Q 01/05

Which Chinese scholar mentioned dumplings in a poem about 1,700 years ago?

A) Shu Xi

B) Li Bai

C) Du Fu

D) Sima Qian

Answer · why

A) Shu Xi

Shu Xi, a scholar of the Western Jin dynasty, praised dumplings in his rhapsody on bing (flour foods) around 300 AD, one of the oldest written referen...

Q 02/05

Preserved dumplings over 1,000 years old were found in tombs at which Chinese site?

A) Luoyang

B) Turfan

C) Xi'an

D) Dunhuang

Answer · why

B) Turfan

Turfan's Astana tombs, in the dry Xinjiang desert, yielded dumplings more than a millennium old, preserved by the oasis's arid climate.

Q 03/05

Jiaozi are traditionally credited to which Han-dynasty figure?

A) A wandering Buddhist monk

B) A frontier garrison soldier

C) A medicine practitioner

D) An imperial palace cook

Answer · why

C) A medicine practitioner

A medicine practitioner, the Han-dynasty physician Zhang Zhongjing, is said to have made them one winter to help the poor, who lacked warm clothes and...

Q 04/05

What ailment were the original jiaozi meant to treat, hence their old name?

A) Rotten teeth

B) Winter fever

C) Chronic indigestion

D) Frostbitten ears

Answer · why

D) Frostbitten ears

Frostbitten ears were the target: Zhang Zhongjing wrapped mutton and warming herbs in ear-shaped dough to treat them, and the dish took the old name j...

Q 05/05

Jiaozi symbolise wealth because they resemble what?

A) Gold and silver ingots

B) Strings of copper coins

C) Freshwater pearls

D) Bowls of harvest rice

Answer · why

A) Gold and silver ingots

Gold and silver ingots, the boat-shaped sycee (yuanbao) that served as money in imperial China, are what jiaozi resemble, which is why northern famili...