sentence-transformers/squad huggingface dataset:
Passage: General-in-Chief He Jin (d. 189 AD), half-brother to Empress He (d. 189 AD), plotted with Yuan Shao (d. 202 AD) to overthrow the eunuchs by having several generals march to the outskirts of the capital. There, in a written petition to Empress He, they demanded the eunuchs' execution. After a period of hesitation, Empress He consented. When the eunuchs discovered this, however, they had her brother He Miao (何苗) rescind the order. The eunuchs assassinated He Jin on September 22, 189 AD. Yuan Shao then besieged Luoyang's Northern Palace while his brother Yuan Shu (d. 199 AD) besieged the Southern Palace. On September 25 both palaces were breached and approximately two thousand eunuchs were killed. Zhang Rang had previously fled with Emperor Shao (r. 189 AD) and his brother Liu Xie—the future Emperor Xian of Han (r. 189–220 AD). While being pursued by the Yuan brothers, Zhang committed suicide by jumping into the Yellow River.

Question: Who was assassinated on September 22, 189 AD?

Question: Who agreed to the execuation of the eunuchs?

Question: Who negated the execution order on the eunuchs?

Question: Who was the family member that Emperor Shao escaped with?

Question: What did General-in-Chief He petition Empress He for?
Passage: 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.

Question: How was Luoyang destroyed?

Question: Who demoted Emperor Shao?

Question: What position would the young Liu Xie eventually be promoted to?

Question: Who had taken control of Luoyang?

Question: When did Dong Zhuo die?
Passage: 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.

Question: Who was defeated at the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD?

Question: Who did Emperor Xian give his throne to?

Question: What state was in a conflict with Eastern Wu, and Shu Han?

Question: Who was in control of the south of China?

Question: In what month did Cao Cao die?
Passage: 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.

Question: During what period was it obvious that corruption was widespread in the government?

Question: What rank provided its holder territorial rule?

Question: What class did individuals who served as officials in the government belong to?

Question: What was considered to be more important to some than serving the local government?

Question: What rank is below that of full marquess?
Passage: 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.

Question: Who were considered to be below the social rank that scholars held?

Question: What color of clothing were merchants that had registered with the state forced to wear?

Question: Who was commonly considered by some to be social parasites?

Question: Who would retainers in the employ of nobles occasionally have to fight?

Question: How could a merchant prevent having to register as one?
Passage: 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.

Question: How many family members would commonly live in a single household during the Han era?

Question: Whose opinion on the spouse of an arranged marriage was considered to be more important?

Question: Who were rich enough to afford multiple lovers?

Question: What type of family was your typical Han era family considered to be?

Question: What type of marriage was thought of as a normal occurrence in this era?
Passage: 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.

Question: How did daughters get their portion of the family fortune?

Question: What type of title could be passed down?

Question: What type of document could be produced to distribute some of an inheritance?

Question: Was is guaranteed that a first born son would receive all of the family's fortune?

Question: Which family member commonly sent an adult married offspring away with their portion of the families fortune?
Passage: 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.

Question: Which gender was exempt from performing the yearly corvee labor duties?

Question: What emotional state would empresses commonly place their immediate family members in?

Question: What type of occupation did women commonly take part in?

Question: Who were women obligated to obey in their old age?

Question: Which parental figures often avoided the common familial rules?
Passage: 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.

Question: What philosophy was given exclusivity in the court during the rule of Emperor Wu?

Question: Who put an end to all erudites?

Question: How many students were in the Imperial University by the second century?

Question: What type of philosophy was available for individuals at the commanderies?

Question: Where did teachers make their money from at private schools?
Passage: 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.

Question: Who had produced biographies of individuals of significant importance?

Question: What type of poetry had much influence in the Han dynasty?

Question: Who had written the dictionary Fangyan?

Question: Which person had authored the Book of Han?

Question: What was the name of Ban Biao's female offspring?
Passage: 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.

Question: What type of torture was acquired from Qin law?

Question: What eventually replaced torturous mutilation as a type of punishment?

Question: What could a criminal in this era expect not to happen if he was convicted of a crime?

Question: What type of extreme punishment was likely to be laid upon those who committed the harshest of crimes?

Question: What did women commonly have less of?
Passage: 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.

Question: What type of crop was rice considered to be during this period?

Question: What were dogs in this era most likely to be considered?

Question: What type of partridge was commonly consumed?

Question: Where were turtles acquired from?

Question: What was the color of the bayberries?
Passage: 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.

Question: What could be used to prevent a door from closing in a place of burial?

Question: What type of decoration was often seen in tombs?

Question: What was the afterlife of the immortals called during this period?

Question: What is the commonly held notion regarding the dual nature of the soul called?

Question: What function did the holes in the top and bottom of the tomb tiles enable them to do?
Passage: 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.

Question: Who made sacrifices to the main deities in this period?

Question: What type of geological event was feared could be caused by the morals of the emperor?

Question: What is another term that could be used to label the main deities?

Question: How many realms were commonly thought of as being linked by a natural cycle?

Question: What type of swarm was a concern because of the emperor's ethics?
Passage: 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.

Question: What was the purpose of breathing exercises to a Daoist?

Question: What could the prophet Laozi offer in return for the confession of sins?

Question: What type of religion did the society of the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice practice?

Question: What could be earned if an individual had reached the lands of the Queen Mother of the West?

Question: What literal work were followers of Laozi expected to chant?
Passage: 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.

Question: During was era did Buddhism first appear in the region?

Question: When did Emperor Ming of Han's reign end?

Question: What philosophical practice did Liu Ying believe in?

Question: What is believed to be the first Buddhist temple in this area?

Question: During which century were important Buddhist notions translated to Chinese?
Passage: 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.

Question: Who was responsible for nominations of local administrators in the government?

Question: Was the emperor able to reject an opinion that was made by the court conference?

Question: What did the emperor risk if he did not accept the decisions of the court conference?

Question: Who often placed pressure on the emperor in regards to local policies?

Question: Who was considered to be the supreme judge in Han government?
Passage: 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.

Question: Which individual had a duty to maintain the imperial stables?

Question: Which Minister had the responsibility to interpret laws in this period?

Question: Which Minister could an honored guest of the court be expected to see?

Question: Who provided the emperor with sustenance and medical aid?

Question: Which individual held the responsibility to oversee the interactions of the empire's nobles with the court?
Passage: 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.

Question: What individual was typically in charge of a commandery?

Question: Around how many households was a Prefect responsible for?

Question: What individual was responsible for law and maintaining order in the county?

Question: What Emperor initially created the quota system?

Question: Who was in charge of counties that had fewer than 10,000 people in them?
Passage: 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.

Question: What gender was expected to be conscripted into the military?

Question: At what age could a male common expect to be conscripted into the military?

Question: How long could a conscripted soldier expect to be in training for?

Question: What was the lowest age a soldier could be conscripted after the end of Emperor Zhao's tenure?

Question: Which Minister could a conscripted soldier expect to serve under during his year of service?