Key Terms and People: Later Chinese Dynasties Lesson 3

Name_________________________________ Class_____________________ Date _____________
Later Chinese Dynasties

Lesson 3
MAIN IDEAS
1. Confucianism underwent changes and influenced Chinese government.
2. Scholar-officials ran China’s government during the Song dynasty.
Key Terms and People

bureaucracy body of unelected government officials
civil service service as a government official
scholar-official an educated member of the government
Lesson Summary
DEVELOPMENT OF CONFUCIANISM
Confucianism is the name given to the ideas of What is the meaning of ren
the Chinese philosopher Confucius. Confucius’s and li?
teachings focused on ethics, or proper behavior, __________________________
of individuals and governments. He argued that __________________________
society would function best if everyone followed
__________________________
two principles, ren and li. Ren means concern for
__________________________
others, and li means practicing appropriate
behavior. Order in society is maintained when
people know their place and behave
appropriately. Confucius said that order According to Confucius,
when is order in society
happened when young people obeyed their elders maintained?
and subjects obeyed their rulers.
__________________________
During the thousand years after his death,
__________________________
Confucius’s ideas went in and out of favor several
__________________________
times. The Period of Disunion was a time when
Buddhism became more popular than __________________________
Confucianism. Buddhism also greatly influenced

Chinese society during the Sui and early Tang
dynasties.
Early in the Song dynasty, however, a new Under which dynasty did
version of Confucianism, known as neo- neo-Confucianism take
hold in China?
Confucianism, was adopted as official
government policy. In addition to teaching __________________________
proper behavior, neo-Confucian scholars and __________________________
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
191 Guided Reading Workbook

Name _________________________________ Class _____________________ Date _____________
Lesson 3, continued
officials discussed such spiritual questions as

what made human beings do bad things even if
their basic nature was good.
Scholar-officials
The Song dynasty took another major step that How did people get
would affect China for centuries to come. The government jobs under the
Song dynasty?
Song established a system by which people went
to work for the government. These workers __________________________
formed a large bureaucracy by passing a series __________________________

of written civil service examinations.
The tests covered both the traditional
teachings of Confucius and spiritual questions.
Because the tests were extremely difficult,
students spent years preparing for them. Often
only very few students passed the exam.
Candidates had a good reason to study hard.
Passing the tests meant life as a scholar-official,
whose benefits included considerable respect and Underline three benefits
reduced penalties for breaking the law. Scholar- enjoyed by scholar-
officials were admired for their knowledge and officials.
ethics. Many became wealthy because they

received gifts from people who wanted their help.
The civil service examination system helped
ensure that talented, intelligent people became
scholar-officials. This system was a major factor
in the stability of the Song government.
CHALLENGE ACTIVITY
Critical Thinking: Elaborate Write a short essay
on the relationship between the Confucian ideals
of ren and li and the Chinese development of
civil service examinations. Explain why you think
that Confucian ethics were valued in government
employees.

Name _________________________________ Class _____________________ Date _____________
Lesson 3, continued
DIRECTIONS Read each sentence and fill in the blank with the word
in the word pair that best completes the sentence.
1. means service as a government
official. (Bureaucracy/Civil service)
2. A was an elite member of society who
was admired for his knowledge and ethics. (scholar-official/bureaucracy)
3. People who went to work for the government formed a large
, a body of unelected government
officials. (bureaucracy/scholar-official)
4. followed the teachings of Confucius
but also emphasized spiritual matters. (Civil service/Neo-Confucianism)
5. Confucius’s teachings focused on , or
proper behavior, instead of religious beliefs. (civil service/ethics)
6. In order to become a government official, a person had to pass a series of
exams based on the teachings of and
spiritual questions. (bureaucracy/Confucius)
DIRECTIONS On the line provided before each statement, write T if

a statement is true and F if a statement is false. If the statement is
false, write the correct term on the line after each sentence that
makes the sentence a true statement.
�� 7. Bureaucracy taught that people should conduct their lives according to
two basic principles, ren and li.
_____________________________________________________________
�� 8. Often, only a small fraction of students passed the civil service
examinations.

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Name_______________________ Class_ Date ___

Later Chinese Dynasties

Key Terms and People

Confucianism. Buddhism also greatly influenced

proper behavior, neo-Confucian scholars and __________________________

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

191 Guided Reading Workbook

officials discussed such spiritual questions as

formed a large bureaucracy by passing a series __________________________

ethics. Many became wealthy because they

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

192 Guided Reading Workbook

DIRECTIONS On the line provided before each statement, write T if

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

193 Guided Reading Workbook

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