April Quiz

A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for April

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1. How long was the Communist's Long March through western China?

6,000 miles

10,000 miles

3,200 miles

The route was not direct and took many turns from its start in the Jiangxi mountains all the way to Yan'an in Shanxi.

Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Long March — Zhu De and CMC Chairman Mao Zedong (left) , accompanied by Brigadier Wang Zhen reviewed the troops,1931. Image available under a Creative Commons License ➚

2. How many neighboring countries have a land border with China?

China together with Russia has 14 land borders with neighboring countries. They are (running anti-clockwise from the East) : Korea (North), Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.

Chongqing, road — Chongqing inner ring expressway around the main city

3. What is at the famous site of Leshan, Sichuan?

Ancient tombs

Giant Buddha

Bamboo forest

Leshan has the the Giant Buddha ?Dafo? 233 feet [71 meters] high carved into a cliff during the Tang dynasty - the largest Buddha in the world.

Xinjiang, Urumqi, road — Expressway into Urumqi, Xinjiang

4. According to the yin-yang categories of food which of these foods are considered the 'yang' (hot)

cucumber

onions

mushrooms

A good meal should have a balance of 'yin' and 'yang' foods. Beef steak and peanuts are other 'yang' foods.

5. The Gang of Four were put under arrest in 1976 under the orders of which Chinese leader

Hua Guofeng

Zhao Ziyang

Lin Biao

The short leadership of Hua Guofeng is often seen as a continuation of Mao's legacy but he did act swiftly to arrest the Gang of Four and put them on trial for their part in the cultural revolution.

Jiang Qing, Mao Zedong — Jiang Qing and Mao Zedong. Source : Netor.com ➚. Available under a Creative Commons license ➚.

The Emperor's Canal

The Grand or Emperor's canal is the longest canal system in the world. It links Hangzhou in the south to Beijing in the north - over 1,100 miles. Designed to carry huge amounts of rice from the rich lands of the south to the arid north it proved to be China's life line for over a thousand years. The canal enabled China a transportation system free from the threats of storms and pirates. Read more…

6. Zhuangzi is an important person in what tradition?

Buddhism

Kung fu

Daoism

Zhuangzi is considered the second most important sage of Daoism after Laozi.

7. Who of these is NOT a Tang dynasty poet?

Li Bai

Su Shi (Su Dongpo)

Bai Juyi

Although the Tang dynasty is considered the golden age of Tang poetry the Song dynasty had some fin poets too, of which Su Shi is the best famous.

calligraphy, Ouyang Xun, 1000 characters — One Thousand Character classic in Ouyang Xun calligraphy style. Image by 忍海 available under a Creative Commons License ➚

8. Compared to English how many people speak Chinese as their first or second language?

1:1

3:1

1:2

Many people speak Chinese as a second language in Asia and so there are about twice as many speaking Chinese than English.

Shenzhen, people, food — Shenzhen vegetable market, Guangdong Copyright © Dreamstime see image license

9. The old Wade-Giles spelling of Guizhou is what?

Kweichow

Guaichoe

Guichow

The Wade-Giles system often used the local dialect pronounciation for placenames rather than how it sounded in the official Beijing dialect.

Guizhou, Dragon boat festival, people — An orange themed boat taking part in a Dragon Boat festival event, Guizhou Copyright © Dreamstime see image license

10. Which Emperor commanded that the books should be burned?

Emperor Xuanzong

Emperor Qin Shihuangdi

Emperor Taizong

The first emperor to unify all of China brought in many far-reaching reforms. One was to impose a common writing script (the Qin script) all over China. To ensure that this reform was followed he ordered many historical books to be burned so that knowledge of the different scripts would be lost. It is claimed that he did this to suppress scholarship but in fact he built up a huge Imperial library.

old book, calligraphy — A page from an old book.

11. The poet Su Shi is quoted as saying 'You can live without eating meat but you can not live without what'?

cats

sleep

bamboo

Bamboo was the favorite subject for many artists in China, it has drooping leaves and straight stems that give it an architectural image.

poet, su shu, su dongpo — This image was carried on the book which is called Wan Xiao Tang Hua Zhuan (晚笑堂画传) which was published in 1743 (乾隆八年) by Shangguan Zhou b. 1665. Available under a Creative Commons License ➚

Wed 11^th Aug

Chinese Valentine's day

This year Chinese valentine's day falls on Saturday 14th August - precisely six months after the western version.

In China the festival is a moveable festival as it falls on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month [Qīxìjié 七夕节 means seventh night festival]. It commemorates the love between a Zhinu, weaver and the cowherd Niulang. The gods separated them and they were only allowed to meet on one night each year. The husband and wife are represented by the stars Vega and Altair and a bridge of magpies is made over the Milky Way which runs between them in the sky to allow them to meet. The magpies will only come if it was dry so she earnestly prayed for rain to keep away on this day.

It has now become a day for lovers to have a romantic evening and exchange gifts.

Read full story…

12. The Hui minority people belong chiefly to which religion?

Islam

Judaism

Buddhism

The Hui ethnic people are mainly Muslims. There are Muslims in most cities but there are also a significant proportion in the western provinces of Ningxia, Xinjiang and Qinghai.

Ningxia, desert — Sand sculptures in Desert Lake scenic spot near Zhongwei, Ningxia. August 2008.
Image by Fanghong ➚ available under a Creative Commons license ➚

13. The mark of veneration was the traditional kowtow. How many times did you have to knock your head on the ground to the Emperor?

Nine was the imperial number. The set of nine kowtows was split into three sets of three between kneelings. Three is a very yang number and so 3x3 is even more yang and Imperial.

14. Where might you expect to see 'water sleeves' in China?

at the opera

on the beach

on a lake

Water sleeves are the very long sleeves worn by women it traditional opera. They are used to great effect in dances and gestures.

Taiping Rebellion, battle — Taiping rebels are chased out of Yuzhuang, March 8 1854. The Taiping arrived the previous day but had to retire the next day when the Manchus arrived in hot pursuit. From Ten scenes recording the retreat and defeat of the Taiping Northern Expeditionary Forces, February 1854-March 1855. Source : web site ➚ Available under a Creative Commons license ➚.

15. Which province is the coldest in winter?

Fujian

Heilongjiang

Hunan

Heilongjiang is the most northerly province and has bitterly cold winters - it borders Siberia after all.

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