History 11A

Fall 2011 Sample Final Examination

The exam is divided into three parts. Please write your answers in a blue book. Please write on only one side of the page in the blue books.

Part One [60 minutes; 36 points] Answer each of the following questions [2 paragraphs each]

1. The following statements are taken from The Debates on Salt and Iron. Identify the speakers in each case, and explain how the quotation reflects their different political and economic principles.

A. If managing the household and earning a living depended solely on farming, then the sage-king Shun would not have fashioned pottery, nor would Yi Yin have become a cook. Thus the skillful ruler abides by the principle, I honor what the whole world despises, and I value what the whole world slights. He trades manufactured goods for food, and thus obtains real value at little cost. At present the wealth of the mountains and marshes and the reserves of the equitable marketing system enable the ruler to control the exchange values of money and goods and to place a yoke over the noble families.

B. If a country possesses fertile lands and yet its people are underfed, the reason is that merchants and artisans prosper while agriculture has been neglected. If a country possesses rich natural resources in its mountains and seas and yet the people remain poor, the reason is that the ruler has not devoted himself to the peoples needs while frivolous and clever articles have multiplied. Now, despite all of the restraints imposed on commerce to inhibit the pursuit of profit, still the people do evil. How much worse would it be if the ruler himself were to chase after profit!

2. & 3. Note: the second pair of passages will be taken from Lessons from Women and The Family Instructions of the Yan Clan, and the third pair of passages will be taken from The Scripture in Forty-Two Sections and the Lotus Sutra. In each case you will be asked to explain how the passages reflect the views of the authors as in the case of the Debates on Salt and Iron texts in the first question above.

Part Two [75 minutes; 45 points] Choose one of the two options for each of the following essay questions [2-3 paragraphs each]: First Essay: 4A. Describe how the political, social, and cultural identity of the shi class changed from the early Han dynasty to the Tang dynasty. In what ways did these changes alter the shis claims to political and cultural authority?

4B. Compare the unification of China by the Qin dynasty in the third century BCE with the reunification achieved by the Sui dynasty in the sixth century CE. In what ways were the policies adopted by these two governments similar, and how did they differ? What historical developments between the Qin and the Sui accounted for these changes?

Second Essay: 5A. In what ways was Buddhism reshaped to appeal to a Chinese audience? How did the appeal of Buddhisms religious message for the common people differ from its appeal for the Chinese aristocracy?

5B. In what ways did Buddhist conceptions of death and afterlife differ from native Chinese ideas? How were the Buddhist doctrines of enlightenment and salvation transformed in the Chinese context?

Third Essay: 6A. Describe how the relationship between the Chinese empire and the steppe nomad peoples changed from the Han dynasty to the Tang dynasty. How did the definitions (from a Chinese perspective) of civilization and barbarism change over this period of time?

6B. Both the Han and Tang dynasties survived mid-dynastic crises (the Wang Mang usurpation in the case of the Han, and the An Lushan rebellion in the case of the Tang). Compare the governments of the Han and Tang dynasties before and after these crises. In what ways did social and political institutions change following these restorations of imperial rule?

Part Three [35 minutes; 18 points] Identify and explain the historical significance of six of the following eight items [2-3 sentences]: 7. Han Yu 8. Nine Ranks 9. consort families 10. Grand Canal 11. Pure Land 12. Yellow Turbans 13. nirvana 14. Queen Mother of the West