Ancient China quiz
Checked on 11 November 2026
Question 1 of 10
Discover
The life-sized Terracotta Army was made for which ruler?
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The answer is Qin Shi Huang.
Over 2,200 years ago, China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, ordered thousands of clay soldiers to be made as his guardians.
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The Silk Road trade routes were named after which product from China?
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The answer is Silk.
Merchants carried precious Chinese silk all the way to Europe, and the trade routes took their name from it.
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Confucius is best remembered as what?
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The answer is A philosopher and teacher.
Confucius was a philosopher and teacher who lived from about 551 to 479 BC, and his ideas on ethics and good behavior shaped Chinese culture.
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The Great Wall of China was built mainly along which of China's historic borders?
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The answer is The northern border.
China's rulers built walls for centuries to guard the northern frontier, and today the Great Wall stretches for thousands of miles across the north.
Practise
Around when did Qin Shi Huang unite China and become its first emperor?
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The answer is Around 220 BC.
By 221 BC the king of Qin had brought all the warring states under his rule and took the throne as China's first emperor.
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Silk Road trade began when which Chinese dynasty opened routes to Central Asia?
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The answer is Han.
The Han dynasty opened trade to the west around 130 BC, starting more than 1,500 years of Silk Road exchange.
Practise
The Terracotta Army was found near which Chinese city?
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The answer is Xi'an.
The clay warriors stand in Lintong, outside the city of Xi'an in Shaanxi province.
Expert
In which year did local farmers first come across the Terracotta Army?
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The answer is 1974.
In March 1974, a farmer named Yang Zhifa and his neighbors found pieces of clay figures, revealing the hidden army.
Expert
Which German geographer popularized the name Silk Road in 1877?
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The answer is Ferdinand von Richthofen.
Ferdinand von Richthofen, who made several journeys to China, coined the popular German name Seidenstrasse, or Silk Road, in 1877.
Expert
Before the Ming dynasty rebuilt it in brick and stone, early sections of the Great Wall were mostly made of what?
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The answer is Rammed earth.
Early walls were made of hard-packed soil called rammed earth, often with wood, long before the Ming used bricks and stone.