Lady Tan's Circle of Women Quiz

Think you know the world of Lady Tan Yunxian and her circle? This 20-question quiz spans the entire novel, from the footbinding culture of 15th-century China to the Dragon Boat Festival. Mix of multiple-choice and short-answer questions covers plot, character motivations, themes, and synthesis. Use the answer key to check your responses.

For more on the story, visit the main book page, questions and answers, or ending explained.

Questions

1. What event first teaches Yunxian the dangers of footbinding?
   a) Ailan's foot breaking on a pebble bridge
   b) Her mother Respectful Lady dying from a foot infection
   c) Spinster Aunt's foot injury during the inquest
   d) Miss Zhao describing a Thin Horse's bound feet

2. How does Yunxian first meet Meiling?
   a) At a Dragon Boat Festival
   b) In the imperial palace
   c) During a visit to Lady Huang's consultation with Midwife Shi
   d) When Meiling saves Yunxian's life during childbirth

3. (Short answer) What is the name of the medical specialty Grandmother Ru teaches Yunxian?
   Answer: __________

4. Why does Yunxian decide to teach Meiling to read?
   a) Because Grandmother orders it
   b) To earn Meiling's medical stories of the outside world
   c) To help Meiling write her own midwifery book
   d) Because Lady Huang makes it a condition of their friendship

5. What triggers Yunxian's severe postpartum illness in Chapter 9?
   a) Complications from a breech delivery
   b) The stress of the inquest and Doctor Wong's misdiagnosis
   c) Grief over Spinster Aunt's suicide
   d) A smallpox infection caught from her daughter

6. Which character is sentenced to thirty strokes and banishment after a childbirth in the Forbidden City?
   a) Midwife Shi
   b) Yunxian
   c) Meiling
   d) Miss Zhao

7. How does Yunxian ultimately recover from her near-death illness in Chapter 18?
   a) Meiling's constant nursing
   b) A vision of Grandmother Ru who tells her to follow a formula on page fifty-eight
   c) A new prescription from Doctor Wong
   d) Her husband's devotion

8. (Short answer) What object does Midwife Shi use to determine that Spinster Aunt was not murdered?
   Answer: __________

9. Why does Lady Kuo forbid Yunxian from practicing medicine?
   a) She believes women should not engage in manual work
   b) She is jealous of Yunxian's education and fears loss of control
   c) Doctor Wong has forbidden any female practitioner
   d) The family needs Yunxian to focus on bearing sons

10. What motivates Meiling to hide her own labor contractions while attending Empress Zhang?
    a) Fear of punishment by the emperor
    b) Her desire to deliver the empress's son first and gain favor
    c) Midwife Quon's threat to replace her
    d) Yunxian's request that she prioritize the empress

11. (Short answer) What does Yunxian's husband Maoren do after she secretly helps solve Spinster Aunt's murder?
    Answer: __________

12. What symbolizes the theme of transformation in the novel?
    a) The lotus pond
    b) The snake
    c) The golden lilies
    d) The moon gate

13. The phrase "Blood is the leader" in the context of fuke emphasizes:
    a) Hereditary lineage
    b) The dominance of male doctors
    c) The central role of Blood in women's health
    d) The danger of menstrual pollution

14. What does the "circle of good" that surrounds Yunxian during her recovery represent?
    a) The protective walls of the Garden of Fragrant Delights
    b) Female solidarity and community care
    c) The imperial court's medical team
    d) The Buddhist practice of meditating in a circle

15. (Short answer) What final book does Yunxian compile and publish?
    Answer: __________

16. How does the novel contrast traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine of the same era?
    a) Chinese medicine was always superior
    b) Western medicine relied on the four humors theory, alcohol-based remedies, and bloodletting
    c) Both traditions were entirely ineffective
    d) Western doctors were all trained by Chinese masters

17. What does Yunxian's decision to take wives and daughters to the Dragon Boat Festival (instead of concubines) reveal about her character?
    a) She is careless about tradition
    b) She asserts her authority as matriarch and challenges patriarchal norms
    c) She wants to punish the concubines
    d) She misses Meiling and wants women to celebrate

18. How does the Postscript affect the reader's understanding of legacy?
    a) It shows that Yunxian's son became a famous doctor
    b) It reveals that her book disappeared but was reprinted by her great-nephew, while her male descendants died young
    c) It confirms that all her notebooks were destroyed
    d) It states that she lived only to sixty

19. (Short answer) What is the meaning of "no mud, no lotus" as it appears in the novel?
    Answer: __________

20. Why does Miss Zhao tell Yunxian to beware of envy from future sisters-in-law before her wedding?
    a) Because she herself suffered jealousy from other concubines
    b) Because Second Aunt has threatened Yunxian
    c) To convince Yunxian to run away
    d) Because all women in the Yang family are cruel

Answer Key

1. b) Respectful Lady's foot infection kills her at twenty-eight, demonstrating the hidden dangers of footbinding. (Outline chapter 2)
2. c) Yunxian and Meiling meet at Lady Huang's consultation; Midwife Shi brings her daughter. (Outline chapter 4)
3. Fuke (women's medicine). Grandmother Ru decides to teach Yunxian fuke after the lotus pond meeting. (Outline chapter 4)
4. b) Yunxian agrees to teach Meiling to read in exchange for stories of the outside world, forming a secret contract. (Outline chapter 6)
5. b) The stress of the inquest combined with Doctor Wong's misdiagnosis triggers her severe postpartum illness. (Outline chapter 10)
6. c) Meiling is sentenced for polluting the empress during childbirth; her sentence is commuted from death to flogging and banishment. (Outline chapter 14)
7. b) In a vision, Grandmother scolds her and instructs her to follow the formula on page fifty-eight; Yunxian recovers. (Outline chapter 18)
8. A finger – Midwife Shi uses her finger to test the "gate of childbirth" to confirm virginity and rule out murder via foreign object. (Outline chapter 10)
9. b) Lady Kuo is jealous of Yunxian's medical skill and fears losing authority; she forbids letter-writing and practice. (Outline chapter 7)
10. b) Meiling hides her labor to ensure she delivers the empress's heir first, prioritizing duty to the court. (Outline chapter 13)
11. (Short answer) He is wounded by her secrecy and feels distant from her. (Outline chapter 17 mentions Maoren's strained marriage)
12. b) The snake appears as a symbol of shedding the old self; chapter 12 is titled "A Snake Always Sheds Its Skin."
13. c) Grandmother Ru teaches that "in women, Blood is the leader" – crucial for understanding women's health. (Outline chapter 7)
14. b) The "circle of women" nurses Yunxian back to health, representing female solidarity. (Outline chapter 9)
15. Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor. She compiles 31 cases from her notebooks. (Outline chapter 20)
16. b) The Author's Note contrasts Chinese medicine with Western four humors theory, alcohol-based remedies, and bloodletting.
17. b) At Dragon Boat Festival, she breaks tradition by allowing wives and daughters to go while keeping concubines home, asserting her matriarchal authority. (Outline chapter 20)
18. b) The Postscript reveals Yunxian's book was lost but reprinted by great-nephew Tan Xiu; her son and grandson died young, ending the male line. (Outline chapter 21)
19. Growth through adversity. The phrase means that beauty (lotus) emerges from hardship (mud), a theme in Yunxian's life and friendship. (Outline chapter 4)
20. a) Miss Zhao, a former Thin Horse turned concubine, has experienced envy and warns Yunxian about what lies ahead. (Outline chapter 6)