A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for May
1. Why is rice planted in water?
provide nutrients
suppress weeds
suppress insect pests
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.
2. 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 ➚
3. Which of these is NOT part of the Buddhist eightfold path to enlightenment
abstain from sex
charitable work
reject evil
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 ➚
4. The 'Peony Pavilion' is a famous what?
opera
sexual position
painting
The 'Peony Pavilion' is the most famous Kunqu Opera and dates back to the Ming dynasty.
Dragon and peonies
5. An auspicious arrangement of hills is sometimes called?
springing tiger
hidden dragon
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. The noon day gun is fired every day where?
Hong Kong
Shanghai
Lhasa
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.
Luoyang ancient gate
7. Wade-Giles is a method for doing what?
Sailing a Chinese junk
Processing tea
Writing Chinese with English letters
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).
8. Which European scientist considered the Yi Jing as proof of ancient knowledge of binary arithmetic?
Leibniz
Isaac Newton
Voltaire
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.
10. Which country other than Britain took part in the Opium Wars with China?
France
Portugal
US
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 ➚
11. The Uyghur people number over 8 million in which province do they mainly live?
Xinjiang
Sichuan
Inner Mongolia
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. In which dynasty did Emperor Qianlong rule?
Ming
Qing
Song
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).
13. A meeting at Lushan in 1959 brought an end to the career of which revolutionary leader
Zhu De
Peng Dehuai
Deng Xiaoping
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. When did the first known Chinese person visit Britain?
1280
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.
15. How would you say 'next month' in Chinese?
上个月 shàng gè yuè
下个月 xià gè yuè
明年 míng nián
Next is often expressed as 下 xià which also means below, down and later.
A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for May
