The Mandate of Heaven DBQ

What's included

• Student DBQ packet: hook, background reading, Documents A–F with analysis questions, evidence organizer, bucketing and outline pages, C-E-R essay and 4-point rubric
• Scaffolded version with shorter excerpts, plain-words versions and sentence starters
• Teacher presentation with speaker notes, plus a teacher guide with standards, pacing, answer key and a sample essay

The documents

• Document A: Tang's speech against the Xia king
• Document B: King Wu: "Heaven sees as my people see"
• Document C: The Duke of Shao's warning to the Zhou king
• Document D: Mencius on how Shun became ruler
• Document E: Mencius: killing a tyrant is not murder
• Document F: Confucius: rule like the North Star

Documents A, B, and C: Shu Jing, trans. James Legge, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 3 (1879), public domain. Documents D and E: Mencius, trans. James Legge, The Chinese Classics, Vol. 2 (1895), romanization updated on Wikisource, public domain. Document F: Confucius, The Analects, trans. William Jennings (1895), in Chinese Literature, ed. Epiphanius Wilson (1900), public domain.

Good to know

Class time

3 class periods

Format

Editable Google Slides

Answer key

Included

Standards: KAS Grade 6: 6.C.CP.2, 6.C.CP.3, 6.C.CP.1, 6.I.UE.1, 6.I.UE.2, 6.I.CC.1