May Quiz

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
opium war, sea battle, junk, boat, ship
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. The 'Peony Pavilion' is a famous what?
sexual position
opera
painting
TCM, medicine, lattice screen
TCM doctor preparing a prescription

3. Wade-Giles is a method for doing what?
Classifying paintings
Sailing a Chinese junk
Writing Chinese with English letters
red lantern, lantern, chinese new year, spring festival
Red lanterns are hung from the trees during the Chinese New Year celebrations in Ditan Park (Temple of Earth) in Beijing. Image by Paul Louis available under a Creative Commons License

4. A meeting at Lushan in 1959 brought an end to the career of which revolutionary leader
Peng Dehuai
Lin Biao
Deng Xiaoping
Jiangxi, Lushan, waterfall
Waterfall on Lushan mountains, Jiangxi

5. Which of these is NOT part of the Buddhist eightfold path to enlightenment
charitable work
meditation
abstain from sex
luohan, Buddhism
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

6. The noon day gun is fired every day where?
Tianjin
Lhasa
Hong Kong
Huangshan, Anhui, mountain
Huangshan mountain with Pinus hwangshanensis trees, Nov 2010
Image by Peter05031960 available under a Creative Commons license

7. An auspicious arrangement of hills is sometimes called?
magic lotus
hidden dragon
springing tiger
Zhejiang, mountains, view
Zhejiang scenery near Hangzhou including a tea plantation

8. Which European scientist considered the Yi Jing as proof of ancient knowledge of binary arithmetic?
Voltaire
Leibniz
Isaac Newton
yi jing
Three gold coins used for Yi Jing fortune telling

9. In which Chinese province was the 14th Dalai Lama (present leader) born?
Beijing
Tibet
Qinghai
Buddhism , prayer wheel
Buddhist prayer wheels at Wudang temple, Inner Mongolia

10. How would you say 'next month' in Chinese?
下个月 xià gè yuè
明年 míng nián
上个月 shàng gè yuè
Guangdong, bridge
Zhanjiang Bridge, southern Guangdong

11. In which dynasty did Emperor Qianlong rule?
Qing
Song
Tang
Peking duck, food, Beijing, Peking duck
Peking duck

12. Why is rice planted in water?
suppress weeds
suppress insect pests
provide nutrients
rice, Yunnan
Sheaves of rice set out to dry, Yuanyang, Yunnan

13. Under which British sovereign was the first official embassy sent off to China?
Queen Victoria
King Edward VI
King George III
Macartney, embassy, kowtow
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

14. When did the first known Chinese person visit Britain?
1685
1924
1357
christian, Shen Fuzong

15. The Uyghur people number over 8 million in which province do they mainly live?
Xinjiang
Sichuan
Gansu
Bejing, street, mcdonalds, people, PKChina-34
Beijing street. September 2019. Image by Paul Kerswill
Switch off sounds
Switch on sounds
Try another quiz