Second Midterm Exam with Answer Key - Chinese Culture through Narrative | CHIN 252, Exams of Chinese Culture

Download Second Midterm Exam with Answer Key - Chinese Culture through Narrative | CHIN 252 and more Exams Chinese Culture in PDF only on Docsity! - QS @. Chinese 252 2ND MIDTERM PART 2 Icertify that I have neither given nor received aid on Fall, 2009 this examination. NAME SIGNED. (print) o PART I, SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS (30 paints). Do any 15 of the following questions, To aid correction, please oO put an X or some other readily identifiable sign next to all items that you either do not do or do not want counted. If you do not do this, I will simply count the first 15 answered items, 1. Who lived earlier, Kingzi or Qin ShY Hudngdi?_ K O1/ 2. The lines “Earth endures, Heaven endures; some time both shall end; / But this unending sorrow will go on and on forever” (ARILAA WG HS, WLR A Me BAF) are associated with the story of: a) Zhu Yingtai and Lidng Shanbé; b) St Qin and Zhang Yi; ‘c) Tang Xudnzdng and Yang Guiféi; d) Ya Boyd and Zhong Ziqi 3. The Roman empire was roughly contemporaneous with: a) Spring and Autumn era, b) the Warring States era; c) the Han dynasty; d) the Tang dynasty : wh 4. Which two couplets in a hishi or “regulated poem” have to show grammatical parallelism? 2 a) +S. What reler did Guan Zhong serve as prime minister? (9) HU 6. Tang chudngi tales were preceded (in the “North-south Division” or Six Dynasties Period) by accounts of: a)eerie happenings; b)Jove-suicides; c)} predictions that proved accurate; d) unconventional battle tactics “7, BO Yi and Shi Qi: a) were stabbed to death as they slept; _b) died defending the Zhiu capital from an invasion; ¢) died of starvation on a mountaintop; _d) died after a shaman cursed them 8. How many lines make up a juéjit (“cut-off”) poem? “+ 9. The legend of the weaving maid and the herd boy and the yearly festival associated with them seem to have originated during the: a) Spring and Autumnera; b) the Warring States era; c} the Han dynasty; d) the Tang dynasty + V/10. Sui Y4ngdi (the second and last emperor of the Sui) is known for his: a) extravagance and dissipation b) fine calligraphy c) deviousness and cruelty; d) military genius . VIL. “T have heard the hearts of sages have seven apertures,” is a saying attributed in legend to: a) Kéngzi b) Zhagé Liang c) Han Wiidi ‘d) King Zhou of Shang . 12. Who wrote the line “A heart that is distant creates its own wilderness?” 13, What would it mean if I accused someone of “inquiring about the vessels in the central plain?” 14. Who in 246 BCE carried out the order of the king of Qin to take troops out and wipe out what remained of the Zhou royal domain? 15. What is the origin of the term zhi yin (“know-sound”: “close friend”)? 6. With what ruler is the expression “burn-books-bury-scholars” (fén shi kéng rii) associated? Ch, 252 2nd Midterm Pt. 2 © (Fall, 2009), cont. 2 17. Why was “the old frontiersman” skeptical when friends came to congratulate him when good things happened or commiserate with him when bad things happened? 18. How did Lf Yannian arouse Han Wil-di’s interest in his (Lf YAnnian’s) sister Madame Li? vio, In the context of Warring States history, what is meant by the term “vertical alliance?” Nile uty t . V0, Who lived Sater, OQ Yudn or To Qian? “C4 Ria v ae According to legend, Sin Bin maneuvered Pang Juan into an ambush next to a tree upon the bark of the words “Pang Juan dies here” were carved. This occurred in a battle between: a) Qin and Chil; rs Wey and Qi; c) Wi and Yué; d) Chén and Céo _ v 22. According to an oft-quoted saying, how does the difficulty of a task vary with the psychology of the person who performs the task? / ;/~ 77 omrple St €. Why { { a] 33. In stories of enlightened men whose aims come to naught because they fail to meet a ruler who understands them (xidn rén budé zhi), an officerzsloyalty and wisdom is regularly symbolized by, or compared to: —_a) a life-restoring medicine; (ba woman’s beauty; c)atiger’s strength; d) the efficacy of a magic spell 7 24. According to Zhang Yi’s Shiji biography, what part of his body did he ask his wife to inspect after he had suffered a close-to-fatal beating in Cha? Tovns } Ik SHORT ESSAY QUESTIONS (40 points). Answer any two. V1. After taking over the administration of Qin, Shang Yang increased the prosperity and strength of that state through the implementation of a long series of highly nove! reforms—so in this respect he was comparable to earlier statesmen who strengthened states by reorganizing them. Yet it would seem difficult to describe him as a “sage,” such as Zhiigé Liang, or Baili Xi or Jiang Tai-géng. In what respects does he depart from the “sage pattern?” 2. Among the various words associated with classical virtues, three are spelled as “zhi” in pinyin. One is a verb pronounced in the first tone, and the other two are nouns pronounced in the fourth tone. What are the meanings of these three words and how are the actions or qualities that they denote illustrated in stories? 3. A few of the stories we have looked at in this course have the quality of parables—stories in which not a great deal happens, but in which an object or an action seem to stand for something else, or appear to be used to evoke some abstract quality. Pick some stories of this type (three would be a good number) and discuss them. You can use poems as well as stories, if you wish. VA. Compare Miss Rén (the fox-fairy) to Miss Li (the courtesan). What attributes do they have in common, and how do they differ? 5. What are some ways in which romantic love is made to appear attractive or even praiseworthy in imperial era stories that celebrate this emotion?