Q 01/05

The Shih Tzu is believed to have been bred from which two breeds?

A) Pug and Maltese

B) Pekingese and Lhasa Apso

C) Japanese Chin and Havanese

D) Tibetan Spaniel and Papillon

Answer · why

B) Pekingese and Lhasa Apso

The breed originated in Tibet, though whether it should be called 'Tibetan' or 'Chinese' is still hotly argued by dog historians.

Q 02/05

The name Shih Tzu is a romanisation of the Mandarin word for which animal?

A) Dragon

B) Fox

C) Lion

D) Tiger

Answer · why

C) Lion

The dogs were bred to resemble the lion of traditional oriental art; the Pekingese is also called 'lion dog' in Chinese.

Q 03/05

Which romanisation system produced the spelling 'Shih Tzu'?

A) Yale Mandarin

B) Zhuyin Fuhao

C) Hanyu Pinyin

D) Wade–Giles

Answer · why

D) Wade–Giles

In Pinyin the same word is shīzi; the system came from Thomas Wade's mid-19th-century work and Herbert Giles's 1892 dictionary.

Q 04/05

In contemporary Mandarin the breed is generally called the 'Xi Shi dog', after whom?

A) One of the Four Beauties of ancient China

B) A wandering Buddhist monk

C) The first Ming emperor's favourite concubine

D) A celebrated Tang dynasty poet

Answer · why

A) One of the Four Beauties of ancient China

Xi Shi was a silk-washing village girl said to have lived at the end of the Spring and Autumn period.

Q 05/05

What flower-based nickname did the Shih Tzu get in 1930s England?

A) Lotus dog

B) Chrysanthemum dog

C) Peony dog

D) Orchid dog

Answer · why

B) Chrysanthemum dog

The hair growing in every direction from the face was thought to look like the flower.