East Asian Myths

28 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which culture hero, Nüwa's brother in some tellings, devised the eight trigrams?
- A. Shennong
- B. Huangdi
- C. Fuxi
- D. Cangjie
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Fuxi
Did you know? Fuxi drew the eight trigrams and taught fishing and hunting nets.
2.Which creature of the Qingqiu state is described with nine tails in the Shanhaijing?
- A. The nine-headed serpent
- B. The nine-tailed fox
- C. The nine-eyed crow
- D. The nine-colored pheasant
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The nine-tailed fox
Did you know? Shanhaijing's nine-tailed fox of Qingqiu cries like a human baby.
3.Whose spilled milk, in Greek tale, became the Milky Way?
- A. Rhea's
- B. Selene's
- C. Demeter's
- D. Hera's
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Hera's
Did you know? Hera's milk sprayed the sky as the Milky Way's pale river.
4.What had the serpent Yamata-no-Orochi demanded each year?
- A. A young maiden of the family
- B. A field's whole harvest
- C. A golden egg
- D. A barrel of sake
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A young maiden of the family
Did you know? Seven daughters had been eaten before Susanoo arrived at Kushi-inada's home.
5.Why did Amaterasu hide in the heavenly cave?
- A. She was defeated in a duel by Tsukuyomi
- B. The gods banished her from heaven
- C. She mourned her husband's death
- D. Susanoo's rampages had wrecked her rice fields and weaving hall
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Susanoo's rampages had wrecked her rice fields and weaving hall
Did you know? After Susanoo flung a flayed pony into her weaving hall, Amaterasu sealed herself in the cave.
6.How did Yu the Great finally tame the great flood?
- A. He built walls around every city
- B. He asked the dragons to drink the sea
- C. He sacrificed nine bulls to the river
- D. He dredged channels instead of damming
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He dredged channels instead of damming
Did you know? Yu dredged nine rivers for thirteen years, passing his home three times without entering.
7.What does the term "kuniumi" name in the Japanese myths?
- A. The birthing of the islands by the divine couple
- B. The weaving of the first cloth
- C. The building of the first shrine
- D. The descent of the heavenly grandchild
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The birthing of the islands by the divine couple
Did you know? Kuniumi, "country birthing," names Izanagi and Izanami's making of the islands.
8.Which fruit of immortality does Xiwangmu grow and serve at her banquets?
- A. Lychees
- B. Ginkgo nuts
- C. Peaches
- D. Plums
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Peaches
Did you know? The peach trees of Kunlun ripen once every three thousand years.
9.What trick did Susanoo use against Yamata-no-Orochi?
- A. A decoy dog of straw
- B. A wall of fire around the village
- C. A net of iron chains
- D. Eight vats of strong sake for the eight heads
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Eight vats of strong sake for the eight heads
Did you know? Drunken on eight-fold sake, the serpent fell to Susanoo's sword.
10.What is the High Plain of Heaven, home of the sun goddess, called?
- A. Niflheim
- B. Takamagahara
- C. Yomi
- D. Onogoro
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Takamagahara
Did you know? The gods of the myths dwell in Takamagahara above the islands.
11.With what did Izanagi and Izanami stir the primordial sea?
- A. The jeweled heavenly spear
- B. A golden fishing hook
- C. A paddle of the first boat
- D. A mirror of the gods
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The jeweled heavenly spear
Did you know? Stirring the sea with the spear Amenonuhoko, drops from its tip formed an island.
12.What is the Shanhaijing?
- A. A book of court ceremonies
- B. A chronicle of the Yellow Emperor
- C. A manual of medicine herbs
- D. The Classic of Mountains and Seas, a mythic geography
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The Classic of Mountains and Seas, a mythic geography
Did you know? The Shanhaijing catalogs strange lands, beasts and gods beyond the seas.
13.Which gods were born from Izanagi's purification washing?
- A. Uzume, Tajikarao and Koyane
- B. Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susanoo
- C. Izanami, Kagutsuchi and Ryūjin
- D. Ninigi, Jimmu and Hoori
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Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susanoo
Did you know? Washing his face, Izanagi birthed the sun from his left eye, the moon from his right, and the storm from his nose.
14.Which drowned girl became a bird carrying pebbles to fill the sea?
- A. Jingwei
- B. Nüwa
- C. Nüba
- D. Chang'e
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Jingwei
Did you know? Jingwei, daughter of Yandi, drowned in the sea and returned as a tireless bird.
15.How did Izanagi seal the exit of Yomi behind him?
- A. He rolled a great boulder across the pass
- B. He sank the path into the sea
- C. He burned the peach gate
- D. He called a storm of rocks
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He rolled a great boulder across the pass
Did you know? A boulder of a thousand men blocked the pass between the worlds.
16.Which mountain is home to the Queen Mother of the West?
- A. Wuyi
- B. Taihang
- C. Kunlun
- D. Buzhou
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Kunlun
Did you know? Xiwangmu rules from jade palaces atop Mount Kunlun.
17.What name does the first island formed by the spear drops bear?
- A. Onogoro
- B. Awaji-oshima
- C. Honshu
- D. Takamagahara
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Onogoro
Did you know? The drop island Onogoro became the couple's wedding pillar ground.
18.Which giant chased the sun and died of thirst on the run?
- A. Houyi
- B. Xingtian
- C. Pangu
- D. Kuafu
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Kuafu
Did you know? Kuafu's abandoned staff sprouted into a grove of peach trees.
19.Which composite auspicious beast, with deer body and ox tail, heralds sage rule?
- A. The qilin
- B. The fenghuang
- C. The pixiu
- D. The bixie
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The qilin
Did you know? The qilin's gentle tread leaves no grass bent.
20.Who hauled open the cave door as Amaterasu emerged?
- A. Susanoo
- B. Ryūjin
- C. Ame-no-Tajikarao
- D. Ninigi
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Ame-no-Tajikarao
Did you know? The strongman Tajikarao slammed the rock door shut behind her.
21.Against which rebel, master of a blinding fog, did the Yellow Emperor fight at Zhuolu?
- A. Gonggong
- B. Chiyou
- C. Xingtian
- D. Kuafu
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Chiyou
Did you know? Chiyou raised a fog at Zhuolu until the south-pointing chariot found the way.
22.In the flood version of their myth, why did Nüwa and Fuxi marry?
- A. They were the only two survivors to repopulate the world
- B. Heaven ordered all siblings to wed
- C. They ruled rival kingdoms and joined them
- D. A dragon demanded the union
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They were the only two survivors to repopulate the world
Did you know? After the flood spared them, Nüwa and Fuxi married to restart humankind.
23.Which torch dragon's open eyes light the dark north?
- A. Yinglong
- B. Zhulong
- C. Jiaolong
- D. Kui
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Zhulong
Did you know? Zhulong the Torch Dragon opens his eyes for day and shuts them for night.
24.Which minister of the Yellow Emperor is credited with inventing Chinese characters?
- A. Shennong
- B. Cangjie
- C. Gun
- D. Yu
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Cangjie
Did you know? When Cangjie wrote the first characters, the ghosts wept and grain rained from heaven.
25.What disaster followed Gonggong's crash into Mount Buzhou?
- A. The stars fell to earth
- B. The sun split into ten
- C. The sky tilted northwest and rivers flowed southeast
- D. The sea swallowed the coast
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The sky tilted northwest and rivers flowed southeast
Did you know? Gonggong snapped the sky pillar Buzhou, tilting heaven and all Chinese rivers east.
26.What did Yu's father Gun steal to dam the flood?
- A. The self-growing soil xirang
- B. The dragon's floodgate
- C. The Yellow River's bed
- D. Heaven's pearl of tides
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The self-growing soil xirang
Did you know? Gun stole xirang from heaven, was executed, and his son Yu carried on the war on the waters.
27.Which headless rebel fights on with eyes in his chest?
- A. Gonggong
- B. Xingtian
- C. Zhulong
- D. Chiyou
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Xingtian
Did you know? Huangdi beheaded Xingtian, who made nipples eyes and navel a mouth.
28.Which fire god governs the south in Chinese myth?
- A. Gonggong
- B. Zhurong
- C. Houyi
- D. Fuxi
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Zhurong
Did you know? Zhurong, lord of fire, battled the water lord Gonggong.

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