A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for May
1. Which country other than Britain took part in the Opium Wars with China?
Prussia
France
Portugal
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 ➚
2. In which dynasty did Emperor Qianlong rule?
Song
Tang
Qing
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).
A Chinese traditional style study at the residence of Xueyan Hu, a famous Qing dynasty businessman, Hangzhou, Zhejiang
3. Which European scientist considered the Yi Jing as proof of ancient knowledge of binary arithmetic?
Descartes
Leibniz
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.
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).
One of a pair of six-section folding screens painted in Chinese Southern School style. This screen depicts the Yueyang Tower at Dongting Lake in which literati hold a gathering. c. 1750. Tokyo National Museum.
Image by Emuseum ➚ available under a Creative Commons license ➚
5. An auspicious arrangement of hills is sometimes called?
hidden dragon
springing tiger
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
6. In which Chinese province was the 14th Dalai Lama (present leader) born?
Shanxi
Sichuan
Qinghai
Tibetan Buddhism is strong in several western provinces not just in Tibet. Once the Tibetan kingdom spread much further east.
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.
Mahjong game
8. When did the first known Chinese person visit Britain?
1924
1685
1798
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.
9. The 'Peony Pavilion' is a famous what?
Shanghai building
sexual position
opera
The 'Peony Pavilion' is the most famous Kunqu Opera and dates back to the Ming dynasty.
TCM doctor preparing a prescription
10. How would you say 'next month' in Chinese?
上个月 shàng gè yuè
下个月 xià gè yuè
后天 hòu tiān
Next is often expressed as 下 xià which also means below, down and later.
11. The Uyghur people number over 8 million in which province do they mainly live?
Sichuan
Gansu
Xinjiang
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
12. Why is rice planted in water?
improve flavor
provide nutrients
suppress weeds
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.
13. A meeting at Lushan in 1959 brought an end to the career of which revolutionary leader
Zhu De
Lin Biao
Peng Dehuai
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.
14. Which of these is NOT part of the Buddhist eightfold path to enlightenment
charitable work
meditation
abstain from sex
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 ➚
15. Under which British sovereign was the first official embassy sent off to China?
King Edward VI
King George III
King Charles II
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 ➚
A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for May
