Lesson Y8-U06-L04

Qing China The Middle Kingdom Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 12

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y8-U06-L04, Qing China The Middle Kingdom: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 12: Year 8: Meanwhile Elsewhere, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What did Qing China call itself in the famous phrase 'Middle Kingdom'?

    • The outer frontier
    • A Western province
    • A minor trading post
    • Centre of civilisation

  2. What term describes a family of rulers who pass power down through generations?

    • Dynasty
    • Republic
    • Parliament
    • Junta

  3. When did the Qing dynasty begin to rule China?

    • 1837
    • 1526
    • 1644
    • 1453

  4. What was the name of the system restricting foreign trade to a single Chinese port?

    • Open Door Policy
    • Silk Road Accord
    • Nanjing Treaty
    • Canton System

  5. What was the traditional deep bow to the Chinese emperor called?

    • Genuflection
    • Salute
    • Kowtow
    • Curtsy

  6. What economic situation occurs when a country buys far more than it sells?

    • Trade imbalance
    • Fiscal parity
    • Trade surplus
    • Economic boom

  7. About how many people did China have in the 1700s?

    • About 3,000 million
    • About 300 million
    • About 30 million
    • About 3 million

  8. What share of the world's wealth did China make up in the 1700s?

    • Roughly a third
    • Roughly a tenth
    • Almost none
    • Roughly a twentieth

  9. What commodity did Qing China insist on being paid in for its tea?

    • Cotton
    • Iron
    • Silver
    • Gold

  10. Who did Britain send in 1793 to ask the Qianlong Emperor for fairer trade?

    • Lord Macartney
    • Lord Palmerston
    • Admiral Nelson
    • Lin Zexu

  11. How did Lord Macartney view the Chinese kowtow ceremony?

    • Standard etiquette
    • Beneath Britain
    • Religious worship
    • A great honour

  12. How did the Qianlong Emperor react to British trade gifts?

    • Unimpressed
    • Very angry
    • Extremely grateful
    • Deeply amazed

  13. Why did British merchants smuggle opium into Qing China?

    • Crop surplus
    • Religious duty
    • Trade imbalance
    • Medical demand

  14. Where did British merchants grow the opium they sold in China?

    • Canton
    • Beijing
    • Hong Kong
    • India

  15. What decisive action did Chinese imperial commissioner Lin Zexu take in 1839?

    • Destroyed British opium
    • Surrendered Beijing to troops
    • Opened new treaty ports
    • Signed a free trade deal

  16. Which agreement officially ended the First Opium War in 1842?

    • Treaty of Beijing
    • Treaty of Tianjin
    • Treaty of Nanjing
    • Treaty of Canton

  17. Which island territory was handed over to Britain under the Treaty of Nanjing?

    • Shanghai
    • Macau
    • Hong Kong
    • Taiwan

  18. What made the Treaty of Nanjing an unequal treaty?

    • Mutual benefit
    • British advantage
    • Equal sharing
    • Chinese leadership

  19. What naval technology allowed Britain to force trade on China in the 19th century?

    • Steam-powered gunships
    • Wooden sailing galleons
    • Ironclad submarines
    • Coal-fired torpedoes

  20. What period of foreign domination began for China after the Opium Wars?

    • Qing Golden Age
    • Great Divergence
    • Imperial Renaissance
    • Century of Humiliation

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