Worksheet

Counting the People: Data on Medieval China and Japan

Grade 7 history: read a bar graph of China's estimated population and a table of Japan's governments to study Tang and Song advances, Mongol rule and shoguns.

Grade 7Social StudiesInteractive · Printable

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1 C3 Framework standard
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11 questions
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Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 7
Subject: Social Studies
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use population estimates to explain how Song farming and trade changed China and how Mongol wars affected it.
Students use a table to trace how power in Japan moved from the emperor's court to shoguns and samurai.
Students explain what Japan borrowed from China and what it developed on its own.

How to use

Read the passage together, then model reading the first bar of the graph and the caption note before students answer the data questions 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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Counting the People: Data on Medieval China and Japan

Use population estimates and a table of Japan's governments to explain change in Tang, Song, Mongol and samurai times.

China and Japan, 600s to 1500s

Read the passage. Then answer the questions.

Rice, Rulers and Warriors

1Under the Tang dynasty (618–907), China's capital, Chang'an, was one of the largest cities in the world. The Grand Canal carried rice and other goods from the wet, warm south to the drier north. The government chose many officials through exams on the writings of Confucius, and printers carved whole pages into wooden blocks to print books.

2The Song dynasty (960–1279) brought deep changes in farming and trade. In the early 1000s the government handed out seed of Champa rice, an early-ripening rice from what is now Vietnam. In parts of the warm south, farmers could now grow two crops of rice a year on the same field. They sold extra rice in market towns, and more people worked as craftsmen, shopkeepers and boatmen. Song China made fine porcelain for sale abroad, used gunpowder in weapons, and in the 1020s became the first government to print paper money. Cheaper printed books helped many more young men study for the exams.

3In 1206 Genghis Khan united the Mongol peoples. Mongol armies fought in northern China from 1211 to 1234, and many farms and cities there were destroyed. His grandson Kublai Khan founded the Yuan dynasty in 1271 and finished conquering the Song in 1279. Under one Mongol empire, merchants could travel the Silk Road more safely. Kublai kept many Chinese ways of governing, but he gave the highest posts mostly to Mongols and other non-Chinese. After floods, famine and revolts, a Chinese rebel leader drove out the Yuan and founded the Ming dynasty in 1368.

4Japan borrowed much from Tang China, including Chinese writing and Buddhism. Its new capital of 794, Heian-kyō (later called Kyoto), copied Chang'an's grid of straight streets. Over time, power slipped from the emperor's court to warrior families. After winning a war in 1185, Minamoto Yoritomo set up a warrior government at Kamakura, and in 1192 he received the title of shogun, the top military commander. The emperor kept his title and his role in ceremonies. Samurai served their lords in return for land and were expected to be loyal and fearless. In 1191 the monk Eisai returned from Song China and spread Zen Buddhism, which stresses strict self-discipline and meditation, and the custom of drinking powdered tea. Zen became popular among many samurai.

Which chain of causes and effects best matches paragraph 2?

A. Two harvests → Champa rice → printed books → market towns
B. Paper money → two harvests → Champa rice → more craftsmen
C. Champa rice → two harvests → extra rice → new jobs
D. More market towns → Champa rice → two harvests → extra rice

Use paragraph 4. Sort each part of Japanese life by where it came from.

A system of writingA shogun ruling while the emperor keeps his titleA capital laid out on a grid of straight streetsZen teachings and powdered tea that Eisai brought backA warrior government at Kamakura

Borrowed from China	Grew up within Japan

Underline the sentence from paragraph 3 that best shows a way Mongol rule helped trade.

His grandson Kublai Khan founded the Yuan dynasty in 1271 and finished conquering the Song in 1279.Under one Mongol empire, merchants could travel the Silk Road more safely.Kublai kept many Chinese ways of governing, but he gave the highest posts mostly to Mongols and other non-Chinese.

Zen Buddhism became popular among many samurai. Based on paragraph 4, what most likely drew warriors to it?

A. Its stress on self-discipline and calm focus
B. Its use of the emperor's court ceremonies
C. Its promise that samurai would receive more land
D. Its rule that monks should lead armies in war

Read the data

Use the graph, the table and the passage to answer.

Note on the graph: The numbers are rounded from government counts and historians' estimates. Government counts often missed people, and historians think the Yuan count of about 1290 missed especially many, so they disagree about the exact numbers.

Between which two times on the graph did China's estimated population grow the most?

A. Between the Song and the Yuan
B. Between the Tang and the Ming
C. Between the Tang and the Song
D. Between the Yuan and the Ming

Which detail from the passage best helps explain the change from the Tang bar to the Song bar?

A. Japan copied the street plan of the Tang capital.
B. Early-ripening rice let some fields give two crops a year.
C. Kublai Khan gave top posts mostly to non-Chinese.
D. Chang'an was one of the largest cities in the world.

Use the graph, the note and paragraph 3. Which conclusion about China's population under the Yuan is best supported?

A. It grew under the Yuan because the Silk Road became safer.
B. It probably fell after the Mongol wars, though maybe by less than shown.
C. It stayed about the same, since the counts are estimates.
D. It fell by exactly 40 million because of the Mongol wars.

Who Held Power in Japan
Years (CE)	Period	Where real power lay
794–1185	Heian	Emperor's court and noble families
1185–1333	Kamakura shogunate	Shogun and samurai at Kamakura
1338–1573	Ashikaga shogunate	Shogun in Kyoto; daimyo gain power
1467–1590	Warring States	Daimyo (local warlords) fight for land

Using the table and paragraph 4, what changed in Japan between the Heian period and the Kamakura period?

A. Real power moved from court nobles to a warrior leader.
B. The emperor's court moved from Kyoto to Chang'an.
C. Daimyo took power from the shogun and the samurai.
D. The emperor lost his title, and a shogun became emperor.

According to the table, the Kamakura shogunate lasted years.

10.

The Warring States period overlaps the end of the Ashikaga shogunate. What does this overlap most likely show?

A. The emperor took back real power from the daimyo in 1467.
B. The Mongols conquered Japan and ruled it through the shoguns.
C. The daimyo and the shoguns joined together to end the fighting.
D. The Ashikaga shoguns kept their title while losing control to daimyo.

11.

Claim: A change in farming did more to transform Song China than any single invention. Do you agree? Use the graph and at least one detail from the passage, and explain your reasoning.