GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
Department of History
History of China I 中國歷 史 [上]  (HIST 122-01)
Preparing for the Map Quiz
updated: 16 Sep 13

In studying for the fall semester's map quiz, keep at hand at least three things:

  1. The hand-out labelled "China's Geography," distributed on the first day of class and available via Blackboard | Course Documents.;
  2. A blank map of China, showing the contemporary provincial boundaries, which be used for practice ( eventually I'll get one up here on the web...); and
  3. References: class texts, hand-outs, any of the works listed under "Geography" at the end of your syllabus, or anything else you can get your hands on.

You are responsible for being able to locate everything listed on the "China's Geography" hand-out under the headings of "mountains", "geographic features and regions", "rivers", "lakes", and "cities". You are not responsible for "words often found in place-names" [which are provided only for your reference], "geologic formations" or the "current political divisions of the PRC" found at the end of the hand-out. (However, you will be tested on the provincial names and capitals during the Spring semester, and being familiar with them now will make it easier to follow the lectures.)

On the day of the map quiz (indicated in your syllabus), you will be given a map similar to the blank one distributed today. It will not have the provincial boundaries marked, but will indicate cities by dots, rivers by solid lines, lakes by , regions by [*** ; OK, I haven't figured out how to put hand-drawn graphics into a webpage yet...], mountains by  [***], Great Walls by [***], etc. Each feature will have a number associated with it.

You will also be given a list of twenty-five place-names, cited exactly(1) as printed on the initial hand-out, each followed by a blank. The quiz will provide the following instruction:

 1) Write your name on both this sheet and your map; both must be turned in to get credit.

 2) From the map, find the appropriate number for each place and write it in the blank provided.

 3) Answer all twenty-five items.  Then, mark your five least secure responses with question-marks.  Twenty correct/secure answers will earn you 100 points; all twenty-five get you 101. An incorrect "secure" response can be partly compensated for by a correct "insecure" response.

The main purpose of this exercise is to make sure that you have an active familiarity with the geography of China. Therefore, any student who ends up with a grade lower than a certain minimum (to be announced in class after the quiz has been corrected) is urged to schedule a make-up quiz. Students can take the make-up as many times as necessary, up until the end of reading period. Your second grade will be multiplied by that announced minimum, taken as a percentage; in other words, with an announced minimum of 88, a 100 on the second test gets you an 88, while an 88 on the second test gets you a 77.
1. That is, the name will be given in Pinyin transliteration, followed by "Post Office" (i.e., Imperial Maritime Customs) or any alternate spellings. You will not be given the Chinese characters, nor will you get the identifying descriptions of cities.