A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for March
1. Standard spoken Chinese (Mandarin) is based on the local pronunciation where?
Nanjing
Beijing
Shenyang
The official language at the Imperial court of Beijing became the spoken language of all the officials (mandarins) and so became the standard dialect taught to Chinese people.
Portrait of the mandarin Qiao Renjie (1745-1804) who accompanied the mission for all its time in China. He was a man of grave deportment, strict integrity, sound judgment and great erudition. A former tutor to the Imperial family. His hat bears a blue stone and peacock feather to denote his high rank. Image by William Alexander ➚ available under a Creative Commons License ➚
2. What phrase terminated all Imperial edicts?
long live the emperor
ruler of all under heaven
tremble and obey
The phrase was intended to instill unquestioning loyalty. An edict may require the recipient to immediately commit suicide.
The Qianlong Emperor in Ceremonial Armour on Horseback by Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766). Painted 1758. The Palace Museum, Beijing. Image by Mondo Mostre ➚ available under a Creative Commons License ➚
3. What should you do when a guest arrives while you are sitting having a meal?
stand up
say 'ni hao'
raise chopsticks in salute
It is polite to stand up to greet the new guest.
A turntable, or lazy susan, surrounded by diners holding chopsticks in a restaurant in China, 1987,
Photo by GeorgeLouis ➚ available under a Creative Commons license ➚.
4. Where did Sun Yatsen studied medicine?
Hong Kong
Princetown
Hawai'i
Sun studied some medicine at the Guangzhou Boji Hospital but his main place of study was at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese which went on to become part of the The University of Hong Kong. He studied with James Cantlie with whom he had a long friendship. From his class of 12 students, Sun was one of only two who graduated as doctors.
Statue of Dr. Sun Yatsen at memorial hall in Taipei, Taiwan
5. The Temple of Heaven has an inner ring of columns representing what?
major rivers
state ministeries
each month
The inner ring has twelve columns one for each complete lunar month of the year.
Temple of Heaven, Beijing. September 2019. Image by Paul Kerswill
6. What is the leading form of Buddhism in Tibet?
Shintoism
Yellow Hat
Red Hat
In 1641 the Yellow Hat sect beat the Red Hat sect to become the leading religious group and installed the first Dalai Lama.
7. Jiang Zemin is associated with which city in China
Shanghai
Guangzhou
Chengdu
Jiang was born in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province and studied at Shanghai University and then rose to be mayor of Shanghai. Born in 1926 he is the elder statesman of China.
Jiang Zemin by Presidential Press and Information Office, Moscow.
Image available under a Creative Commons license ➚.
8. Where did Zhou Enlai move to study in 1917?
Japan
London
Hong Kong
Zhou aged 19 stayed in for Japan two years, but he failed to get a place at a Japanese university and so returned to China. Japan was at that time home to many revolutionaries and reformists.
Mainly to prove he was still physically fit, Mao Zedong, then aged 72, swam in the Yangzi river near Wuhan. He actually did not cross the river - which would have been quite a feat for anyone. It marked the start of his coming back to power to launch the Cultural Revolution.
Sphinx like sculpture of Mao Zedong at Changsha, Hunan
10. What did the Chinese call their country in the year 1900?
Great Qing Kingdom
Cathay
All below heaven
In dynastic China the country was named after the ruling dynasty : 大清国 Dà Qīng guó in Chinese.
Wuhan crowd, 2020
11. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is the longest sea bridge in the world how long is it?
16 miles [25 kms]
34 miles [55 kms]
66 miles [106 kms]
Completed in 2018 at a cost of $18.8 billion, this bridge connects Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau is both the longest sea bridge and the longest open-sea fixed link in the world.
Mazu or Ma-tsu is the principal goddess of the sea along China's coasts. There were many shrines to her where seaman would make offerings to secure a safe journey.
13. From which province are most of China's space rockets launched from?
Sichuan
Qinghai
Hainan
The Wenchang space center on Hainan island has become the launch location for most of China's space rockets. This is due its location in southernmost China - it is much easier to get satellites into orbit from near the equator and the huge component parts can be transported far easier by sea rather than overland.
Chinese Shenzhou 5 spacecraft - Model 1:3, Space technology exhibition, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. 28 October 2011 Image by Br?cke-Osteuropa ➚ available under a Creative Commons License ➚
14. Lapsang Souchong comes from which province?
Shandong
Fujian
Anhui
Lapsang Souchong is a tea from the Wuyi mountains, Fujian. It is dried by smoking over a pinewood fire giving it a distinctive flavor.
15. The other main ingredient of porcelain other than china clay is what?
flint
egg shells
petuntse
Petuntse is formed when granite has been subject to heavy weathering and consists of mica and feldspar. The name comes from the Chinese 白墩子 bái dūn zi literally ‘small white bricks’ which is the form in which it was delivered to porcelain factories. It forms the solid framework for porcelain without it china clay is too soft.
Photo by Anonymous, Chinese plate, Ming dynasty, Yongle period 1403-1424, porcelain with under-glaze blue, 23 inches [58 cms] diameter, Honolulu Academy of Arts. Available under a Creative Commons license ➚.
A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for March
