History Quiz 1

Marco Polo in Tartar costume. Source: Scann? de Coureurs des mers, Poivre d'Arvor. Photo by Grevembrock, available under a Creative Commons license ➚.

Tianjin City. March 2008.
Image by ASDFGH ➚ available under a Creative Commons license ➚

嫦娥奔月 Chang'e Flying to the Moon Image by Ren Shuai Ying available under a Creative Commons License ➚

Modern sculpture of two legendary Chinese Emperors

A long corridor at the Summer Palace, Beijing

Russian style Saint-Sophia Cathedral, Harbin, Heilongjiang

The Iron Pagoda of Kaifeng, China, built in 1049 AD during the Song Dynasty.
Image by PericlesofAthens ➚ available under a Creative Commons license ➚

Clay model of Mongol warrior

A Chinese red lacquer tray over wood with engraved golden foil, from the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), dated 12th to early 13th century. As the Freer and Sackler Galleries museum description states, in China the gold-engraving technique is called qiangjin. The museum caption states that this method has existed since roughly the 3rd century AD, although it was not until the Song Dynasty era that gold engravings were found on luxury lacquerwares. After a wooden tray was covered with multiple layers of cinnabar-colored lacquer, fine lines were then incised into the new surface. These incisions were then filled with an adhesive of clear lacquer, followed by the pressing of gold foil into the grooves. The two long-tailed birds and a peony plant depicted in this tray are symbolic of longevity and prosperity in Chinese culture, since the Chinese word for "long life" (shou) sounds similar to the words for long-tailed birds (dai shou). Image by PericlesofAthens ➚ available under a Creative Commons License ➚

2004 PRC National Day at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. What a crowd! Image by pfctdayelise ➚ available under a Creative Commons License ➚

Forbidden City, Beijing. Copyright Richard Wingfield, October 2017.

Deng Yingchao and Zhou Enlai with adopted daughter Sun Weishi. 1949. Image by Unknown ➚ available under a Creative Commons License ➚

Examination hall in Beijing. John Clark Ridpath (1899)
Image available under a Creative Commons license ➚

The Po Lin Monastery Hong Kong with its famous Big Buddha statue

Early bronze tiger mask

Children wearing traditional silk clothes

SOUTH CHINA SEA (Oct. 15, 2012) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) is underway in the South China Sea. George Washington and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 provide a combat-ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interest of the U.S. and its allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific region. The U.S. Navy is constantly deployed to preserve peace, protect commerce, and deter aggression through forward presence. Image by U.S. Navy ➚ available under a Creative Commons License ➚