Deck 11: Centers of Culture: Court and City in the Larger World

Question 1

Shiva is commonly portrayed dancing within a circle of fire to

A)instruct his followers on how to worship him.
B)symbolize his creative and destructive powers.
C)represent the mystical state created by dancing.
D)represent his incarnation as sun god.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Why did the Heian women write using the new,purely Japanese system,hiragana?

A)The court discouraged displays of education in Chinese by women.
B)The court banned Chinese in universities and government affairs.
C)Women used hiragana so their husbands could not read their diaries.
D)Women felt more connection with the lower classes that used hiragana.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Pagoda design was inspired by

A)Egyptian pyramids.
B)Indian stupas.
C)Qin Shihuangdi's tomb.
D)Mesopotamian ziggurats.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The symbolic sacred chamber at the heart of the Hindu temple is known as the

A)lingam.
B)mandapa.
C)garbhagriha.
D)sikhara.

Question 5

the Japanese court women created the new literary form of

A)poetry.
B)haiku.
C)zuihitsu.
D)waka.

Question 6

Japanese Heian court women were particularly defined by their

A)talents in flower arranging.
B)language skills.
C)domestic skills.
D)child-bearing ability.

Question 7

Japan's capital was moved to Heian-ko between 784 and 794 to

A)distance the secular court from Buddhist influence.
B)accommodate a larger,more elaborate palace.
C)be closer to the thriving seaports.
D)escape the threat of Chinese invaders.

Question 8

Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji is considered to be the world's first

A)book written by a woman.
B)published diary.
C)illustrated book.
D)Novel.

Question 9

Tibetan Buddhist monks created rolled-up cloth paintings called thangkas as

A)record-keeping documents for the monastery.
B)instructional aids.
C)meditation aids.
D)lama genealogies.

Question 10

Buddhist monks in Nepal and Tibet adapted Buddhism by

A)joining it with Bon,the native mystical religion.
B)integrating the ethical elements of Confucianism.
C)replacing the stupas with mountaintop temples.
D)appointing village chiefs to serve as priests.

Question 11

Song painters valued landscape above other subjects because it

A)possessed a vastness that,to them,reflected China itself.
B)offered a constantly changing subject.
C)possessed a beauty that,to them,symbolized the Chinese people.
D)embodied the principle behind all things in their belief system.

Question 12

In the exiled Song scholar-painters' art during Mongol rule,bamboo symbolized

A)Chinese peoples' dominance of the land.
B)the theft of Chinese soil by Mongol invaders.
C)Chinese peoples' ability to bend and not break.
D)the unifying principle of the Chinese world.

Question 13

The Tang Chinese believe their capital city's grid plan mirrored the

A)social hierarchy of the region.
B)diversity of the city's inhabitants.
C)order of the cosmos.
D)home of the gods.

Question 14

The Ife people considered their king's head to be of supreme importance believing it to

A)protect them against all enemies.
B)house the tribe's collective knowledge.
C)be the home of the spirit.
D)symbolize triumph over pain.

Question 15

The moat surrounding the Hindu temple Angkor Wat represents

A)the womb.
B)purification.
C)the force of destruction.
D)the oceans.

Question 16

Pure Land Buddhism was particularly attractive to the Japanese during the Kamakura period because it offered the ability to

A)own land.
B)escape familial clan-based authority.
C)escape from serving in the warrior clans' military.
D)achieve enlightenment in an afterlife.

Question 17

The Chinese were able to build suspension bridges and pagodas because of the development of

A)earthen walls.
B)cypress-bark shingles.
C)iron- and steel-casting.
D)sikharas.

Question 18

The Yoruba people believe that their king links

A)heaven and hell.
B)the gods and ancestral heroes.
C)the past and the future.
D)nature's forces and the land.

Question 19

After the Han dynasty fell in 220 CE,the Chinese rejected Confucianism for Buddhism,because they

A)blamed Confucianism for civil and cultural dysfunction.
B)embraced Buddhism's emphasis on the soul.
C)rejected Confucianism's social hierarchy.
D)needed Buddhism's position against warfare.

Question 20

Chinese imperial palaces never faced north

A)to imitate the flow of the rivers.
B)to position themselves in front of the North Star.
C)to position themselves in front of the northern mountains.
D)to avoid evil spirits.

Question 21

Identify and explain the contradictions concerning women and education in the beliefs of the Heian Japanese.

Question 22

Compare the grid layout of the Tang city Chang'an with that of the Mesoamerican Teotihuacán.

Question 23

The conquering Spanish built churches on Inca temple foundations to

A)conserve human labor and natural resources.
B)be syncretistic,blending native religion and Christianity.
C)emphasize Christian control of native sites.
D)preserve the masterful masonry of the temples.

Question 24

Compare the Buddhist "Sunset" pagoda with the Hindu Kandarya Mahadeva temple,focusing on its design and symbolism.

Question 25

Discuss the use of the ballgame in the Popol Vuh and in Mesoamerican cultures.

Question 26

Why was blood sacrifice central to Aztec culture?

A)Their symbol,the eagle,fed on blood.
B)Blood represented the cycle of birth and death.
C)The sun,moon,and earth were thought to need human blood for sustenance.
D)Sacrifices of prisoners deterred other groups from attacking.

Question 27

Discuss the historical significance of Sei Shonagon's zuihitsu,Pillow Book.

Question 28

The Benin built massive earthwork walls and moats around their capital city as

A)protection from raiding elephants.
B)as a border to separate feuding clans from each other.
C)as barriers against the Niger River.
D)as a shield to protect themselves from angry gods.

Question 29

West African poets composed praise poems to

A)win annual poetry competitions.
B)earn favor with eligible women.
C)celebrate heroic ancestors.
D)gain influence over the poem's subject.

Question 30

Explain the uses of music in African societies.

Question 31

The Yoruba king must cover his face with rows of beads to

A)prevent his subjects from looking at him.
B)conceal his identity from the gods.
C)shield viewers from the power of his gaze.
D)avoid seeing the suffering of his people.

Question 32

Discuss the use of and reasons for symbolism in the Yuan dynasty's exiled scholar-painters' works.

Question 33

Describe the appearance and construction of the Ethiopian rock churches.

Question 34

Explain the personal and social conflicts that the title character of Shikibu's The Tale of Genji encounters.

Question 35

What commodity did the Inca apparently value more than silver and gold?

A)jade
B)sand
C)water
D)textiles