Timeless Tales Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Monkey King

Sun Wukong plays a significant role in one of the classic Chinese novels of the 16th century, "Journey to the West" (attributed to Wu Cheng'en). He is said to have been born from a sacred stone and acquired supernatural powers under the guidance of a Taoist monk. He endeavours to find a place with the gods in Heaven but receives the run-around. He responds by causing all forms of mischief. He devours the peaches of immortality and Laozi's pills of immortality, erases his name from The Book of the Dead and becomes immensely powerful after his body is tempered into a steel hard frame after being confined in Eight-Trigram Furnace.

The Heavens set their vast armies upon him, but he defeats them all, forcing the Heavens to seek help from Buddha. Buddha manages to trap the Monkey King under a mountain where, after 500 years, he manages to tame him, and Sun Wukong becomes one of Buddha's most loyal companions.

(Footnote) The word "trooper" was placed as hint in the question... the collective noun for a group of monkeys being a troop.

Answer: Moon

There are numerous myths about Chang'e, who was renowned for her beauty, and some of those tales tell differing stories. This one concerns the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Chang'e was married to the great archer Hou Yi, who was rewarded with two portions of the immortality elixir for saving the Earth. Ten suns had risen together and were burning the Earth. Hou Yi used his bow to shoot down nine of them, leaving a solitary sun in the sky. His plan was to share the elixir with his wife. However, while he was out hunting, his young apprentice, Fengmeng, confronted Chang'e and tried to force her to reveal the location of the potion. Rather than letting it fall into Fengmeng's hands, Chang'e consumed both containers. She then flew to the moon, where the Jade Rabbit became her companion, choosing to live out her immortality there. Hou Yi, when he discovered what had happened, placed the cakes and pies that his wife had made on a table for everyone to share and then, feeling responsible for what had happened, committed suicide.

Other tales indicate that Chang'e stole the potion for herself and then used the moon as a place of escape, where her husband could not reach her. Another tells that she was looking after the elixir for Wu Gang when thieves broke into her home and she swallowed them when she wasn't supposed to. Chang'e remains a major goddess in the realms of Chinese mythology and, in modern times, she has become the namesake of CLEP, the Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme.

(Footnote) The "waxing and waning" clue relates to the phases of the moon. A waning gibbous is between a full moon and a half moon (decreasing) and waxing means it is getting bigger.

Answer: Mortar & pestle

The rabbit appears in a number of East Asian mythologies holding the mortar and pestle. In the Chinese versions he is pounding the pestle, creating either medicines for mortals or mooncakes for their nourishment.

He is also seen as the companion of the moon goddess, Chang'e. The deliverance of the Rabbit to the moon is told in the 16th century story "Journey to the West" (attributed to Wu Cheng'en). Tang Sanzang is traveling to India when he meets a demoness who proposes marriage to him. The demoness is seeking to absorb Tang's yang essence to add to her powers. However, Sun Wukong, who is also traveling the same road, sees through the demon's disguise and is at the point of slaying her when Taiyin Xingjun (see footnote) appears and prevails upon Sun Wukong to desist. The demon, she indicates, is the Jade Rabbit, the guardian of her mystical frost elixir. She advises that the rabbit had unlocked the jade gates and escaped from her palace. Sun Wukong reluctantly agrees to spare the rabbit's life and Taiyin then takes it to the moon.

(Footnote) Taiyin is considered to be the original guardian (and goddess) of the moon. In Chinese folklore, her story appears to intertwine with that of Chang'e's and there are many who consider Chang'e to be the reincarnation of Taiyin.

The Caduceus is a symbol sometimes used by healthcare organizations, though the Rod of Asclepius is the more common symbol for medicine.

Answer: Build the Great Wall of China

The story of Lady Meng Jiang is one of the "Four Great Folktales" of China and, in 2006, it was one of the first pieces to be included on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Lady Meng Jiang's husband was pushed into corvee (forced and unpaid) labour to build the Great Wall. Lady Meng was not told of this so, when she found out, she packed some winter clothes for her husband and made the journey to deliver them to him. By the time she'd reached the Great Wall her husband had perished. Heartbroken, she wept bitter tears at her loss and, where those tears fell, the Great Wall collapsed, revealing her husband's bones. That section of the Wall that had fallen down is said to be the broken section in the Wall of Qi, in the province of Shandong.

Answer: Chinese New Year

Nian is the Chinese word for "new year" and the Nian monster is often cited as the reason behind a number of the practices, such as the wearing of red and the beating upon drums, seen during the celebrations.

It was said that the Nian monster would come out of its hiding place at the start of the Chinese New Year to feed. He would eat most things, animals, crops and even the villagers... he especially had a taste for children. From this point in the tale, there are differing accounts as to how the villagers came to deal with the creature. One indicates that they'd discovered that the Nian was afraid of the colour red, so they dressed in red, displayed red lanterns through streets and at the front of their homes and left food for the beast at the edge of town. Another tells of a stranger traveling through the town, informing the villagers that the Nian was sensitive to loud noise, so the practice of banging on drums, bowls and plates and setting off of firecrackers to drive the Nian away began.

(Footnote) The Dragon Boat Festival is also known as the Duanwu Festival and it remembers and honours the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, the Qingming Festival, also known as "Tomb Sweeping Day", is used to commemorate ancestors and the Double Seventh Festival is Chinese Valentine's Day.

Answer: White

There are a number of versions of the tale of Bai Suzhen, a young white snake, who was saved by the human Xu Xian in his past life. Bai Suzhen wished to repay Xu Xian and spends many years trying to, and succeeding, in transforming herself into human form. She immediately seeks out the reborn Xu Xian and the two fall instantly in love. The pair set up a medicine shop and live a happy life... but the past is not far behind.

A Buddhist monk, Fa Hai, appears and he convinces Xu Xian that his wife is an evil snake being and provides him with a special wine that would reveal her true self. Xu Xian tricks his wife into drinking it, she reverts to her snake form. Xu Xian's heart breaks, and he dies. Bai then sneaks into the land of the immortals and violates the spirit code by stealing a herb that will enable her to revive and then reclaim her husband. Once again they are a happy couple and the reunited pair soon give birth to a son.

Bai, however, is then punished for stealing the herbs and is imprisoned in the Leifeng Pagoda. Rather than committing suicide this time, Xu Xian chooses the life of a monk. Whilst this ending is, indeed, tragic, other tales provide an alternate ending. Those reveal that the son is a gifted child who becomes a top scholar in the land. He offers a sacrifice to his mother in front of the pagoda, which causes it to collapse, freeing Bai and the family is reunited.

Answer: Dragon

The Yellow Emperor is considered to be the ancestor of all of the Chinese people. He was conceived by Fu Bao, who became pregnant when she saw a ray of yellow light do a turn around the Northern Dipper. Two years later, the Yellow Emperor was born and was so named because it was the colour of the earth on which he was embodied. When the Emperor died, as mentioned above, he turned into the Yellow Dragon and flew up into the heavens.

Both the colour yellow and the dragon are significant in Chinese life. The colour was considered so important that, for a period of time, only the royal house was allowed to wear it. The dragon is a symbol of good fortune and the controller of rains, rivers and seas. This element is also linked with fluidity, adaptability and the transformative power of nature. He plays an important role in the Chinese dualism of yin and yang and is often paired with the phoenix... the phoenix being the yin (the passive and receiving female) and the dragon the yang (the active and giving male).

(Footnotes) The Mogwai is an evil spirit, the Penghou is a tree spirit and the White Tiger is the symbol of the west and the season of autumn. To emphasize the importance of the Yellow Dragon, for a period of time (1889-1912), the Chinese national flag was known as the Yellow Dragon Flag.

Answer: The Milky Way

The story of the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd has also been marked as one of the "Four Great Folk Tales" of China. Tragically, the pair had fallen deeply in love, something that was forbidden to them. They were both stars in the heaven, Zhinu, the Weaver Girl, was symbolized by the star Vega and Niulang, the Cowherd, was the star Altair, and, to remain in the heavens they had to be rid of all human desires... and love was one of those desires. As a consequence they were banished to either end of the Milky Way.

But all was not lost. Once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, a bridge would be formed by a flock of magpies and the two lovers could reunite for a single day.

Answer: One of creation

According to one Chinese myth, in the beginning, the universe had no form and was totally featureless. Over the next 18,000 years, all of this nothing came together to form a large cosmic egg and within its shell lay the principles of yin and yang and Pangu. Pangu emerged from the egg (supposedly creating the Big Bang) as a hairy giant bearing horns on his head.

He then set about creating the Earth by wielding a mighty axe and separating the yin from the yang. The dark and gloomy yin became the earth and clear yang became the sky. Pangu then placed his body between the pair, keeping them separate. Over the next 18,000 years Pangu grew ten feet taller each day, the sky ten feet higher and the earth ten feet thicker. Eventually Pangu's body would become the geographical features, such as the mountains and the rivers, of the Earth.

Answer: Cat

Some tales will say that it was the Jade Emperor that called for the race to create the zodiac as a means to celebrate his birthday, while others tell that it was Buddha that did so. Whilst the myths differ as to who the progenitor was, the rest of the tale is fairly similar (in most respects). There are thirteen creatures in the tale of the race - the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Each of these has their own story in the race, how they crossed the raging river and how they came across the finishing line, but this question is primarily focused on the cat and the rat.

The pair were neighbours and some will say that they were good friends and that the rat was supposed to remind the cat of the race. In his excitement the rat forgot, and the cat missed out. It's fair to say that they were no longer good neighbours. Other tales will tell that the pair hated each other with a passion. Both, however, were very smart and figured that the best way for them to cross the raging river was upon the back of the ox. The ox was obliging and agreed to ferry them. Halfway across the river, the rat pushed the cat into the water and it floated away. When the ox emerged from the river, the rat scampered off his back and was the first across the line, hence the first into the zodiac.

(Footnote) After the rat, the order in which the animals were listed in the first paragraph is how they crossed the and entered the zodiac.