A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for May
1. Under which British sovereign was the first official embassy sent off to China?
King Edward VI
King Charles II
Queen Victoria
The first attempted British contact was in about 1553 when King Edward VI sought to open up the wool trade to a new market. This scarcely known embassy set off overland but only reached as far as the Caspian Sea.
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 ➚
2. A meeting at Lushan in 1959 brought an end to the career of which revolutionary leader
Lin Biao
Peng Dehuai
Zhu De
General Peng Dehuai openly criticized the leadership over the failings of the Great Leap Forward at the Lushan conference. Mao Zedong took exception and Peng Dehuai was demoted and held under house arrest.
3. When did the first known Chinese person visit Britain?
1357
1924
1685
In 1685 the Jesuits had brought back to Europe a Chinese convert: Shen Fuzong. He made a tour of European cities including London and was greatly feted by King James II.
4. Which country other than Britain took part in the Opium Wars with China?
Spain
France
US
For the second Opium War (1856-60) it was a strange alliance of UK and France considering it was just over 40 years after the battle of Waterloo. France was starting to build up its Indo-Chinese interests (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos).
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 ➚
5. In which Chinese province was the 14th Dalai Lama (present leader) born?
Qinghai
Shanxi
Sichuan
Tibetan Buddhism is strong in several western provinces not just in Tibet. Once the Tibetan kingdom spread much further east.
6. An auspicious arrangement of hills is sometimes called?
hidden dragon
sleeping phoenix
grasping monkey
A sleeping dragon was thought to form a range of hills. In consequence it was very bad luck to quarry or mine into such formations. A 'hidden dragon' can also be a person who hides his true powers.
Zhejiang scenery near Hangzhou including a tea plantation
7. Which European scientist considered the Yi Jing as proof of ancient knowledge of binary arithmetic?
Leibniz
Voltaire
Isaac Newton
The complete sequence of yin-yang (solid or broken) lines in the Yi Jing is a set of six binary choices that led Leibniz to believe that the Chinese had discovered binary arithmetic at a very early date. The binary arithmetic system led to the development of all modern computers.
8. Which of these is NOT part of the Buddhist eightfold path to enlightenment
abstain from sex
meditation
true understanding
The eight steps to Buddhist Enlightenment do not include celibacy nor does it advocate living as a monk.
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 ➚
9. How would you say 'next month' in Chinese?
上个月 shàng gè yuè
后天 hòu tiān
下个月 xià gè yuè
Next is often expressed as 下 xià which also means below, down and later.
Nanjing sacred way
10. The noon day gun is fired every day where?
Xiamen
Lhasa
Hong Kong
Since 1864 each day the noon day gun is fired at Hong Kong. The tradition started because the British trading company of Jardines had had the habit of firing a gun salute whenever a senior executive arrived, while this privilege should have been reserved for only military commanders. As punishment the company was ordered to fire a noon day gun for ever after.
Rice does need huge amounts of water to grow, the flooding is principally to suppress weeds - it just happens that rice is more tolerant to growing in water than most other plants.
12. The Uyghur people number over 8 million in which province do they mainly live?
Gansu
Xinjiang
Sichuan
The (Uighur, Uygur, and Uigur) people live in north-western China primarily in the ?Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region?. or simply Xinjiang. Uyghurs are a Turkic people with closer affinity to Central Asian people than to Han Chinese. Significant numbers also live in neighboring Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
Beijing street. September 2019. Image by Paul Kerswill
13. Wade-Giles is a method for doing what?
Sailing a Chinese junk
Writing Chinese with English letters
Decorating porcelain
The Wade-Giles system was a British system used in the early twentieth century for spelling Chinese in the English alphabet and so it is found in most of English books from this period (1890-1970). The Wade-Giles system is sometimes still seen today in the spelling of such names as Mao Tse-tung, Peking , Szechuan and Yangtse Kiang (Yangzi River).
New year greeting Gong Xi Fa Cai
14. In which dynasty did Emperor Qianlong rule?
Ming
Qing
Tang
The first four Qing Emperors Shunzhi; Kangxi; Yongzheng and Qianlong ruled long and skillfully, their reigns covered 150 years of relative prosperity for all in China. Emperor Qianlong ruled for sixty years (1735 to 1796).
"Ways of souls" tombs of the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644CE). 50km north west of Beijing, in Changping. December 2005. Image by ofol available under a Creative Commons License ➚.
15. The 'Peony Pavilion' is a famous what?
painting
opera
Shanghai building
The 'Peony Pavilion' is the most famous Kunqu Opera and dates back to the Ming dynasty.
A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for May
