Section 3: Strong Rulers Unite Warring Kingdoms
A Jigsaw Using Primary Documents
Student Name ______Group # ______
Directions: Using the primary document for your group answer the questions that match. You will then present your information to the entire class. You will also complete all of the questions as you are given the information by the other groups in class.
Group 1 Question:
What clues can you see in the picture to tell you who this might be? Is this person rich or poor? Are they important? What does this person “do”?
Where would a painting like this have been found in ancient China? What did the artist want us to know about the person in the picture?
Group 2 Questions:
Emperor Shi forced Chinese citizens to build huge sections of the Great Wall of China, which many dynasties tried to fortify before and after Shi. Make a list of three reasons he may have wanted to build the wall.
Labor for the wall came from many kinds of people, make a hypothesize about who the people may have been.
Group 3 Questions:
To control his people, First Emperor Qin developed a system of bureaucracy (a way to divide power). He divided his empire into 36 provinces. Each province was divided into districts. Why do you think this was more successful than trying to control all the people from one far away capital?
Do you think the emperor trusted the people he put in charge of the districts? Why or why not?
Group 4 Questions (continued on back):
This is ancient Chinese currency (or money). What do you think this is made from? Why are there so many different shapes and sizes?
Emperor Shi ordered that only one currency be used throughout china. Every country in the world now has a unified currency, what are the benefits of having a single type of money used in each country?
Group 5 Questions:
These statutes were buried along with Emperor Shi. Experts currently place the entire number of soldiers at 8,000 – with 130 chariots, 530 horses and 150 cavalry horses. Why do you think Emperor Shi wanted these buried with him?
What do you think these soldiers are made from?
Emperor Qin's tomb itself remains unexcavated, image you were an archeologist, what would you hope to find there?
Group 6 Questions:
Water is a main element in Chinese architecture, including the building of this tomb to honor Emperor Wu Di from the Han Dynasty. Why do you think the Chinese used water in their architecture?
Emperor Wu Di was the last strong emperor of his era and within 100 years of his death, the empire had fallen apart and warlords (leaders of armed local bands) took control of China. Do you think the Chinese people preferred the strong central rule of an emperor or the local rule of the warlords? Explain your reasons.
Group 7 Questions:
This artifact is from the Hans Dynasty. What is it? What is it made from? What do you think was its purpose?
This artwork was made in about 210 BC. How long ago was that? What does this piece of art say about the people who created it?