Worksheet

Kaifeng to Kamakura: A Timeline of China and Japan

Grade 7 history: use a side-by-side timeline of China and Japan to study Tang and Song advances, the Mongols, and Japan's shoguns and samurai.

Grade 7Social StudiesInteractive · Printable

Aligned toHIS.7.4

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Single worksheet
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1 C3 Framework standard
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11 questions
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Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 7
Subject: Social Studies
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students place Tang, Song, Mongol and Japanese events in order on a timeline.
Students explain causes and effects linking China, the Mongols and Japan.
Students compare how power changed in China and Japan.

How to use

Have students read the timeline in both columns before the passage, marking events that happened in the same century, then answer on their own.

Curriculum

C3 Framework standard covered

HIS.7.4

Describe medieval China and Japan, including Tang and Song inventions, the Mongol Empire and Japan's samurai and shoguns.

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Kaifeng to Kamakura: A Timeline of China and Japan

Line up Chinese and Japanese events from 618 to 1333 and find causes and effects.

Read the timeline

Read the timeline and the passage. Then answer the questions.

Timeline: China and Japan, 618–1333 CE
Year (CE)	China	Japan
618	Tang dynasty begins	—
894	—	Japan stops missions to China
960	Song dynasty begins	—
About 1000	—	The Tale of Genji is written
About 1088	Shen Kuo describes compass	—
1127	Jurchen take Kaifeng	—
1192	—	Yoritomo named shogun
1271	Kublai founds Yuan dynasty	—
1274	—	First Mongol attack
1279	Mongols end the Song	—
1281	—	Second Mongol attack
1333	—	Kamakura shogunate falls

Neighbors Across the Sea

1For centuries, Japan learned from its larger neighbor. The Tang dynasty ruled China from 618 to 907 from its capital, Chang'an. Tang emperors chose many officials by exams on Confucian writings and welcomed traders and students from many lands. Japan sent official missions to the Tang court, and Japanese students brought home Chinese writing, Buddhist teachings and ideas about government.

2After Japan stopped sending missions in 894, the emperor's court at Heian (later called Kyoto) developed more of its own style. Writers made more use of kana, simple signs for the sounds of the Japanese language. About 1000, a noblewoman named Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji, a long story of court life that many call one of the world's first novels.

3In China, the Song dynasty came to power in 960 and ruled from Kaifeng, a crowded city of markets and canals. Song scholars and craftsmen made advances that later spread across the world. About 1088, the scholar Shen Kuo described a magnetic needle that pointed south and could be used to find direction. In 1127 Jurchen armies from the north captured Kaifeng, and the Song court fled south and later made Hangzhou its capital.

4In Japan, warrior families fought for power in the 1100s. After the Minamoto family won a war in 1185, its leader Yoritomo set up a warrior government at Kamakura, and in 1192 he received the title of shogun. Samurai served the shogun and other lords in return for land. The emperor stayed in Kyoto and kept his title, but real power lay with the warriors.

5Meanwhile, Genghis Khan united the Mongols in 1206, and Mongol armies conquered northern China. His grandson Kublai Khan founded the Yuan dynasty and finished off the Song. Kublai's fleets attacked Japan twice. Both times samurai fought the invaders, and storms wrecked many ships. Because the war was fought at home, the shogun's government won no new land to give the samurai who had fought, and many warriors were angry. In China, rebels drove out the Mongols in 1368 and founded the Ming dynasty.

Japan stopped sending missions to China in 894. Using the timeline and paragraph 2, which development came after that?

A. Japan first learned Buddhist teachings from China.
B. Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji.
C. Japanese students carried Chinese writing home.
D. The Tang dynasty came to power in China.

Use the timeline. Subtract to find the length of time.

The Song dynasty lasted years, from its start until the Mongols ended it.

When the second Mongol fleet sailed for Japan in 1281, what was true of China, according to the timeline?

A. The Mongols had already ended the Song.
B. The Tang dynasty still ruled from Chang'an.
C. The Song still ruled southern China from Hangzhou.
D. Rebels had just founded the Ming dynasty.

Use the passage. Draw a line from each cause to its effect.

Japan stops sending missions to China.
Jurchen armies capture Kaifeng.
The Minamoto family wins the war of 1185.
Samurai fight the Mongols but win no new land.

A. A warrior government forms at Kamakura.
B. The court develops more of its own style.
C. The Song court moves south to Hangzhou.
D. Many warriors grow angry with the shogun's government.

Underline the sentence from paragraph 4 that shows the emperor's role changed but did not disappear.

After the Minamoto family won a war in 1185, its leader Yoritomo set up a warrior government at Kamakura, and in 1192 he received the title of shogun.Samurai served the shogun and other lords in return for land.The emperor stayed in Kyoto and kept his title, but real power lay with the warriors.

Connect the two columns

Use the timeline and the passage to answer.

Shen Kuo described the compass about 1088, and the Jurchen took Kaifeng in 1127. What do these two rows together suggest?

A. Song inventions kept northern armies away from Kaifeng.
B. The Song stopped making advances once they moved south.
C. The compass was invented after the Song lost Kaifeng.
D. A dynasty could lead in invention yet still lose its capital.

Using paragraph 5 and the timeline, which most likely helped weaken the Kamakura shogunate before 1333?

A. Japan sent new missions to the Tang court.
B. Kublai Khan's army captured Kyoto in 1281.
C. Samurai who fought the Mongols got no land.
D. The Ming dynasty sent fleets to attack Japan.

Compare Japan about 1000 with Japan about 1200. Which change does the page show?

A. Power moved from the court to warriors at Kamakura.
B. Japan became part of the Mongol Empire.
C. The emperor gave up his title to the shogun.
D. Japan began to write with Chinese characters.

The Song court moved south after 1127. Which later row shows that the move did not end the danger from the north?

A. About 1088: Shen Kuo describes compass
B. 618: Tang dynasty begins
C. 1279: Mongols end the Song
D. 1192: Yoritomo named shogun

10.

Which statement fits both China and Japan in the late 1200s?

A. Each moved its capital to Hangzhou.
B. Each faced attacks by Mongol forces.
C. Each was ruled by the Ming dynasty.
D. Each was governed by a shogun.

11.

Claim: The Mongols changed Japan as well as China, even though they never conquered Japan. Do you agree? Use at least two rows of the timeline and one paragraph of the passage as evidence, and explain your reasoning.