Shanghai - A History Trivia Quiz

Answer: Maijiabang

The Maijiabang people lived around Lake Tai and the Yangtze River for two millennia starting around 5000 BC. In addition to harvesting rice, the Maijiabang people also domesticated pigs, made jade instruments and tools and built wells. The Songze people were also early inhabitants of Shanghai and lived near the Maijiabang, but they came around in 3600 BC, well after the Maijiabang had settled the area.

Answer: Fishing

Many rivers and lakes flow through or near Shanghai. This gave the city the edge it needed to become a major fishing village in China. In fact, fishing was so successful that even today Shanghai is referred to as "Hu" on Chinese licenses and documents, with the "Hu" character representing a fishing trap in the Chinese language.

Answer: Qinglong Zhen

Qinglong Zhen began as a military garrison during the Tang Dynasty in 746. By the time of the Song Dynasty, it had become a naval base and was key in the Chinese trading industry. It also maintained active military troops, however. During this time period, Shanghai also became the center of tax collection in China.

Answer: Confucius

The Wen Miao's design is based on the Temple of Confucius in Qufu, which was built in 205 BCE. Wen Miao has seen its share of conflict, having been almost destroyed by war several times since its creation, only to be rebuilt each time. It received its worst damage in the 1850s when the Chinese government fought the Small Swords Society that was living in the temple at the time.

Answer: Yuyuan Garden

The gardens were the brainchild of Ming Emperor Pan Yunduan for his father who suffered from painful diseases (likely arthritis.) After Pan Yunduan's death, the garden complex wound up in the hands of several different private owners who each added to it until the city of Shanghai obtained them in 1709 and opened to the public in 1780. Yuyuan Garden was severely damaged during the Opium War in 1842 when it was used as a station for British soldiers.

The Japanese also destroyed parts of it during World War II.

Answer: Matteo Ricci

Matteo Ricci is also credited with opening China up to some economic activities with Europe, mainly through religious reasoning and ties. Although there is little Christianity openly practiced in China in modern times, the Shanghai neighborhood of Xujiahui, the Church of Saint Ignatius in China still stands. Catholicism was practised fairly regularly in Shanghai until the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s when mainly religious buildings were damaged, ruined, vandalized and converted to state-owned property.

Answer: Coffee

Coffee was not an export of Shanghai, while the city did have a booming industry in opium, silk and cotton, particularly the first two. The opium trade caused problems with Britain during the First Opium War in 1842 when the Chinese were forced to import British opium instead of using their own.

Answer: Treaty of Nanjing

As a result of the treaty, Shanghai and other ports were forced open to British trade. This was devastating for China as that nation had dominated seaborne trade in that part of Asia. The treaty is sometimes called the Treaty of Nanking and is properly called Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Commerce between Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and the Emperor of China.

Answer: Japan

China and Japan fought in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894-5. As a result of another military loss for China, Japan became the dominant East Asian power. China's military and infrastructure were outdated and the ruling Qing Dynasty took China's strength for granted. Japan had been seen as an outdated society that was isolated and easily defeated.

However, Japan had just modernized and reformed itself during the Meiji Restoration. As a result of China's loss, Shanghai became updated, especially in its transportation systems with a building of new railways.

Answer: Chiang Kai-shek

For most of the 20th century, Shanghai experienced tragedy after tragedy. In 1927, Shanghai saw a bloody massacre between pro-Communist forces and Chiang Kai-shek supporters. During World War II, the Japanese put most of the Shanghai Jews in ghettos.

Ultimately, Shanghai was an economic mess by the late 1900s with an excessively high tax burden. Jiang Zemin led the Shanghai clique in turning around the city's hardships. After the policies of Jiang Zemin were implemented, Shanghai was responsible for the most economic growth in China.