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KentuckySocial Studies Corner
★ Inquiry DBQ Series · #8

China's Civil Service Exams DBQ

China's civil service exams: was the system fair?

Could anyone in imperial China win a government job by passing a test? Students weigh who passed, who was shut out, and what Confucius taught to decide whether the system was fair.

Grade 7World Civilizations 600–1600Google Slides3 class periods

License: one teacher and their own students.

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What's included

  • Teacher presentation (13 slides) with speaker notes
  • Full DBQ packet (22 pages): hook, background essay, documents with analysis questions, sourcing organizer, bucketing and outline, writing task, 4-point rubric, teacher guide with answer key and sample essay
  • Scaffolded version (15 pages): shorter excerpts, vocabulary support and sentence starters, with its own answer key

The documents

  • How the exams worked
  • Viewing the Pass List (painting)
  • Data: who actually passed?
  • Confucius on choosing leaders
  • Who was left out?
  • A modern civil service comparison

Good to know

Class time
3 periods of 45–50 minutes
Pages
50 total
Format
Editable Google Slides
Answer key
Included

Standards: KAS Grade 7: 7.C.CP.1, 7.C.RR.1, 7.C.CV.1, 7.I.Q, 7.I.UE, 7.I.CC