November Quiz

A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for November
1. What was the name given to the country of China in Roman times?
Assyria
Gaul
Serica
Silk road, Jiayuguan, fort
Fortress (14th century) at Great Wall of Jiayuguang, September 2009. Photo by Sigismund von Dobschütz available under a Creative Commons license .

2. By 1093 how many stars had been individually named in China?
1,565
179
823
mansions, xiu
The twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese astronomy. May 2008. Image by Mysid available under a Creative Commons License

3. Which is NOT one of the names of a Yi Jing Trigram?
Stone
Mountain
Thunder
foot binding
This is a pair of Chinese lady’s shoes for bound feet. They are very small as the ideal length for a bound foot was seven and a half centimeters. Shoes for bound feet were called foot-binding shoes and lotus slippers in many non-Chinese communities. They are referred to by a variety of names in China and Chinese literature. These include gongxie (arched shoes), xiuxie (embroidered slippers), jin lian (gilded lilies) and san cun jin lian (three inch golden lily/lotus). Object description: These are lotus shoes with a triangular sole. They are made of bright red and blue cotton and cream silk. Elaborate designs of dragons and flowers are embroidered on the silk. The blue panel at the top has white and green satin stitching along its length. The heel is covered in green fabric. History: Foot binding was a custom practiced in China and occurred during the Song Dynasty ( 960-1279 AD), over a thousand years ago. Small feet were greatly admired in China. To ensure that a young girl’s feet did not grow, her feet were usually bound after she was four years old. It was done with a stout bandage, the bandage being tightened daily after removal. The bound foot never ceased to cause pain while the woman walked. In 1911 this practice was banned by the Chinese government. Photo by Queensland Museum , available under a Creative Commons license .

4. Which province (excluding the metropolitan areas) has the highest population density?
Jiangsu
Hebei
Guangdong
Tiananmen Square, crowd
2004 PRC National Day at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. What a crowd! Image by pfctdayelise available under a Creative Commons License

5. Why are bats considered lucky?
symbol of Emperor
name sounds like fortune
bats catch insects
bat
Five bats in the outer ring surrounding the character for longevity. Wishing good fortune and a long life.

6. A scholar used to be expected to be proficient at playing which musical instrument?
Erhu
Guqin
Pipa
music, erhu
Erhu players at Tianjin University Copyright © Dreamstime see image license

7. Together with Yunnan and Guangdong, which other province lies on the Tropic of Cancer?
Anhui
Guangxi
Hainan
Emei Shan, Sichuan
Mount Emei, Sichuan. June 2007.
Image by pookieevans available under a Creative Commons license

8. What are the ten wings of the Yi Jing (I Ching)?
Appendices
Magical powers
Herbs
Yi Jing, I Ching, Song dynasty
A page from a Song Dynasty (960-1279) printed book of the I Ching (Yi Jing, Classic of Changes or Book of Changes) , 17.7x11.9cm, printed book, in the National Central Library in Taipei. Image by Song era print artist available under a Creative Commons License

9. Who was the leader of the Taiping Rebellion?
Zeng Guofan
Li Hongzhang
Hong Xiuquan
Taiping rebellion, flag
Flag of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Image by Samhanin available under a Creative Commons License

10. The stone forest (Shilin) can be found in which province?
Guangdong
Gansu
Yunnan
Yunnan, stone forest, landform
Stone forest (Shilin) near Kunming, Yunnan

11. The second lowest place (depression) in the world is located whereabouts in China?
Turpan, Xinjiang
Hohhot, Inner Mongolia
Golmud, Qinghai
Heilongjiang, tiger, wildlife
A Siberian tiger walking on snow, Heilongjiang

12. What makes Pingyao in Shanxi a popular visitor attraction?
Qing and Ming houses
Imperial tombs
Sacred mountain
Gansu, Jiayuguan, mountains
Jiayuguan fort with snowy Qilian mountains, Gansu

13. Thomas Wade and Herbert Giles who developed the Wade-Giles system to write Chinese were both professors of Chinese where?
Edinburgh, Scotland
Cambridge, England
Oxford, England
children, school
Girl doing school work

14. Tian (crater lake) is an emblem of North Korea, which Chinese province shares it as a border?
Jilin
Heilongjiang
Anhui
Jilin, Changbai, lake, view
Crater lake, Tian chi on the border of China and North Korea

15. Many of the scenes of James Cameron's ‘Avatar’ film were made in which Chinese province?
Hebei
Hunan
Gansu
Hunan, mountains, landform, view
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