A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for April
1. How many neighboring countries have a land border with China?
7
14
10
China together with Russia has 14 land borders with neighboring countries. They are (running anti-clockwise from the East) : Korea (North), Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
2. The poet Su Shi is quoted as saying 'You can live without eating meat but you can not live without what'?
cats
wine
bamboo
Bamboo was the favorite subject for many artists in China, it has drooping leaves and straight stems that give it an architectural image.
This image was carried on the book which is called Wan Xiao Tang Hua Zhuan (晚笑堂画传) which was published in 1743 (乾隆八年) by Shangguan Zhou b. 1665. Available under a Creative Commons License ➚
3. The mark of veneration was the traditional kowtow. How many times did you have to knock your head on the ground to the Emperor?
5
1
9
Nine was the imperial number. The set of nine kowtows was split into three sets of three between kneelings. Three is a very yang number and so 3x3 is even more yang and Imperial.
Kowtowing before the magistrate. Official session at a Chinese Yamen, Guangzhou, pre-1889.
Image available under a Creative Commons license ➚
4. Which province is the coldest in winter?
Heilongjiang
Tibet
Fujian
Heilongjiang is the most northerly province and has bitterly cold winters - it borders Siberia after all.
5. The old Wade-Giles spelling of Guizhou is what?
Kwaijou
Kweichow
Guaichoe
The Wade-Giles system often used the local dialect pronounciation for placenames rather than how it sounded in the official Beijing dialect.
6. How long was the Communist's Long March through western China?
10,000 miles
6,000 miles
9,000 miles
The route was not direct and took many turns from its start in the Jiangxi mountains all the way to Yan'an in Shanxi.
Zhu De and CMC Chairman Mao Zedong (left) , accompanied by Brigadier Wang Zhen reviewed the troops,1931. Image available under a Creative Commons License ➚
7. What is at the famous site of Leshan, Sichuan?
Bamboo forest
Giant Buddha
Stone Forest
Leshan has the the Giant Buddha ?Dafo? 233 feet [71 meters] high carved into a cliff during the Tang dynasty - the largest Buddha in the world.
8. The Gang of Four were put under arrest in 1976 under the orders of which Chinese leader
Zhao Ziyang
Hua Guofeng
Lin Biao
The short leadership of Hua Guofeng is often seen as a continuation of Mao's legacy but he did act swiftly to arrest the Gang of Four and put them on trial for their part in the cultural revolution.
9. The Hui minority people belong chiefly to which religion?
Shinto
Christianity
Islam
The Hui ethnic people are mainly Muslims. There are Muslims in most cities but there are also a significant proportion in the western provinces of Ningxia, Xinjiang and Qinghai.
Sand sculptures in Desert Lake scenic spot near Zhongwei, Ningxia. August 2008.
Image by Fanghong ➚ available under a Creative Commons license ➚
10. According to the yin-yang categories of food which of these foods are considered the 'yang' (hot)
cucumber
mushrooms
onions
A good meal should have a balance of 'yin' and 'yang' foods. Beef steak and peanuts are other 'yang' foods.
11. Where might you expect to see 'water sleeves' in China?
at the opera
in a garden
at a resturant
Water sleeves are the very long sleeves worn by women it traditional opera. They are used to great effect in dances and gestures.
This is a pair of Chinese lady’s shoes for bound feet. They are very small as the ideal length for a bound foot was seven and a half centimeters. Shoes for bound feet were called foot-binding shoes and lotus slippers in many non-Chinese communities. They are referred to by a variety of names in China and Chinese literature. These include gongxie (arched shoes), xiuxie (embroidered slippers), jin lian (gilded lilies) and san cun jin lian (three inch golden lily/lotus).
Object description: These are lotus shoes with a triangular sole. They are made of bright red and blue cotton and cream silk. Elaborate designs of dragons and flowers are embroidered on the silk. The blue panel at the top has white and green satin stitching along its length. The heel is covered in green fabric. History:
Foot binding was a custom practiced in China and occurred during the Song Dynasty ( 960-1279 AD), over a thousand years ago. Small feet were greatly admired in China. To ensure that a young girl’s feet did not grow, her feet were usually bound after she was four years old. It was done with a stout bandage, the bandage being tightened daily after removal. The bound foot never ceased to cause pain while the woman walked. In 1911 this practice was banned by the Chinese government.
Photo by Queensland Museum ➚, available under a Creative Commons license ➚.
12. Who of these is NOT a Tang dynasty poet?
Wang Wei
Su Shi (Su Dongpo)
Du Fu
Although the Tang dynasty is considered the golden age of Tang poetry the Song dynasty had some fine poets too, of which Su Shi is the most famous.
One Thousand Character classic in Ouyang Xun calligraphy style. Image by 忍海 available under a Creative Commons License ➚
13. Which Emperor commanded that the books should be burned?
Emperor Wudi
Emperor Qianlong
Emperor Qin Shihuangdi
The first emperor to unify all of China brought in many far-reaching reforms. One was to impose a common writing script (the Qin script) all over China. To ensure that this reform was followed he ordered many historical books to be burned so that knowledge of the different scripts would be lost. It is claimed that he did this to suppress scholarship but in fact he built up a huge Imperial library.
A page from an old book.
14. Zhuangzi is an important person in what tradition?
Kung fu
Buddhism
Daoism
Zhuangzi is considered the second most important sage of Daoism after Laozi.
Bronze temple door knobs
15. Compared to English how many people speak Chinese as their first or second language?
1:2
1:3
2:1
Many people speak Chinese as a second language in Asia and so there are about twice as many speaking Chinese than English.
A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for April
