May Quiz

A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for May
1. The 'Peony Pavilion' is a famous what?
painting
opera
novel
Hong Kong, zodiac, sculpture
The Garden of the Chinese Zodiac features twelve carved animals in the gardens of Kowloon Walled City Park, Hong Kong

2. A meeting at Lushan in 1959 brought an end to the career of which revolutionary leader
Deng Xiaoping
Zhou Enlai
Peng Dehuai
Jiangxi, Lushan, waterfall
Waterfall on Lushan mountains, Jiangxi

3. How would you say 'next month' in Chinese?
下个月 xià gè yuè
明年 míng nián
上个月 shàng gè yuè
Tang dynasty, Sancai, porcelain
Photo by Rosemania , Palace Museum, Beijing. Sancai horse, Tang Dynasty, 618-907 A.D. Available under a Creative Commons license .

4. Why is rice planted in water?
suppress insect pests
suppress weeds
improve flavor
rice, Yunnan
Sheaves of rice set out to dry, Yuanyang, Yunnan

5. An auspicious arrangement of hills is sometimes called?
hidden dragon
grasping monkey
sleeping phoenix
Zhejiang, mountains, view
Zhejiang scenery near Hangzhou including a tea plantation

6. Which of these is NOT part of the Buddhist eightfold path to enlightenment
true understanding
meditation
abstain from sex
luohan, Buddhism
A luóhàn (arhat), found at Yixian, Hebei province, Liao dynasty (907-1125). British Museum, London. Image by David Castor available under a Creative Commons License

7. Which European scientist considered the Yi Jing as proof of ancient knowledge of binary arithmetic?
Leibniz
Francis Bacon
Descartes
yi jing
Three gold coins used for Yi Jing fortune telling

8. Which country other than Britain took part in the Opium Wars with China?
Russia
France
Prussia
opium war, sea battle, junk, boat, ship
The East India Company iron steam ship Nemesis, commanded by Lieutenant W. H. Hall, with boats from the Sulphur, Calliope, Larne and Starling, destroying the Chinese war junks in Anson's Bay, on 7 January 1841. Image by Edward Duncan available under a Creative Commons License

9. The noon day gun is fired every day where?
Tianjin
Hong Kong
Shanghai
Tianjin
Tianjin City. March 2008.
Image by ASDFGH available under a Creative Commons license

10. In which Chinese province was the 14th Dalai Lama (present leader) born?
Shanxi
Qinghai
Sichuan
Buddhism , prayer wheel
Buddhist prayer wheels at Wudang temple, Inner Mongolia

11. When did the first known Chinese person visit Britain?
1924
1685
1280
christian, Shen Fuzong

12. In which dynasty did Emperor Qianlong rule?
Qing
Han
Ming
Chengdu, park, Sichuan
Chengdu Park

13. The Uyghur people number over 8 million in which province do they mainly live?
Inner Mongolia
Gansu
Xinjiang
Bejing, street, mcdonalds, people, PKChina-34
Beijing street. September 2019. Image by Paul Kerswill

14. Under which British sovereign was the first official embassy sent off to China?
King Edward VI
Queen Victoria
Queen Elizabeth I
Macartney, embassy, kowtow
William Alexander's drawing of the reception of the Macartney embassy to China. Young Thomas Staunton (kneeling not kowtowing) receives a gift from the Emperor. Image by William Alexander available under a Creative Commons License

15. Wade-Giles is a method for doing what?
Classifying paintings
Decorating porcelain
Writing Chinese with English letters
music, ocarina
Chinese ocarinas, flutes made from clay
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