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History
Chapter 1: Introduction to history
1. When we study history?
We want to find out:
What happened?
When it happened?
Where it happened?
Why it happened?
To whom it happened?
What its consequences were?
2. What Is history?
It is the record and the study of past human events that shaped the world is today. It could be the study of the past of a small group of people or a whole country. Besides trying to find the answer to our questions, we are also interested in patterns. When we study history, we also look for things that have continued or changed over time.
Why study history?
Understanding change and how our society came to be
Learning from past successes and failures
Understanding and respecting one another,
Developing our critical thinking skills.
Chapter 2: Reconstructing the Past
1. Historian: people who specialize in studying the past
2. Sources are collection of evidence or proof. They are divided into two categories: primary and secondary sources
3. Primary sources: information provided by people who were involved in historical events or who witnessed the events. There were four main categories: Written, oral, artefacts and pictorial.
4. Written evidence
Example
Official records, newspapers, personal letters and diaries, works of literature and folk stories that have been written down and message carved in stone.
5. Oral evidence
Oral evidence is the spoken words of eyewitnesses to historical event. It is often recorded on tape and put in writing.
6. Artefacts
Artefacts are item that were made and used by people of the past. Examples are tools and jewellery.
7. Pictorial evidence
Example
Painting, posters photograph and maps
8. Archaeology
It is the study of object or remains left behind by people of the past.
9. Secondary sources
Secondary sources are the records of people who did not directly participate in or witness the events they describe. These records are the result of the study and investigation of primary sources. They may take in the form of books, journal articles and essays, films, documentaries and cartoons. Example is the Living Past Textbooks.
10. Evaluating evidence
Historian uses evidence, from both primary and secondary sources, to find out the truth about the past. Historian also makes sure that their evidence is reliable by using the three Cs-credibility, consistency and corroboration- test.
11. Credibility
Historian first asks if the person who provided the evidence is trustworthy. If they suspect that the person has any reason to lie or exaggerate, the evidence may be considered reliable.
12. Consistency
Historian also asks whether the evidence is consistent by considering if it contains statement that has similar meaning. If the two statements do not agree with each other, we therefore say these statements are contradictory. If a piece of evidence contains such contradictory statements, we say that it is consistent.
13. Corroboration
To corroborate something that is said or reported means to provide information to support it. If the writing of the same events does not corroborate each other, we say that either one is inaccurate or both are.
14.
| Facts | Evidence that passes the 3Cs test, information that is true |
| Opinions | Evidence that fails the 3Cs test. Could be what someone thinks or believe to be true which other may not agree with |
| Propaganda | Ideas and new meant to influence they way people think and behave; such ideas and news are often biased. |
15. The language of time
Historian uses particular terms to refer a specific time in history.
16. Chronology
Chronology is the arrangement of past events starting with the events that occurred first.
17. Timeline
A timeline is a sequence of events in chronological orders. A timeline is especially useful when you want to see at a glance when an event took place in relation o other important events.
18. BCE
Previously, historian used BC, short for before Christ. Now, most historian use the terms ‘BCE’ to avoid basing it on any one religion. BCE is short for ‘Before common era’. It refers to the numbers of years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
19. CE
CE is short for ‘common ere’. It refers to the number of year after the birth of Christ. Previously, historian used AD or ‘Anno Domini’ which means ‘in the years of the lord’.
20. Periods
One way of referring to different times in history is to divide into periods or different blocks of time.
21. Dynasties
Historian sometimes refers to dynasties in their study of history. A dynasty is a line of rulers who belong to the same family. Sometimes, ‘dynasty’ is used to refer to the years when a religion or country is continuously ruled by members of the same family.
Chapter 3: Civilisation
1. What is Civilisation?
When groups of people come together and develop a way of life, they are said to share the same culture. When a culture is developed over a long time, and advanced, we call it civilisation. The cradle of civilisation refers to the place where a civilisation first begins.
2. What are kingdoms and empires?
Kingdom:
Kingdom is an area controlled by a king. During ancient times, a kingdom was usually formed from small areas of land joined together. Each of these areas had a leader who might be known as a chief in his own community. The chiefs were in turn ruled by a more powerful man- the kings.
Empire:
An empire is a much larger area controlled by an emperor. When a powerful king managed to defeat his weaker rivals, the combined lands would form an empire, with the victorious king as the emperor.
India
1. Origins
ð Begin around 3000 BCE
ð Built citis Harrapa and Mohenjo-daro
2. Features of the Indus Valley Civilisation
a. Government
Well-planned- Well–planned streets, drainage system, public buildings and a citadel
b. Different occupation
Farmers, craftsmen and traders, King-Priests to conduct religious ceremonies
c. Writing
Indus seals (used by traders for identifying goods)
3. Decline of the Indus valley civilisation
ð Severe floods killed many and forced others to leave
ð Invasions by others such as the Aryans à settled on the Ganges plain (the mixing of culture of the Indus people and them was the beginning of the India culture on what we know today)
China
1. Origins
| Yang Shao | Long Shan |
| 300 BCE | 2200 BCE |
| People hunted, reared animals and farmed | People reared animals and farmed Lived in wall community Made pottery from potter’s wheel |
2. Features of the Shang Civilisation
a. Government
Ruled by kings from same family line, lived in capital city (surrounding villages and smaller cities), temples and palaces storehouses in capital city
b. Different occupation
Merchants, craftsmen, priests and farmers
c. Writing
ð Pictogram found on oracle bones
ð Oracle bones were used by priest to tell the future
ð Shang priest would interpret cracks (produced on the bones by applying heat) as giving answer to question about the future.
3. Reason for decline
ð Last shang king assassinated in 1100BCE
ð Last 232 years of the Zhou dynasty was known as the periods of the warring states.
ð The Qin dynasties unite all the kingdoms up.
Southeast Asia
1. Consist of two distinct areas:
ð Mainland Southeast Asia- presents day Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.
ð Island Southeast Asia- present day Indonesia and Philippines
2. Birth of civilisation
ð Began around 6000BCE
ð People were hunters and fishermen
ð By 200 CE, Indian & Chinese traders came to SEA and the villages served as resting points
ð Some grew into cities
3. Development of maritime kingdoms
ð Rice:
The people of Southeast Asia might be among the first in the world to grow rice. Certainly, they were the first to domesticate the water buffalo and use it to plough rice fields. Since rice is a source of food, rice farmer make profits by selling their rice. The growing the rice thus allowed the ancient Southeast Asia to prosper and the villages to grow into cities.
ð Trade:
The coastal villages in Southeast Asia developed rapidly as maritime trade or sea trade between India and china increased after 200 BCE. Traders sailing between India and China made the coastal villages their resting place. They offer unique Southeast Asian products such as coral and dried fish which traders could bring back to china or India. In this way, these coastal villages developed into port cities.
4. Earliest maritime kingdoms in Southeast Asian
ð Funan
Period: 1st century CE to 6th century CE
Capital: Oc-eo
- First major cities
- grew because of trade & its strategic location
- became less important with the rise of Palembang
ð Srvijaya
Period: 7th century to 13th century CE
Capital: Palembang
- located in present-day Sumatra
- grow because of trade & its strategic location
- declined in importance after 13th century CE when traders went directly to East Java to trade.
5. Features of early Southeast Asian civilisations
a. Government
Ruled by kings and assisted by official
b. Different occupation
Traders, farmers, priests, craftsmen &officials
c. Writing
Adopted Sanskrit from traders, developed own script known as Java
d. Various culture & religion
6. Some powerful Southeast Asian kingdoms
ð Funan (1st - 6th century CE)
ð Srivijaya (7th - 13th century CE)
ð Majapahit (800 -1432 CE)
ð Melaka (1403 - 1511 CE)
Chapter 7:Scientific and artistic Achievements
What is Golden age?
Golden age is a period where there is a flourishing of achievements in the arts and Sciences throughout the History of ancient India, China and Southeast Asia.
Some of the Golden ages:
- India: Gupta dynasty (c. 320-550)
- China: Han dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE), Tang dynasty (618-907 CE) and Song dynasty (960-1279)
- Southeast Asia: Khmer period (800-1432)
Conditions that led to a Golden age:
- Strong, stable government
- Peace
- People’s basic needs are met
- Freedom of expression
India
1. Scientific Achievements:
- Mathematics: pi, zero, decimal system which led to discovery in astronomy
- Astronomy: Earth is round and revolves around the sun
- Metallurgy: work with bronze, iron and steel; the Delphi Pillar
- Medicine: Plastic Surgery this was because cutting off of noses and ears was a common punishment for serious crimes
2. Artistic Contributions:
-Architecture: Rock temples such as Ajanta and Ellora
-Literature: Vedas, Mahabharata, Ramanaya and Shakuntala
-Sculpture: Used stone and bronze
-Textiles: Cotton
China
- Scientific Advances
- Astronomy
- Seismograph
- Mechanical Clock
- Compass
- Gunpowder
- Printing
- Paper
- Metallurgy
- Artistic Contributions
-Literature: Shiji and poetry
-Sculpture: used bronze, clay and stone; Terracotta warriors
-Pottery and Porcelain also known as China
-Silk
-Painting
Southeast Asia
1. Scientific Advances
- Metallurgy: Discovery of bronze spear points, iron bangles and red and buff pottery at Ban Chiang in 1970s
- Hydraulic Engineering: Control of water supply through the dams and canals
2. Artistic Contributions
- Sculpture: Uniquely Southeast Asia
- Pottery: Kilns (c. 3000 BCE)
- Architecture: Borobodur, Angkor Wat
- Literature: Hikayat, syair and Pantun
- Textiles: Batik and ikat
Chapter 9: Internal threats
1. What are internal threats?
- Refer to possible dangers that come within a kingdom or empire.
- Could be in the form of natural disaster such as widespread diseases, earthquakes or floods
-Could also be man-made events: civil wars
2. People of ancient India, China and Southeast Asia knew they could not predict when these internal threats would occur. They therefore took measures to prevent the threats from occurring, or to make sure they were prepared to cope with such situations. However, some measures taken were not as effective but some were effective.
INDIA
1. Internal threats faced by India:
- Natural disaster (floods and famines)
- Warfare and rebellion
2. Natural disaster:
Floods:
- A major natural disaster that threatened the Indus people was the flooding of the Indus River.
- Would destroy homes and crop, and drown people and animals.
Famines:
- Another natural disaster that caused much suffering
- Is a periods of severe food shortage
- Often occurs after a drought (a period of little or no rain) as without rain, crops die, resulting in food shortage.
- Can also be caused by a flood because crops and plants are washed away by the waters
- King and temples were expected to provide and distribute food for the people
3. Warfare and rebellion
Warfare between kingdoms of an empire
Two impact on ancient china society:
1) People who were concerned with increasing their own power and spoke out against war
2) People that accepted and believed that there would always be warfare.
Diplomacy
- Not all rulers want to conquer other kingdoms.
- Some rulers prefer to have good relationship with the rulers of other kingdom
- Did so that the friendship, support and trade relation they formed would benefit their kingdoms.
Rebellion
- Besides having to make sure that the kingdom was not destroyed by natural disaster, the kings also had to make sure that the people did not rise up against his rule and overthrown him
- Occurs when people are unhappy with their ruler; when they think he is weak and not ruling well
- Mostly led by those closest to the king such as minister or even his sons
Having a spy system
- Some kings send spies to the provinces to keep eye on the people and informs the kings of any suspicious behavior
- Royal princes were sent to govern distant provinces, ha to leave their families.
-Princes would think twice before defying the kings since their families would suffer in the consequences of their actions. However these methods were not always successful
CHINA
1. Internal threats faced by China:
þ Natural disaster (floods and famines)
þ Civil wars
þ Rebellion
2. Natural disaster:
ð Floods:
- Most common and serious of these was the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers.
- Chinese farmers began building dykes to prevent flooding along the Yangtze River as early as 500 BCE
ð Famines:
- Became more serious as China’s population grew
- Emperor tries to control famines by stocking granaries with stores of rice, controlling prices and shipping rice from other parts of China to places that were experiencing famines
3. Civil wars
- Ancient china was divided into large states that were controlled by the feudal shi
- Shi respected their kings and supported him in the early years of the western Zhou dynasty. However, later in the eastern Zhou dynasty, the shi became greedy for more land and the king could no longer control them.
- fighting between the different feudal states broke out, resulting in civil wars
-only seven states were left in the last 232 years of the eastern Zhou dynasty: Qi, Qin, Han, Chu, Zhao, Wei, and Yan.
- Most famous civil wars in china occurred during the periods of the warring states
3. Rebellion:
ð Peasant rebellion:
-Broke out when the farmer was unhappy with the emperor and his laws, or when they thought he was losing the Mandate of Heaven. Natural disaster was sign.
Wang Mang, a Han official:
- Seized the throne and declared himself emperor
-Introduced unpopular policies. E.g. Decreed Mountain, forest and streams.
- Soon after, natural disaster occurred; people took these sign to mean that he was losing the Mandate of heaven.
ð Military rebellion
-Occur when an army, led by its leader, seeks to overthrow the ruler.
An Lu Shan
- Been made the commander of one of empire’s strongest armies by Xuanzong’s favourite concubine, Yang Gui Fei
-Took advantage of Xuanzong becoming unpopular
- Ordered his army to capture the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang’an
- Emperor and his officials fled and he proclaimed himself emperor
- Did not last long
SOUTHEAST ASIA
1. Internal threats faced by Southeast Asia:
- Natural disaster (volcanic eruption)
- Succession disputes
- Warfare and rebellion
- Piracy
2. Natural disaster:
Volcanic eruptions:
-One of the most serious internal threats that the people if Southeast Asia faced
-Especially devastating because many villages were built near active volcanoes, where the ash from the eruptions made the grounds fertile and suitable for farming.
-Not many records before the 19th century E that describe the effects that such eruptions had on people
-But historian knows that Mount Merapi in Java erupted in 1006 CE. It killed many people and covered the Borobudur complex with ash.
3. Succession disputes:
- The death of kings could sometimes create a period of uncertainty
- Because the succession, or transfer of authority from one ruler to the next, might not be agreed upon (succession disputes)
- Occurred when the sons of a king claimed the right to succeed his throne
- Also occurred when a man whose mother had nursed a prince challenged the prince’s succession, claiming that they had a special relationship, having been nursed by the same woman. (Called milk brother in Malay-speaking region such as Melaka)
4. Warfare and rebellions:
- Melaka was attacked and conquered by a European power, the Portuguese in 1511 CE
- Sultan Mahmud had the advice and support of the capable Prime Minister, Tun Perak, but when he dies, all of his advisors were inefficient and corrupt
Sultan Mahmud’s downfall: caused by the introduction of several unwise and unpopular policies
Angered the Chinese trader when he tried to force them to hand over their ships
Made non-Muslims pay higher taxes
Did not allow Portuguese to trade at Melaka when they arrived in 1509 CE
5. Piracy:
-Pirates: people who rob ships at sea
-trade was important in creating wealth for maritime kingdoms so rulers tried very hard to control piracy
þ Ways to control piracy:
Sent their navies to crush the pirates
Employ people who lived on their boats, known as orang laut, to act as official and soldiers to keep watch over the important sea routes.
Chapter 10: External Threats
What are external threats?
Dangers that come from outside kingdoms or empire
Usually come in the form of foreign invasions
Foreign invasion cannot be avoided and people suffered when their kingdoms or empire were invaded.
INDIA
1. External threats faced by India:
Foreign invasion
Rivalry between Indian kingdoms
2. Foreign invasions:
Even though India is cut off from the rest of mainland Asia by the mighty Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountain ranges, foreigners could still enter through the breaks along the mountain ranges.
Most famous breaks were the Khyber Pass in the north-west
Probably through Khyber Pass, the Aryans entered India.
Northwestern passes were the routes taken by foreign invaders who wanted to get their hands on India’s wealth.
3. Country that invaded India:
Cyrus (emperor of Persia, present-day Iran) in c. 530 BCE
Young Greek emperor, Alexander the Great in 326BCE
Hunas /known as Huns by the Romans in the middle of the 5th century CE.
4. Rivalry between kingdoms:
India was divided into many kingdoms, with each Kingdoms ruled by a different king.
These kingdoms were involved in almost constant rivalry with one another.
Southern part of India was a very important centre of trade
The Pallava kingdom won a war against the Chalukya kingdom in the early part of the 7th century CE. The Chola kingdom in turn defeated the Pallava kingdom.
Because of Chola dynasty’s strong and efficient rule, there was finally peace in the southern part of India after several centuries of fighting.
5. An example was the constant fighting between kingdoms in the southern part of India.
Southern India was the main centre of trade.
It was a source of much wealth for the kingdoms or empire that controlled it.
Kingdoms therefore fought with one another for the control.’
6. Measure taken against external threats:
These methods served not only to prevent foreign invasion but also defend or protect their kingdoms against invasion when they occurred.
7. Some measure taken is:
Building physical barriers and armies.
Diplomacy
Integration
8. Building physical barriers and armies
Barriers
All towns and cities in ancient India had very tall walls to keep out foreign invaders.
Example: Pataliputra, the capital of the Mauryan Empire during the 3rd century BCE, was surrounded by enormous wooden wall with 64 gates and 572 watchtowers.
Major weakness: no kings tried to build the great wall of India near the Khyber Pass to keep invaders out.
Kings of ancient India did not pay attention to defending the border zones
Armies
Had armies that were used not only to invade other kingdoms but also to defend their own kingdoms
Harsha, ruler in northern part of India, had a large army that included 100 000 cavalry (soldier who fight on horseback) and 60 000 war elephant
The war elephant, while presenting a fearsome sight, were ineffective during the actual fighting.
When faced with flaming arrows, the frightened elephant would then retreat and trample on Indian troops following behind.
9. Diplomacy:
Reduce the risks of being invaders
By forming friendships or alliances, it will not be invaded by its allies, kingdoms and empire that it was friendly with
Allow allies to invade common enemies.
Example: The Mauryan kings
Maintained friendly relation with the ruler of other kingdoms by exchanging gifts
The king’s will also send their ambassadors to their kingdoms and these ambassadors were treated with lot of respect.
Ancient china believed that a king who killed an ambassador would be reborn in hell along with his entire official.
10. Integration
Not all measures taken succeeded
Foreign invaders still managed to conquer parts o India. However, the impact was minimal.
Most foreign invaders accepted and followed the ancient Indian’s lifestyle.
So, the people accepted them into their society and gave them a class ranking, normally that of kshatriyas
CHINA
1. External threats faced by China:
Foreign invasions.
2. Foreign invasions.
As china is exposed to the vast plains of Central Asia, it was homes to fierce wandering (nomadic) tribes.
Example:
Xiongnu
Tries to invade northwest china in the Han periods (202 BCE-220 CE)
Jurchen from Manchuria
Brought down Song dynasty in 1127 CE
Set of a new dynasty, Jin Dynasty, with its capital at Beijing
Emperor and officials of the defeated Song dynasty were forced to flee south, where they established the Southern Zhou dynasty.
Both Mongols overthrew the Jin dynasty and southern Song dynasty in 1279 CE and they conquered the whole china and set up the Yuan dynasty (1279 -1368 CE)
3. Measure taken against external threats:
Took several steps to prevent foreign invasion
Some of these actions were taken to ensure that the areas beyond china which had been conquered would remain loyal to Chinese emperor.
4. Some measures taken are:
Forming a tribute system
Building physical barriers and armies
Developing advanced weapons
Integration
5. Forming a tribute system
Empire of ancient china expanded to include northern Vietnam, inner Mongolia, southern Manchuria and most of Korea.
To maintain peace
Ruler of areas that were conquered were allowed to keep their thrones and were promised to help when they were attacked by rival tribes and kingdoms but they have to give regular tribute and gifts and had to send their son to china to receive a Chinese education
Indirectly holding the sons ‘hostages’ to ensure good behaviours from ruler.
6. Building physical barriers and armies
1 of the most impressive example physical barriers built is the Great Wall of China
1st began during the periods of the warring states (403-221 BCE).
Built to keep nomadic tribes out of china
In order to be on constant guard against foreign invaders, chine emperor always maintains large armies.
During the Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE), armies were made up of peasant infantrymen (foot soldiers)
At the age of 30, all male peasants were required to do one year’s service with the army unit stationed nearest to their homes.
7. Developing advanced weapons
To make their armies more powerful
Remarkable technological achievements were made between 12th century CE and 13th century CE.
Mechanical flame-thrower, gunpowder for rockets and grenades
8. Integration
Many foreign invaders accepted Chinese culture and integrated into Chinese society
Adopted Chinese names, customs, dressing, and used Chinese language and script
Ruler of nomadic tribes also married Chinese woman.
Not all were keen to integrate into Chinese society. E.g. Mongols.
They maintained most of their traditional ways. The princes of the Yuan dynasty preferred to sleep not in palaces but in tents (gers) erected in parks.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
1. External threats faced by Southeast Asia:
Rivalry between kingdoms
Foreign invasions
2. Rivalry between kingdoms:
Four main trading kingdoms: Funan, Srivijaya, Khmer, Melaka.
Other than these 4 kingdoms, there were also numerous smaller kingdoms that compete with them to gain power and wealth.
Example:
In the 13th century CE, Srivijaya was attacked by two rival states. Siamese and Javanese kingdoms.
Siamese kingdom: took away Srivijaya’s control over areas in the north of Malay Peninsula.
Javanese kingdoms: took away its control over areas in southeast Sumatra.
3. Foreign invasion
North Vietnam (then called Nam Viet) was conquered by Han Wudi and Chinese rule over North Vietnam from early 2nd century BCE till 10th century CE
The Portuguese and the Melaka sultanate ended attacked Melaka.
4. Measure taken against external threats:
Diplomacy
Building physical barriers and armies
Weapons
Patriotic rebellions
5. Diplomacy:
Ruler of early Southeast Asia avoided was by actively forming friendships with their neighbours
They regularly exchanged letter and gifts and sent ambassadors
Ruler has to be very careful about how they approached other rulers to male sure that they did not offend anyone
Rulers also cultivated friendships with foreigner, especially the Chinese
Most Southeast Asian rulers were keen to participate in china’s tribute system so that they can trade with china and get Chinese protection against attack by rival kingdoms
So, Chinese traders are welcomed at Southeast Asian port cities.
Some rulers decided to form friendships with the European when they came to ensure that they would not invade them.
Example
Sultan Hairun, a 16th century ruler of an island in eastern Indonesia signed treaties with the Portuguese. He even dressed in Portuguese and spoke their language fluently.
6. Building physical barriers and armies
Barriers
After capturing Melaka, the Portuguese built A Famosa
Fort was so secure that it successfully defended Melaka from 12 attacks between 1513CE and 1529 CE
Local rulers saw the value of such forts and started building their own. The ruins of these forts can still be seen in many parts of the region
Armies that is much smaller than those in ancient India or china.
Had about 20 000 fighting men in the 15th century CE (Melaka)
Even though these small armies were useful in defence against qttqcks from other Southeast Asian kingdoms, they proved ineffective against European who arrived between the 16th century CE and 17th century CE.
With their superior ships and cannons, the Europeans easily defeated the kingdoms of Southeast Asia.
7. Weapons
Used firearms such as the matchlocks, which was the early type of shoulder gun during the 15th century CE
Cannons, mostly made of bronze, were used. Either imported from places like Turkey and India, or made locally
New naval technologies were also adopted from overseas in the 16th century CE. For example, fast wars galleys, propelled by oars and armed with small canons, were imported from turkeys.
Unfortunately, like the armies they built, weapons used by the people of ancient Southeast Asia might have been good enough for wars among the local’s rulers but were useless when used against Europeans. They mistakenly choose size over quality when modernising their force. They competed with one another to cast increasingly bigger cannons. Some were more than five metres long. When the Europeans arrived between 16th century CE and 17th century CE, they were able to defeat Southeast Asian kingdoms.
8. Patriotic rebellions
Patriotic means a deep love for one’s country
Sometimes are started by people when foreign invaders threaten the place where they live.
Example
Two women, the Trung sisters, started a rebellion to try and push the Chinese out of North Vietnam. However, they were not successful.
Inference
Step 1: You will be given a source.
Step 2: Analyse the source given. (Usually a passage of about 6-7 lines) Take note of the provenance (provides you with information of the author, where the article was produced and what year it was written on etc)
Step 3: Study the question given to you. Usually the question will start with, “what does Source A tell you about…” or “what does Source B tell you about… Explain your answer.” (5 marks of questions)
Step 4: There are three levels of answering. You must go step by step, and not jump steps, or miss steps.
Source A: Descriptions of the people of Funan, from Chinese resources (provenance)
| The people of Funan are cruel and cunning. Their character is good. They do not like to fight. Actually, the men of this country are ugly and black, with curly hair. They are greedy by nature. When mourning, the customs is to shave the beard and the hair. They dispose of the dead in four ways. They have neither rites nor propriety. The boys and girls do anything they want. From Ian Mabbett and David Chandler, The Khmer (Blackwell Publishers Ltd: 1995) |
For example, if the question is “What does Source A tell you about the attitude of the people towards the people of Funan”
ð Level 1: Lift information from the source, meaning you can take any sentences or phrases given in source A about any information that describes the Japanese.
ð Level 2: Infer without supporting evidence, meaning that the form what you have said in your level 1 answer, you will read between the lines of your level 1 answer.
ð Level 3: infer with support from source, meaning that from what you have said in your level 2 answer, you will use evidence to support.
Suggested answer:
Inference: I can infer from source A that the attitude of the Chinese people towards the people of Funan was quite fickle-minded.
Evidence: This can be seen in source A as it describes the Funan people as “cruel and cunning”, “greedy by nature”, but also describe them as people whose ‘character is good”
Explanation: this shows that the Chinese saw the people of Funan as being both good and bad.
Compare and contrasting
You would be given two sources to compare and contrast.
Then, you would be given a question that might look like any of these:
v Study sources A and B. In what way are they different?
à You only talk about the differences based on the sources!
v Study sources A and B. In what way are they similar?
à You only talk about the similarities based on the sources!
v Study source A and B. How similar are they?
v Study source A and B. How similar are they?
à You talk about both the similarities and the differences.
For example:
| Study sources A and B. In what way are they different? |
Step 1: start off by looking at the provenance.
| When looking at the provenance, source A and C are different based on where their source came from because source A is from an American professor, while source B is from a history book. |
Step 2: compare the sources based on the content
| Difference based on content Source A and B differ in content, with the point of difference being about the effectiveness of the Great Wall of China in keep out enemies. Source A speaks of the sources of the Great wall of China in keeping out enemies, where the evidence “the wall served well” can be seen in source A, but source B contradicts by saying that the great wall of China was ineffective in keeping out enemies, where the evidence “ not particularly effective in protecting the Chinese against external attacks” can be seen in source B. Therefore, both sources show differing views, as source A says that only in times of weakness would be the north attack, while source B says that the Great Wall of China could not prevent them from invading these areas in northern China. |
