Unit-4
History
and Culture
Qin
Dynasty
(Contribution
of the QIN DYNASTY in Chinese history and Culture)
-Gabriel
Peralta
Ways with Words
A. Match the words with
their meanings.
a)
Brevity - lasting only for
a short time
b)
Conquest - victory over a place
or people by use of military force
c)
Resemblance - the state of being alike
d)
Barbarian - a member of an
uncivilized group of people of culture
e)
Ally - one state
united to another by a treaty or a league for a military purpose
f)
Nobility - state of being
noble in character, quality, or rank
g)
Ruthlessness - character of having no
pity or compassion
h)
Decimation - the killing or
destruction of a large number of a population
i)
Harsh - cruel
j)
Elixir - liquid that
is believed to cure all ills
B. Find the following words
in the text and use them in sentences of your own.
Invasion -
The Zhou kingdom was moved to the Eastward because of the invasion of
barbarians.
Disregard -
The first Emperor Qin Shi forced to work in his project as slaves who disregarded
his rules.
Paramount -
The Qin Dynasty was the paramount of Chinese history and culture.
Populace -
By 230 BCE, Qin Shi controlled over one third populaces in China.
Revolt -
The oppressed people of Qin state revolted against their weak king Hu
Hai after the death of Qin Shi.
Assassination
- In his later years, Qin Shi was feared of his assassination.
Serfdom -
Serfdom was the miserable condition of the peasants in the Feudal system
in Medieval Europe.
C. Study the following
Homographs
Homographs are the words with different pronunciations and
different meanings but same spellings. However, the words have a change in the
word stress often causing changes in the vowel sounds. A homograph is
a group (usually a pair) of words that are spelled the same way, and may or may
not be pronounced the same way, although the difference in pronunciation is
often just a shift in the accented syllable.
Two syllable:
Stress
on the first syllable - Noun/Adj
Stress
on the second syllable - Verb
D. Consult a dictionary and
prepare a list of ten homographs.
Bear
– a animal
Bear
– to carry
Close
– to shut
Close
– near by
Convict-
a criminal
Convict
– to accuse
Suspect-
to question
Suspect
– someone to question
Left
– direction
Left
– to leave behind
Right
– correct
Right
– opposite of the left
Refuse
– garbage
Refuge
– to reject
Bow
– a part of a ship
Bow
– a weapon that shoots arrows
E. Read the Limerick, the stressed
words are in uppercase.
Limerick
is a form of poems, which is silly in nature. It is humorous, rude having five
lines with rhymes of aabba. The first, second and fifth lines have 7-10
syllabus and third and fourth lines have 5-7 syllables. The metrical pattern in
anapestic (unstressed, unstressed and stressed).
Examples:
I
knew a man whose name was Shaw
He
ate a rock and broke his jaw
What
do you think?
He
said, with a wink.
Perhaps
it’s bad to eat them raw.
F. Here is a very old limerick
taken from a book “A Book of Nonsense” by Edward Lear. Practice it with the
help of your teacher and find the stressed words.
There
once was fly on the wall.
I
wonder ‘why didn’t it fall’?
Were
its feet stuck?
Or
was it just luck?
Or
does gravity miss so small?
Comprehension
A. Complete the table with the correct information from the text.
Qin Dynasty Period | 221-206 BCE (Before Common Era) |
Zhou Dynasty Period | 1046- 256 BCE |
Warring States Period | 426 - 221 BCE |
Unification of China by Qin | 230 BCE |
First Emperor of Qin Dynasty | Shi Huangdi |
Death of Shi Huangdi | 210 BCE |
Liu Bang Period | 202 - 195 BCE |
x
B. Answer these questions.
a) Why is the Zhou Age called a feudal age?
Zhou Age is called a feudal age because it resembled to some of the forms of feudalism in medieval Europe.
b) What is the location advantage of the Qin?
The location advantages of the Qin is, it is surrounded by the mountains and gorges in the East and had access to the North China Plain through the Yellow
River.
c) What contributed to the
success in the warfare as described in the text?
The
geographical location, access to the vast resources, the size of Qin army and
their expert use of the Chariot contributed to the success in the warfare.
d) Why did the Qin invite
the foreign advisor, Shang Yang?
The
Qin invited the foreign advisor Shang Yang because the kingdom lacked skilled
intellectuals and politicians.
e) What were the key
features of the Qin political system?
The
key features of the Qin political system are collectivization programme and the
decimation of aristocratic power, freedom of farmers from serfdom, collective
responsibility of people to kingdom, fear and control, award and punishment for
regarding and disregarding the kingdom etc.
f) How were the people
treated during the Qin Period?
People
were treated according to the strict laws. They had to bear collective
responsibility for each other. People who did not behave according to the rules
were punished. They were put under fear and control without providing
education.
g) Why did Shi Huangdi stop
educating ordinary people?
Shi
Huangdi stopped educating ordinary people because he thought uneducated people
were easier to control and if the people were stupid they would never doubt on
the emperor and his empire.
h) What did the Qin achieve
by the legalism in practice?
Legalism
helped to create superior army, a disciplined bureaucracy, an obedient populace
and the unquestioned authority of a strong central government.
i) Why did Shi Huangdi never
sleep in the same room for two consecutive nights?
Shi
Huangdi did not sleep in the same room for two consecutive nights because he
was afraid of assassination.
j) What are the everlasting marks of the Qin
Dynasty?
The
everlasting marks of the Qin Dynasty are: legalism, the Terracotta Army, The
Great Wall of China, the Grand Canal and Roads.
Critical
Thinking
a) The Great Wall and the
Taj Mahal are the creation of the autocratic rulers. Present your view for or
against this statement.
The Great Wall of China and Taj Mahal of India, both are the
wonders of the world. The different dynasties and modern china have
contributions to build such a great wall in different areas. The initial
project of the Great Wall was started by the first emperor of China Qin Shi,
dated back almost 2300 years. And the Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh State in
North India was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan during the 16th
century. Thousands of workers, slaves, and peasants worked for the construction
of these two great architectures. Qin Shi and Shah Jahan, both were the
autocratic rulers, who built these things to show their power and supremacy
over another during the time. If they hadn’t constructed such huge architectures,
we wouldn’t have known about them who they were. We still remember the name of
these two rulers even in this modern age because of their works. We even
express our wonder for their grand projects. Though they had died years ago, we
still remember their names because we have still such great structures in front
of us. These are the legacies of those rulers.
b) How do you describe the
pros and cons of feudalism?
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of
the legal, economic, military, and cultural customs that flourished in Medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries.
Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships that
were derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labor. Similar
form of government was also in practice in ancient China during the Zhou
Dynasty between 1040 to 256 BCE. Every system of government has pros and cons
thought it is democracy or republic. The pros of feudalism are: it
created healthy society saving common people from foreign invaders, feudal
lords saved common people from tyranny of kings, end of slavery system, weak
people were saved by strong, and cordial relation between lord and a vassal
etc. and cons of this system are: it divided the society into two
classes rich and poor, lords acquired more power and wealth and started hating
poor, discouraged nationalism, loss of political unity, and the condition of
peasants became deplorable.
Writing:
a) Write an email
to your friend living abroad stating the contributions of Prithvi Narayan Shah
in the unification of Nepal.
Content for the
Email
Prithvi Nārāyaṇ
Shah, (born 1723 —died 1775), member of the ruling Shah family of
the Gurkha (Gorkha) principality, Nepal, who conquered
the three Malla kingdoms of Kathmandu, Pātan, and Bhādgaon in 1769 and
consolidated them to found the modern state of Nepal. He also established the
capital of Nepal at Kathmandu. In 1742 Prithvi Nārāyaṇ became king of Gurkha. An ambitious
ruler, he was able to quickly enlarge his territory by conquering the
quarrelsome and disunited principalities around Gurkha. Prithvi Nārāyaṇ’s
initial attempts to establish hegemony over the three Malla kingdoms
were abortive, however; the raja of Kathmandu enlisted the aid of
the East India Company in 1767 and was able to repulse Prithvi Nārāyaṇ’s
encroachments. Two years later, however, after the company’s forces had been
recalled, Kathmandu was taken. This allowed Prithvi Nārāyaṇ to consolidate his
territories into a new “Kingdom of Nepal,” which he made into a unified,
strong, and independent state. He then annexed Tarai, Kumāon, Garhwāl, Simla,
and Sikkim in northern India, as well as large portions of the Plateau of
Tibet and of the valleys of the Inner Himalayas. By conquering
Makwānpur, however, he brought down upon himself the combined military forces
of the East India Company and the nawab of Bengal, who together succeeded in
retaking that area. Nepal at that time extended from the Punjab to Sikkim and
was almost twice as large in land area as it is today. Prithvi Nārāyaṇ
sealed his border and maintained peaceful but distant relations with the British, refusing to trade
with them. He died before he could effectively organize the administration of
his new country. Upon his death, Prithvi Nārāyaṇ was
succeeded by his son,
Pratāp Singh Shah.
b) The Table
shows the major political movements in Nepal after the end of the Rana Regime.
Write a paragraph of each event with their key contributions in the political
landscape of Nepal.
S.N. | Political Movement | Year (AD) |
1 | Establishment of Democracy | 1951 |
2 | First General Election | 1959 |
3 | Dismissal of Elected Government | 1960 |
4 | National Referendum | 1980 |
5 | People’s Movement I | 1990 |
6 | People’s Movement II | 2006 |
Establishment of Democracy 1951 AD
Rana regime was rose after
the Kot Massacre (Kot Parva) by Jang Bahadur Rana, giving power to his brothers
and reducing the power of monarch under Shah Dynasty. The system of hereditary
prime minister was established making him more powerful than the king. Rana
rulers became more dictatorship and tyrannical curtailing the alienable rights
of people. They exercised absolute power and exploited the people for more than
100 years. Some educated people showed their dissatisfaction again Rana rule.
Political parties such as the Praja Parishand and the Nepali Rastriya Congress
were formed in exile. King Tribhuvan himself gave explicit support to Nepal Praja Parishad, to try to overthrow the Ranas. The revolution of 1951 in Nepal also referred to as Sat Salko Kranti, a political movement
against the direct rule by the Rana dynasty of Nepal which lasted for 104 years,
begun. It marked the beginning of the political awakening and democratic
movements in Nepal, and resulted in immediate abolition of the
institutionalized hereditary Prime Minister system in Nepal establishing democracy.
First General Election 1959
The First General elections were
held in Nepal from 18 February to 3 April 1959 to elect the 109
members of the first House of Representatives, the lower house of
the Parliament of Nepal. They were held under the provisions of
the 1959 constitution, which had been adopted on 12 February. More
than 4.25 million people out of an overall population of about 8.55 million
(1954) were eligible to vote. The Voter turnout was 42.18%. The
result was a victory for the Nepali Congress, winning 74 of the 109 seats
with 38% of the vote. B. P. Koirala became the first
democratically elected and 22nd Prime Minister of Nepal. The speaker of the first House of Representatives was Krishna Prasad Bhattarai from Nepali Congress. The term of the parliament started from 27 May 1959
and it was dissolved on 15 December 1960.
Dismissal of Elected Government 1960
Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (11 June 1920 – 31 January 1972) was the King of Nepal from 1955 to 1972. On 15 December 1960, the then King Mahendra suspended
the constitution, dissolved the elected parliament, dismissed the cabinet,
imposed direct rule and imprisoned the then-prime minister B. P. Koirala and his closest government colleagues. Mahendra
instituted a Panchayat hierarchical system of village, district and national
councils, a variant of guided democracy. King Mahendra appointed a council of 5
ministers to help run the administration. Several weeks later, political
parties were declared illegal by him.
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