China Girl Trivia Quiz

Answer: Han

Lu Zhi, often known as "Empress Lu", was the first empress of the Han Dynasty and perhaps one of the most ruthless empresses in the history of China. She would serve as a competent administrator and leader of domestic affairs within the empire, but was often feared for her extreme measures.

She was responsible for ordering the deaths of military leaders Han Xin and Peng Yue in 196 BC. In a disturbing act, Peng Yue's corpse was cut into pieces, salted, and eventually distributed to noble families across China.

In a time when concubines were commonplace, Empress Lu did not take kindly to her husbands main concubine, Concubine Qi. In a cruel manner, Concubine Qi had her limbs cut off, her eyes gouged, and her tongue cut out, succumbing to this torture in 194 BC. Qi's son Liu Ruyi was later poisoned and died on directives given by Empress Lu.

Answer: Li Zhi

Wu Zetian was a concubine of Emperor Taizong ultimately marrying his son Emperor Gaozong in 655. As Gaozong was inexperienced at the time he became emperor and often afflicted with illness and dizziness, Wu Zetian found herself making decisions on his behalf.

When Gaozong died in 683 Wu became the empress dowager and eventually a regent. Like many other empresses, she was often feared and using cruel measures during her reign implementing a secret police force and killing or imprisoning anyone that might stand in her way. On the other hand, she was often seen as fair to peasants by lowering taxes in the empire and improving agricultural production.

She was also responsible for declaring Buddhism as the favored religion in the empire. In 705, she was pressured to give up her role as leader due to her constant superstition and fear and eventually died peacefully in December of the same year.

Answer: Xiang Jingyu

Xiang Jingyu was one of the first female members of the Communist Party of China (CPC), being accepted in 1922. She was highly educated, attending the Montargis Women's University in France. While there, she studied the works of Karl Marx and became concerned with both the conditions of China and the rest of the world.

After accepting membership within the CPC, she attempted to establish relations with female factory workers in an attempt to fight for women's rights and eventual liberation. In 1927, she decided to work for the Propaganda Department in the Wuhan province, a dangerous occupation as known communists were being expelled from the region.

In March 1928, she was arrested by the police as she was betrayed by the members of her group and was executed in May for her association with communism.

Answer: Anti-government protests

Highly influenced by Chinese politician (and teacher of future leader Mao Zedong) Xu Teli, Zeng Xianzhi became an active participant in the Chinese revolution of the 1920s and 1930s. After joining the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1928, she was arrested by the Nationalist government for participating in anti-government protests in 1929, but eventually being released and moving to Japan.

After Mao Zedong became the first Chairman of China in 1949, Xianzhi was given the title deputy secretary-general of the First National Women's Congress but did not always conform to aspects of socialist thought.

As a result, she was labeled as an "alien class element" and sent to the May Seventh Cadre Schools to be re-educated on proper socialist beliefs. Always one to support women and their rights, she became the vice-president of the All-China Women's Federation at the Fourth National Women's Congress in 1978, one of her final roles as an active politician prior to her death in 1989.

Answer: Mao Zedong

Qing married the first Chairman of China, Mao Zedong, in November 1938 and is historically known as being the initial "First Lady" of the People's Republic of China. Her life in politics began when Mao became Chairman. During the 1950s, she was the director of Film in the Central Propaganda Department and eventually became a member of the Department of Culture. Following criticisms as a result of the Great Leap Forward, Mao gave Jiang the power to help persecute enemies of his regime, becoming a member of the "Gang of Four".

Much of her political influence in China during the 1960s and 1970s was through the use of the arts; particularly opera and ballet. She established what became known as the "Eight Model Plays", revolutionary plays or operas sometimes viewed as "propaganda" in nature.

After the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, Jiang along with the other members of the Gang of Four were arrested for treason and counter-revolutionary activity. Jiang was sentenced to death in 1981, but her sentence was overturned to life in prison in 1983.

In 1991, she was transported to a hospital after being diagnosed with throat cancer and committed suicide by hanging herself in a hospital bathroom.

Answer: Hu Yaobang

Shaofen was born to primary school teachers in August of 1930 and is believed to be a descendant of a defense minister from the Song dynasty. In 1952, she became a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and eventually befriended future Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang leading the Communist Youth League of China (CYL). During the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, Hu Yaobang was purged twice by the Mao Zedong government and those associated with him could be arrested. Wao Shaofen would be arrested and persecuted for her association with Yaofeng being subject to physical abuse.

In 1974, she would be politically reinstated and by 1988 was appointed as the deputy head of the United Front Work Department. She is historically known as being the very first female provincial chief in the history of China.

Answer: Iron Lady of China

Wu Yi began her journey into politics in 1962 when she joined the Communist Party of China. She would spend a good portion of her working life as a petroleum technician after achieving a degree in petroleum engineering at the Beijing Petroleum Institute.

It would not be until 1988 when she officially took a position in a political office, being elected the deputy mayor of Beijing. After the Tienanmen Square protests in 1989, she took a more active role in politics becoming both the Deputy Minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation. During the SARS crisis of 2002-03, she became the Minister of Health after the firing of Zhang Wenkang (after he tried to cover up the crisis) and is most known for setting up a committee to try and solve the crisis.

Answer: She was a factory worker

After graduating from the Anshan Industrial Technology Academy, Sun Chunlan eventually worked her way to managing operations at a watch factory in the Liaoning province. She joined the Communist Party of China in 1973 to start her career in politics. During the 1990s, Chunlan spent a good part of her political career working in trade unions and sitting as a member of the Liaoning provincial Party Standing Committee (used to manage day-to-day political affairs). Following the dismissal of Ling Jihua, she became the head of the Communist Party's United Front Work Department managing relations with the non-Communist Party elite.

Answer: Wang Suyi

Xiaolin became an active member of politics after serving as a medic in the People's Liberation Army. After graduating with a degree in economics in 1984, she joined the regional government in Inner Mongolia. In 2006, she became a Communist Party secretary quickly being promoted to Vice-Chairwoman of Inner Mongolia in 2008. Following an investigation into corruption, the Head of Inner Mongolia United Front Work Department Wang Suyi was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking bribes in exchange for political favors (including some bribes that were accepted by his wife).

As a result, Xiaolin moved up the political ranks one more time becoming Suyi's successor in January 2014.

Answer: Propaganda department

Following her graduation from Hebei Teacher's College with a degree in Chinese, Tian joined the Communist Party of China in 1984-85. She was actively involved with the Communist Youth League and took on her first political role becoming the deputy chief of Tangshan in 2003. By 2011, she was a member of the elite ranks of the provincial Party Standing Committee taking on the role as the United Front chief. By 2015, she was named the head of the Propaganda Department in the Hebei province responsible for enforcing media relations and censorship.