labour (3 marks).
4	Emperor Wu of Han (141-87 BC) strengthened central power through several measures. (a) State the content and purpose of the “Decree of Grace”. (b) Describe two concrete ways in which he “exalted Confucianism alone”. (c) State the purpose of taking salt and iron under state monopoly. (d) Calculate how many years Emperor Wu reigned.	(a) Vassal kings were ordered to divide their lands among their sons, so kingdoms split and shrank; the aim was to weaken the vassal kings and strengthen central power (2 marks). (b) Rejecting other schools and honouring the Six Classics; setting up the Imperial Academy and appointing Confucian scholars as officials, selecting men by Confucian learning (3 marks). (c) To raise central revenue and curb wealthy merchants (2 marks). (d) From 141 BC to 87 BC, 54 years (2 marks).

Section B: The Northern and Southern Dynasties

Answer all parts; in evaluation questions argue both sides with historical evidence.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
5	In the later Eastern Han, emperors often ascended as children, and consort clans and eunuchs took turns in power. (a) Explain the institutional reason why consort clans and eunuchs could monopolise power. (b) State whom the “Partisan Prohibitions” targeted and what followed. (c) State the year the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out.	(a) Later Eastern Han emperors often came to the throne as children, so empress dowagers ruled and consort clans gained power; when the emperor grew up he used eunuchs to remove them, so eunuchs then monopolised power (3 marks). (b) It targeted scholar-officials and students who criticised the court; worthy men were dismissed and banned from office, and the government became more corrupt (3 marks). (c) 184 AD (2 marks).
6	Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei moved the capital to Luoyang in 494 AD and carried out a series of Sinicisation measures. (a) List three Sinicisation measures. (b) Explain the military and economic considerations behind the move to Luoyang. (c) Assess the effect of Sinicisation on ethnic integration.	(a) Changing surnames to Han surnames (Tuoba to Yuan), wearing Han dress, speaking Chinese, intermarrying with Han families, adopting Han official titles and rituals (any three, 3 marks). (b) Militarily it helped control the Central Plains and rule the northern peoples; economically it gave access to Central Plains agriculture and tax revenue (3 marks). (c) It promoted integration between the Xianbei and the Han, accelerated the Sinicisation of the north and laid the basis for Sui-Tang unification (3 marks).
7	Emperor Wen of Sui founded the Sui in 581 AD, destroyed the Chen in 589 AD and ended the division between north and south; the dynasty fell in 618 AD. (a) Calculate the years from founding to unification and from founding to fall. (b) Explain the purpose of the Grand Canal built under Emperor Yang and its route. (c) Name the official selection system created in the Sui and its most important subject.	(a) From 581 to 589, 8 years to unify; from 581 to 618, 37 years in total (2 marks). (b) The aim was to link northern and southern economies and transport grain to Luoyang and Chang’an; the route centred on Luoyang, running north to Zhuojun and south to Yuhang (3 marks). (c) The civil service examination, with the jinshi subject as the most important (3 marks).
8	The reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang (627-649 AD) is known as the Zhenguan era. (a) Give two examples of his accepting advice and appointing able officials. (b) Explain the division of duties in the Three Departments and Six Ministries. (c) Name the two land and tax systems of the Zhenguan period and calculate the length of the era.	(a) He employed Wei Zheng, who dared to criticise him; he appointed able men such as Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui (3 marks). (b) The Secretariat drafted edicts, the Chancellery reviewed and could reject them, and the Department of State Affairs implemented them through the Six Ministries (3 marks). (c) The equal-field system and the zu-yong-diao tax; the Zhenguan era ran from 627 to 649, 22 years (3 marks).

Section C: The Sui-Tang Golden Age and the An Lushan Rebellion

Answer all parts and cite the source when quoting historical material.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
9	Wu Zetian took the throne and renamed the dynasty Zhou; Emperor Xuanzong then reigned from 713 to 741 AD, an era called the Kaiyuan golden age. (a) Give two reasons why Wu Zetian could seize power. (b) Describe Kaiyuan achievements in agriculture and overseas trade. (c) Calculate the length of the Kaiyuan era and explain the meaning of “golden age”.	(a) Emperor Gaozong was often ill, so Wu Zetian took part in government; she attacked the Guanlong aristocracy and promoted poor scholars to build her own following (3 marks). (b) In agriculture, irrigation was expanded and cultivated land increased; in trade, a maritime trade office was set up at Guangzhou and Chang’an became an international city (3 marks). (c) From 713 to 741, 28 years; a “golden age” means a period of political stability, economic prosperity, population growth and social wellbeing (2 marks).
10	An Lushan and Shi Siming rebelled in 755 AD and the rebellion was put down in 763 AD. (a) Give two causes of the An Lushan Rebellion. (b) Describe its effects on Tang politics and population. (c) Calculate its duration and name the local separatism that followed.	(a) Military governors held military, civil and financial power with large armies; the court was long dominated by Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong and became corrupt; tension grew between non-Han generals and the court (any two, 3 marks). (b) Politically central authority declined and military governors ruled their regions; the population fell sharply through death and flight and the northern economy was devastated (3 marks). (c) From 755 to 763, 8 years; the separatist military governors (fanzhen) (2 marks).
11	In the Wei, Jin and Northern-Southern Dynasties, officials were chosen mainly by the nine-rank system; in the Sui and Tang the civil service examination was used. (a) Explain the criteria of the nine-rank system and its defects. (b) Explain the features of the civil service examination in criteria and social mobility. (c) State its long-term effect on the aristocratic clans.	(a) The criteria were family pedigree and local reputation, judged by impartial judges; the defect was that birth outweighed ability, giving the saying “no poor family reaches the top grade” (4 marks). (b) Officials were chosen by examination results, a more objective standard; poor scholars could enter office by examination, which promoted social mobility (4 marks). (c) It weakened the political monopoly of the aristocratic clans, whose power gradually declined (marking point: a clear statement of this).
12	Source 1: the Records of the Grand Historian says the First Emperor “continued the achievements of six generations and wielded the long whip to rule all under heaven”, and also records that he “burned the Odes and Documents and buried the scholars”. Source 2: Jia Yi’s Faults of Qin says Qin “failed to apply benevolence and righteousness, so the situation of attack and defence reversed”. (a) From Source 1, identify two achievements and one fault of the First Emperor. (b) From Source 2, state Jia Yi’s view of the main cause of Qin’s fall. (c) Comment on the claim that “the First Emperor’s merits outweighed his faults”.	(a) Achievements: unifying the six states, standardising weights, measures and writing, establishing the commandery-county system (any two); fault: burning books and burying scholars, damaging culture (4 marks). (b) Jia Yi held that Qin fell mainly because it applied no benevolence and relied only on law and force, losing the people’s support (4 marks). (c) The comment must argue both sides: acknowledging the end of division and the centralised system, while noting harsh laws and excessive use of labour that caused a rapid fall; the conclusion must take a stand supported by historical facts (marking point: clear stand, factual support, both sides).

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