Chinese sculpture - Quiz
Chinese sculpture
  • 1. What material were statuettes known for in China for a long time before monumental stone statuary?
A) Jade
B) Marble
C) Terracotta
D) Bronze
  • 2. In what year were the first monumental stone sculptures created in China?
A) 221 BCE
B) 9 AD
C) 117 BCE
D) 202 BCE
  • 3. Who was Huo Qubing?
A) A general of Emperor Han Wudi
B) The First Emperor of China
C) A famous traveler to the western regions
D) A Buddhist monk
  • 4. Against which group did Huo Qubing go to the western regions to fight?
A) Tibetans
B) Xiongnu
C) Manchus
D) Mongols
  • 5. According to literary sources, what animal were the two alleged monumental statues set up on top of the tomb of the First Emperor Qin Shihuang?
A) Tiger
B) Lion
C) Qilin
D) Dragon
  • 6. What is the most famous statue from the Mausoleum of Huo Qubing?
A) A seated Buddha
B) A lion guarding a gateway
C) A qilin protecting a tomb
D) A horse trampling a Xiongnu warrior
  • 7. How many stone sculptures are at the Mausoleum of Huo Qubing in total, including the most famous one?
A) 2
B) 16
C) 15
D) 20
  • 8. How do the other 15 sculptures at Huo Qubing's mausoleum compare to the 'Horse trampling a Xiongnu'?
A) Made of bronze
B) Less naturalistic
C) More detailed
D) Larger in size
  • 9. What do the 15 lesser-known sculptures at Huo Qubing's mausoleum tend to follow?
A) Strict geometric patterns
B) Symmetrical architectural grids
C) Human anatomical charts
D) The natural shape of the stone
  • 10. How do the details of the figures emerge in the 15 sculptures at Huo Qubing's mausoleum?
A) Through separate attachments
B) Through painting
C) In low relief
D) In high relief
  • 11. Who was the famous traveler to the western regions who had rudimentary stone statues of lions placed at his mausoleum?
A) Huo Qubing
B) Siddhārtha Gautama
C) Zhang Qian
D) Han Wudi
E) Qin Shihuang
  • 12. When did Zhang Qian live and travel?
A) 2nd century CE
B) 117 BCE
C) -114 BCE
D) 268 BCE
  • 13. What animal were the rudimentary stone statues placed at Zhang Qian's mausoleum?
A) Qilin
B) Tigers
C) Lions
D) Horses
  • 14. What influenced the precursors of Chinese monumental stone sculpture?
A) Internal religious reforms
B) Maritime trade with Rome
C) Inventions from southern China
D) Forays deep into Central Asia
  • 15. Where were ancient stone statues recently discovered that were probably influential to Chinese sculpture?
A) Southern India and Sri Lanka
B) Altay and northern Xinjiang
C) Eastern coastal plains
D) Central Tibet
  • 16. What is the historical geographic path of the West-East diffusion of stone sculpture technology?
A) China to India, then Greece, and finally Egypt
B) Egypt and Babylonia to Greece, then India, and finally China
C) India to China, then Babylonia, and finally Greece
D) Greece to Egypt, then China, and finally India
  • 17. Which Indian pillars mark a step in the diffusion of stone sculpture technology before it reached China?
A) Pillars of Trajan
B) Pillars of Ashoka
C) Pillars of Darius
D) Pillars of Hercules
  • 18. During which centuries did the Pillars of Ashoka date?
A) 500–400 BCE
B) 268–232 BCE
C) 2nd century CE
D) 117–114 BCE
  • 19. Around which century did stone sculpture technology reach China?
A) 2nd century BCE
B) 1st century CE
C) 2nd century CE
D) 1st century BCE
  • 20. Who is Siddhārtha Gautama also commonly known as?
A) Huo Qubing
B) Qin Shihuang
C) Zhang Qian
D) Buddha
  • 21. Besides representations of Buddha, what sculptural pieces are included in Chinese Buddhist sculpture?
A) Qilin, unicorns, and lions
B) Taoist philosophers and poets
C) Emperors, generals, and merchants
D) Bodhisattvas, monks, and various deities
  • 22. When were Buddhist teachings introduced to China?
A) As early as the 2nd century BCE
B) During the Ming dynasty
C) In the 2nd century CE
D) After the 10th century CE
  • 23. During which Chinese dynasty were Buddhist teachings introduced?
A) Ming dynasty
B) Qin dynasty
C) Han dynasty
D) Qing dynasty
  • 24. When did Buddhism become more established in China?
A) During the 2nd century BCE
B) During the 117 BCE era
C) During the 2nd century CE
D) During the prehistoric era
  • 25. What were the earliest Buddhist representations in China instead of the human form?
A) Jade disks and bronze mirrors
B) Stone horses and qilin
C) An empty seat, footprint, tree or stupa
D) Large bronze bells and gongs
  • 26. What architectural form did the stupa eventually inspire the creation of in China?
A) City walls
B) Pagodas
C) Cave temples
D) Palaces
  • 27. Where did Buddhist sculpture begin in China?
A) Imperial palaces
B) Open-air mausoleums
C) Rock-cut cave temples
D) Wooden monasteries
  • 28. How are carvings mostly executed in rock-cut cave temples?
A) As painted scrolls
B) As clay statuettes
C) In relief
D) In freestanding round statues
  • 29. What do carvings in rock-cut cave temples envelop?
A) Chambers and complexes
B) Imperial tombs and altars
C) Marketplaces and fortresses
D) City gates and bridges
  • 30. What do the carvings in rock-cut cave temples illustrate?
A) The travels of Zhang Qian to Central Asia
B) The beliefs associated with the Buddha's teachings
C) The military conquests of Han Wudi
D) The lineage of the First Emperor Qin Shihuang
  • 31. What did creating cave temples and sculptures garner for devotees?
A) High military rank
B) Land ownership
C) Imperial tax exemptions
D) Merit aligned to their own personal growth
  • 32. Besides garnering merit, what did temples and sculptures give to devotees?
A) A map of western trade routes
B) A reference for worship and meditative inspiration
C) A chronicle of Han dynasty battles
D) A guide for agricultural planting
  • 33. Which of the following is listed as a major rock-cut site with large groups of excavated caves?
A) Maoling Mausoleum
B) Yungang Grottoes
C) Terracotta Army pits
D) Altay Tombs
  • 34. Which of the following is also a major rock-cut site mentioned in the text?
A) Great Wall
B) Longmen Grottoes
C) Forbidden City
D) Summer Palace
  • 35. Name another major rock-cut site featuring large groups of excavated caves from the text.
A) Huo Qubing Mausoleum
B) Qin Shihuang Mausoleum
C) Xi'an City Walls
D) Maijishan Grottoes
  • 36. Which cave site is included alongside Yungang, Longmen, and Maijishan?
A) Mogao Caves
B) Xinjiang Tombs
C) Mogao Grottoes only in name
D) Altay Caves
  • 37. What is the approximate history span of Chinese sculpture in years according to the text?
A) More than 5,000 years
B) More than 500 years
C) More than 1,000 years
D) More than 3,000 years
  • 38. Whose sculpture did Chinese sculpture eventually influence?
A) Rome
B) Greece
C) Japan
D) Egypt
  • 39. What kind of decoration was avoided in traditional Chinese ritual bronzes?
A) Animal motifs
B) Complex patterns
C) The human figure
D) Zoomorphic decoration
  • 40. Where were huge figures recently discovered that contrasted with traditional ritual bronzes by depicting human figures?
A) Sanxingdui
B) The Terracotta Army
C) Imperial tombs
D) Khalchayan
  • 41. For whose tomb was the spectacular Terracotta Army assembled?
A) The first Emperor of Western Zhou
B) Qin Shi Huang
C) A Buddhist monk
D) The Emperor of Tang
  • 42. In the 5th century, the use of images in worship was attacked as a specifically what practice?
A) Confucian practice
B) Buddhist practice
C) Daoist practice
D) Imperial practice
  • 43. What best describes large religious sculpture in China since native religions usually do not use cult images?
A) Nearly all Daoist
B) Nearly all Confucian
C) Nearly all Buddhist
D) Nearly all imperial portraiture
  • 44. The earliest Chinese gilt-bronze seated Buddha displays influence from 2nd-century Chinese tomb art and sculpture from where?
A) Khalchayan
B) Japan
C) Egypt
D) Sanxingdui
  • 45. Chinese Buddhism is the context of all known examples of what type of sculpture?
A) Tomb horses and charioteers
B) Ritual bronze vessels
C) Painted images of the emperor
D) Large portrait sculpture
  • 46. Approximately how many life-size terra-cotta figures of warriors and horses are in the Terracotta Army?
A) More than 10,000
B) More than 7,000
C) More than 1,000
D) More than 500
  • 47. When was the self-proclaimed first Emperor of Qin buried with the Terracotta Army?
A) 210–209 BC
B) c. 1500 BC
C) The 5th century AD
D) 221 to 210 BC
  • 48. Which of the following poses is NOT mentioned as part of the Terracotta Army?
A) Charioteers with horses
B) Kneeling archers
C) Sitting rulers
D) Standing infantry
  • 49. Which medium besides metalwork was especially used for high-standard small Buddhist figures and relief decoration?
A) Jade
B) Bronze ritual vessels
C) Terracotta
D) Wood
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