romikgosai/squad_modified_2 huggingface dataset:
General Dong Zhuo (d. 192 AD) found the young emperor and his brother wandering in the countryside. He escorted them safely back to the capital and was made Minister of Works, taking control of Luoyang and forcing Yuan Shao to flee. After Dong Zhuo demoted Emperor Shao and promoted his brother Liu Xie as Emperor Xian, Yuan Shao led a coalition of former officials and officers against Dong, who burned Luoyang to the ground and resettled the court at Chang'an in May 191 AD. Dong Zhuo later poisoned Emperor Shao.

Q1: How was Luoyang destroyed?
A1: burned
Q2: Who demoted Emperor Shao?
A2: Dong Zhuo
Q3: What position would the young Liu Xie eventually be promoted to?
A3: Emperor Xian
Q4: Who had taken control of Luoyang?
A4: General Dong Zhuo
Q5: When did Dong Zhuo die?
A5: 192 AD
After Cao's defeat at the naval Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD, China was divided into three spheres of influence, with Cao Cao dominating the north, Sun Quan (182–252 AD) dominating the south, and Liu Bei (161–223 AD) dominating the west. Cao Cao died in March 220 AD. By December his son Cao Pi (187–226 AD) had Emperor Xian relinquish the throne to him and is known posthumously as Emperor Wen of Wei. This formally ended the Han dynasty and initiated an age of conflict between three states: Cao Wei, Eastern Wu, and Shu Han.

Q1: Who was defeated at the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD?
A1: Cao
Q2: Who did Emperor Xian give his throne to?
A2: Cao Pi
Q3: What state was in a conflict with Eastern Wu, and Shu Han?
A3: Cao Wei
Q4: Who was in control of the south of China?
A4: Sun Quan
Q5: In what month did Cao Cao die?
A5: March
Each successive rank gave its holder greater pensions and legal privileges. The highest rank, of full marquess, came with a state pension and a territorial fiefdom. Holders of the rank immediately below, that of ordinary marquess, received a pension, but had no territorial rule. Officials who served in government belonged to the wider commoner social class and were ranked just below nobles in social prestige. The highest government officials could be enfeoffed as marquesses. By the Eastern Han period, local elites of unattached scholars, teachers, students, and government officials began to identify themselves as members of a larger, nationwide gentry class with shared values and a commitment to mainstream scholarship. When the government became noticeably corrupt in mid-to-late Eastern Han, many gentrymen even considered the cultivation of morally grounded personal relationships more important than serving in public office.

Q1: During what period was it obvious that corruption was widespread in the government?
A1: mid-to-late Eastern Han
Q2: What rank provided its holder territorial rule?
A2: full marquess
Q3: What class did individuals who served as officials in the government belong to?
A3: commoner social
Q4: What was considered to be more important to some than serving the local government?
A4: cultivation of morally grounded personal relationships
Q5: What rank is below that of full marquess?
A5: ordinary marquess
The farmer, or specifically the small landowner-cultivator, was ranked just below scholars and officials in the social hierarchy. Other agricultural cultivators were of a lower status, such as tenants, wage laborers, and in rare cases slaves. Artisans and craftsmen had a legal and socioeconomic status between that of owner-cultivator farmers and common merchants. State-registered merchants, who were forced by law to wear white-colored clothes and pay high commercial taxes, were considered by the gentry as social parasites with a contemptible status. These were often petty shopkeepers of urban marketplaces; merchants such as industrialists and itinerant traders working between a network of cities could avoid registering as merchants and were often wealthier and more powerful than the vast majority of government officials. Wealthy landowners, such as nobles and officials, often provided lodging for retainers who provided valuable work or duties, sometimes including fighting bandits or riding into battle. Unlike slaves, retainers could come and go from their master's home as they pleased. Medical physicians, pig breeders, and butchers had a fairly high social status, while occultist diviners, runners, and messengers had low status.

Q1: Who were considered to be below the social rank that scholars held?
A1: The farmer
Q2: What color of clothing were merchants that had registered with the state forced to wear?
A2: white-colored
Q3: Who was commonly considered by some to be social parasites?
A3: State-registered merchants
Q4: Who would retainers in the employ of nobles occasionally have to fight?
A4: bandits
Q5: How could a merchant prevent having to register as one?
A5: working between a network of cities
The Han-era family was patrilineal and typically had four to five nuclear family members living in one household. Multiple generations of extended family members did not occupy the same house, unlike families of later dynasties. According to Confucian family norms, various family members were treated with different levels of respect and intimacy. For example, there were different accepted time frames for mourning the death of a father versus a paternal uncle. Arranged marriages were normal, with the father's input on his offspring's spouse being considered more important than the mother's. Monogamous marriages were also normal, although nobles and high officials were wealthy enough to afford and support concubines as additional lovers. Under certain conditions dictated by custom, not law, both men and women were able to divorce their spouses and remarry.

Q1: How many family members would commonly live in a single household during the Han era?
A1: four to five
Q2: Whose opinion on the spouse of an arranged marriage was considered to be more important?
A2: the father's
Q3: Who were rich enough to afford multiple lovers?
A3: nobles and high officials
Q4: What type of family was your typical Han era family considered to be?
A4: patrilineal
Q5: What type of marriage was thought of as a normal occurrence in this era?
A5: Arranged marriages
Apart from the passing of noble titles or ranks, inheritance practices did not involve primogeniture; each son received an equal share of the family property. Unlike the practice in later dynasties, the father usually sent his adult married sons away with their portions of the family fortune. Daughters received a portion of the family fortune through their marriage dowries, though this was usually much less than the shares of sons. A different distribution of the remainder could be specified in a will, but it is unclear how common this was.

Q1: How did daughters get their portion of the family fortune?
A1: marriage dowries
Q2: What type of title could be passed down?
A2: noble
Q3: What type of document could be produced to distribute some of an inheritance?
A3: a will
Q4: Was is guaranteed that a first born son would receive all of the family's fortune?
A4: inheritance practices did not involve primogeniture
Q5: Which family member commonly sent an adult married offspring away with their portion of the families fortune?
A5: the father
Women were expected to obey the will of their father, then their husband, and then their adult son in old age. However, it is known from contemporary sources that there were many deviations to this rule, especially in regard to mothers over their sons, and empresses who ordered around and openly humiliated their fathers and brothers. Women were exempt from the annual corvée labor duties, but often engaged in a range of income-earning occupations aside from their domestic chores of cooking and cleaning.

Q1: Which gender was exempt from performing the yearly corvee labor duties?
A1: Women
Q2: What emotional state would empresses commonly place their immediate family members in?
A2: openly humiliated
Q3: What type of occupation did women commonly take part in?
A3: income-earning
Q4: Who were women obligated to obey in their old age?
A4: their adult son
Q5: Which parental figures often avoided the common familial rules?
A5: mothers
The early Western Han court simultaneously accepted the philosophical teachings of Legalism, Huang-Lao Daoism, and Confucianism in making state decisions and shaping government policy. However, the Han court under Emperor Wu gave Confucianism exclusive patronage. He abolished all academic chairs or erudites (bóshì 博士) not dealing with the Confucian Five Classics in 136 BC and encouraged nominees for office to receive a Confucian-based education at the Imperial University that he established in 124 BC. Unlike the original ideology espoused by Confucius, or Kongzi (551–479 BC), Han Confucianism in Emperor Wu's reign was the creation of Dong Zhongshu (179–104 BC). Dong was a scholar and minor official who aggregated the ethical Confucian ideas of ritual, filial piety, and harmonious relationships with five phases and yin-yang cosmologies. Much to the interest of the ruler, Dong's synthesis justified the imperial system of government within the natural order of the universe. The Imperial University grew in importance as the student body grew to over 30,000 by the 2nd century AD. A Confucian-based education was also made available at commandery-level schools and private schools opened in small towns, where teachers earned respectable incomes from tuition payments.

Q1: What philosophy was given exclusivity in the court during the rule of Emperor Wu?
A1: Confucianism
Q2: Who put an end to all erudites?
A2: Emperor Wu
Q3: How many students were in the Imperial University by the second century?
A3: over 30,000
Q4: What type of philosophy was available for individuals at the commanderies?
A4: Confucian
Q5: Where did teachers make their money from at private schools?
A5: tuition payments
Some important texts were created and studied by scholars. Philosophical works written by Yang Xiong (53 BC – 18 AD), Huan Tan (43 BC – 28 AD), Wang Chong (27–100 AD), and Wang Fu (78–163 AD) questioned whether human nature was innately good or evil and posed challenges to Dong's universal order. The Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Tan (d. 110 BC) and his son Sima Qian (145–86 BC) established the standard model for all of imperial China's Standard Histories, such as the Book of Han written by Ban Biao (3–54 AD), his son Ban Gu (32–92 AD), and his daughter Ban Zhao (45–116 AD). There were dictionaries such as the Shuowen Jiezi by Xu Shen (c. 58 – c. 147 AD) and the Fangyan by Yang Xiong. Biographies on important figures were written by various gentrymen. Han dynasty poetry was dominated by the fu genre, which achieved its greatest prominence during the reign of Emperor Wu.

Q1: Who had produced biographies of individuals of significant importance?
A1: various gentrymen
Q2: What type of poetry had much influence in the Han dynasty?
A2: fu
Q3: Who had written the dictionary Fangyan?
A3: Yang Xiong
Q4: Which person had authored the Book of Han?
A4: Ban Biao
Q5: What was the name of Ban Biao's female offspring?
A5: Ban Zhao
Various cases for rape, physical abuse and murder were prosecuted in court. Women, although usually having fewer rights by custom, were allowed to level civil and criminal charges against men. While suspects were jailed, convicted criminals were never imprisoned. Instead, punishments were commonly monetary fines, periods of forced hard labor for convicts, and the penalty of death by beheading. Early Han punishments of torturous mutilation were borrowed from Qin law. A series of reforms abolished mutilation punishments with progressively less-severe beatings by the bastinado.

Q1: What type of torture was acquired from Qin law?
A1: mutilation
Q2: What eventually replaced torturous mutilation as a type of punishment?
A2: progressively less-severe beatings
Q3: What could a criminal in this era expect not to happen if he was convicted of a crime?
A3: criminals were never imprisoned
Q4: What type of extreme punishment was likely to be laid upon those who committed the harshest of crimes?
A4: death by beheading
Q5: What did women commonly have less of?
A5: rights
The most common staple crops consumed during Han were wheat, barley, foxtail millet, proso millet, rice, and beans. Commonly eaten fruits and vegetables included chestnuts, pears, plums, peaches, melons, apricots, strawberries, red bayberries, jujubes, calabash, bamboo shoots, mustard plant and taro. Domesticated animals that were also eaten included chickens, Mandarin ducks, geese, cows, sheep, pigs, camels and dogs (various types were bred specifically for food, while most were used as pets). Turtles and fish were taken from streams and lakes. Commonly hunted game, such as owl, pheasant, magpie, sika deer, and Chinese bamboo partridge were consumed. Seasonings included sugar, honey, salt and soy sauce. Beer and wine were regularly consumed.

Q1: What type of crop was rice considered to be during this period?
A1: staple crops
Q2: What were dogs in this era most likely to be considered?
A2: pets
Q3: What type of partridge was commonly consumed?
A3: Chinese bamboo
Q4: Where were turtles acquired from?
A4: streams and lakes
Q5: What was the color of the bayberries?
A5: red
Families throughout Han China made ritual sacrifices of animals and food to deities, spirits, and ancestors at temples and shrines, in the belief that these items could be utilized by those in the spiritual realm. It was thought that each person had a two-part soul: the spirit-soul (hun 魂) which journeyed to the afterlife paradise of immortals (xian), and the body-soul (po 魄) which remained in its grave or tomb on earth and was only reunited with the spirit-soul through a ritual ceremony. These tombs were commonly adorned with uniquely decorated hollow clay tiles that function also as a doorjamb to the tomb. Otherwise known as tomb tiles, these artifacts feature holes in the top and bottom of the tile allowing it to pivot. Similar tiles have been found in the Chengdu area of Sichuan province in south-central China.

Q1: What could be used to prevent a door from closing in a place of burial?
A1: hollow clay tiles
Q2: What type of decoration was often seen in tombs?
A2: hollow clay tiles
Q3: What was the afterlife of the immortals called during this period?
A3: xian
Q4: What is the commonly held notion regarding the dual nature of the soul called?
A4: two-part soul
Q5: What function did the holes in the top and bottom of the tomb tiles enable them to do?
A5: allowing it to pivot
In addition to his many other roles, the emperor acted as the highest priest in the land who made sacrifices to Heaven, the main deities known as the Five Powers, and the spirits (shen 神) of mountains and rivers. It was believed that the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Mankind were linked by natural cycles of yin and yang and the five phases. If the emperor did not behave according to proper ritual, ethics, and morals, he could disrupt the fine balance of these cosmological cycles and cause calamities such as earthquakes, floods, droughts, epidemics, and swarms of locusts.

Q1: Who made sacrifices to the main deities in this period?
A1: the emperor
Q2: What type of geological event was feared could be caused by the morals of the emperor?
A2: earthquakes
Q3: What is another term that could be used to label the main deities?
A3: the Five Powers
Q4: How many realms were commonly thought of as being linked by a natural cycle?
A4: three realms
Q5: What type of swarm was a concern because of the emperor's ethics?
A5: locusts
It was believed that immortality could be achieved if one reached the lands of the Queen Mother of the West or Mount Penglai. Han-era Daoists assembled into small groups of hermits who attempted to achieve immortality through breathing exercises, sexual techniques and use of medical elixirs. By the 2nd century AD, Daoists formed large hierarchical religious societies such as the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice. Its followers believed that the sage-philosopher Laozi (fl. 6th century BC) was a holy prophet who would offer salvation and good health if his devout followers would confess their sins, ban the worship of unclean gods who accepted meat sacrifices and chant sections of the Daodejing.

Q1: What was the purpose of breathing exercises to a Daoist?
A1: achieve immortality
Q2: What could the prophet Laozi offer in return for the confession of sins?
A2: salvation and good health
Q3: What type of religion did the society of the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice practice?
A3: Daoists
Q4: What could be earned if an individual had reached the lands of the Queen Mother of the West?
A4: immortality
Q5: What literal work were followers of Laozi expected to chant?
A5: Daodejing
Buddhism first entered China during the Eastern Han and was first mentioned in 65 AD. Liu Ying (d. 71 AD), a half-brother to Emperor Ming of Han (r. 57–75 AD), was one of its earliest Chinese adherents, although Chinese Buddhism at this point was heavily associated with Huang-Lao Daoism. China's first known Buddhist temple, the White Horse Temple, was erected during Ming's reign. Important Buddhist canons were translated into Chinese during the 2nd century AD, including the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters, Perfection of Wisdom, Shurangama Sutra, and Pratyutpanna Sutra.

Q1: During was era did Buddhism first appear in the region?
A1: Eastern Han
Q2: When did Emperor Ming of Han's reign end?
A2: 75 AD
Q3: What philosophical practice did Liu Ying believe in?
A3: Buddhism
Q4: What is believed to be the first Buddhist temple in this area?
A4: the White Horse Temple
Q5: During which century were important Buddhist notions translated to Chinese?
A5: 2nd century AD
In Han government, the emperor was the supreme judge and lawgiver, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and sole designator of official nominees appointed to the top posts in central and local administrations; those who earned a 600-dan salary-rank or higher. Theoretically, there were no limits to his power. However, state organs with competing interests and institutions such as the court conference (tingyi 廷議)—where ministers were convened to reach majority consensus on an issue—pressured the emperor to accept the advice of his ministers on policy decisions. If the emperor rejected a court conference decision, he risked alienating his high ministers. Nevertheless, emperors sometimes did reject the majority opinion reached at court conferences.

Q1: Who was responsible for nominations of local administrators in the government?
A1: the emperor
Q2: Was the emperor able to reject an opinion that was made by the court conference?
A2: sometimes did reject the majority opinion
Q3: What did the emperor risk if he did not accept the decisions of the court conference?
A3: alienating his high ministers
Q4: Who often placed pressure on the emperor in regards to local policies?
A4: court conference
Q5: Who was considered to be the supreme judge in Han government?
A5: the emperor
Ranked below the Three Councillors of State were the Nine Ministers, who each headed a specialized ministry. The Minister of Ceremonies was the chief official in charge of religious rites, rituals, prayers and the maintenance of ancestral temples and altars. The Minister of the Household was in charge of the emperor's security within the palace grounds, external imperial parks and wherever the emperor made an outing by chariot. The Minister of the Guards was responsible for securing and patrolling the walls, towers, and gates of the imperial palaces. The Minister Coachman was responsible for the maintenance of imperial stables, horses, carriages and coach-houses for the emperor and his palace attendants, as well as the supply of horses for the armed forces. The Minister of Justice was the chief official in charge of upholding, administering, and interpreting the law. The Minister Herald was the chief official in charge of receiving honored guests at the imperial court, such as nobles and foreign ambassadors. The Minister of the Imperial Clan oversaw the imperial court's interactions with the empire's nobility and extended imperial family, such as granting fiefs and titles. The Minister of Finance was the treasurer for the official bureaucracy and the armed forces who handled tax revenues and set standards for units of measurement. The Minister Steward served the emperor exclusively, providing him with entertainment and amusements, proper food and clothing, medicine and physical care, valuables and equipment.

Q1: Which individual had a duty to maintain the imperial stables?
A1: The Minister Coachman
Q2: Which Minister had the responsibility to interpret laws in this period?
A2: The Minister of Justice
Q3: Which Minister could an honored guest of the court be expected to see?
A3: The Minister Herald
Q4: Who provided  the emperor with sustenance and medical aid?
A4: The Minister Steward
Q5: Which individual held the responsibility to oversee the interactions of the empire's nobles with the court?
A5: The Minister of the Imperial Clan
A commandery consisted of a group of counties, and was headed by an Administrator. He was the top civil and military leader of the commandery and handled defense, lawsuits, seasonal instructions to farmers and recommendations of nominees for office sent annually to the capital in a quota system first established by Emperor Wu. The head of a large county of about 10,000 households was called a Prefect, while the heads of smaller counties were called Chiefs, and both could be referred to as Magistrates. A Magistrate maintained law and order in his county, registered the populace for taxation, mobilized commoners for annual corvée duties, repaired schools and supervised public works.

Q1: What individual was typically in charge of a commandery?
A1: an Administrator
Q2: Around how many households was a Prefect responsible for?
A2: 10,000
Q3: What individual was responsible for law and maintaining order in the county?
A3: A Magistrate
Q4: What Emperor initially created the quota system?
A4: Emperor Wu
Q5: Who was in charge of counties that had fewer than 10,000 people in them?
A5: Chiefs
At the beginning of the Han dynasty, every male commoner aged twenty-three was liable for conscription into the military. The minimum age for the military draft was reduced to twenty after Emperor Zhao's (r. 87–74 BC) reign. Conscripted soldiers underwent one year of training and one year of service as non-professional soldiers. The year of training was served in one of three branches of the armed forces: infantry, cavalry or navy. The year of active service was served either on the frontier, in a king's court or under the Minister of the Guards in the capital. A small professional (paid) standing army was stationed near the capital.

Q1: What gender was expected to be conscripted into the military?
A1: male
Q2: At what age could a male common expect to be conscripted into the military?
A2: twenty-three
Q3: How long could a conscripted soldier expect to be in training for?
A3: one year
Q4: What was the lowest age a soldier could be conscripted after the end of Emperor Zhao's tenure?
A4: twenty
Q5: Which Minister could a conscripted soldier expect to serve under during his year of service?
A5: Minister of the Guards
During the Eastern Han, conscription could be avoided if one paid a commutable tax. The Eastern Han court favored the recruitment of a volunteer army. The volunteer army comprised the Southern Army (Nanjun 南軍), while the standing army stationed in and near the capital was the Northern Army (Beijun 北軍). Led by Colonels (Xiaowei 校尉), the Northern Army consisted of five regiments, each composed of several thousand soldiers. When central authority collapsed after 189 AD, wealthy landowners, members of the aristocracy/nobility, and regional military-governors relied upon their retainers to act as their own personal troops (buqu 部曲).

Q1: How could conscription into military service be avoided?
A1: one paid a commutable tax
Q2: What army was based near the capital?
A2: Northern Army
Q3: What army was considered to be the volunteer army?
A3: Southern Army
Q4: How many regiments were in the Northern Army?
A4: five
Q5: Around how many soldiers were in each regiment of the Northern Army?
A5: several thousand soldiers