Social Science — CBSE Class 10 board question

By the seventeenth century, urban culture flourished in China, leading to diverse uses of print beyond scholarly purposes. Key examples:

1. Merchants used print in everyday life to collect and share trade information.
2. Leisure reading grew popular; the new readership preferred fictional narratives, poetry, autobiographies, anthologies of literary masterpieces, and romantic plays.
3. Rich women began to read, and many started publishing their own poetry and plays.
4. Wives of scholar-officials published their literary works.
5. Courtesans wrote about their lives, showing print reached diverse social groups.

Thus, print was no longer restricted to scholar-officials or state purposes — it became a medium for commerce, entertainment, and personal expression across different sections of urban Chinese society.

Source: Chapter 5, Section 1 — The First Printed Books

---

The examiner looks for specific examples from the passage (merchants, leisure readers, women, courtesans) — not just general statements. Since it's 5 marks, aim for 5 distinct points. Avoid copying large chunks; paraphrase neatly. The key phrase to echo is "uses of print diversified," showing you understand the central idea. Listing examples in points makes it easy to award marks.