World Mythology · Unit 11
Chinese and Japanese Myths
Pangu, Nuwa, the Monkey King, Amaterasu and the kami
Two traditions with real historical connections and quite different characters: Chinese myth is often concerned with order, bureaucracy and cosmic balance, while Japanese myth is thick with local spirits attached to particular places.
The unit covers Pangu and Nuwa, Chinese dragons and the zodiac, the Monkey King, Amaterasu and the kami, and the yokai and kitsune of Japanese folklore.
This unit breaks down into 18 short steps and 110 questions, starting at difficulty 2 and building to 4. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.
- Steps
- 18
- Questions
- 110
- Difficulty
- 2-4
What this unit covers
- Yokai, Kitsune and Japanese Spirits
- The Monkey King
- Chinese Dragons and the Zodiac
- Pangu and Nuwa
- Amaterasu and the Kami
Where this fits
Independent. Pairs with History's Ancient China and India.
Where people slip
Kami are not gods in the western sense. The word covers spirits, forces and remarkable things including mountains and ancestors, and translating it as god distorts it.
How the unit is structured
Chinese and Japanese Myths runs as 18 short steps that unlock in order. 13 are practice rounds and 5 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 2 and climb to 4 as you progress.
Challenge rounds
Example questions
30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 110 in the unit altogether.
Amaterasu and the Kami
- Fill the blankLevel 2
1. A Shinto place of worship is called a ____.
- shrinecorrect
- pyramid
- ziggurat
- mosque
Shrines, marked by torii gates, are where kami are honoured.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
2. What are kami in Japanese Shinto belief?
- Spirits or gods found in nature and placescorrect
- Kinds of sword
- Sacred books
- Wooden temples
Kami are spirits or gods found in nature, places, ancestors and remarkable things.
- True or falseLevel 2
3. When Amaterasu hid in a cave, the world was left in darkness.
Answer: True
True. Without the sun goddess, light disappeared from the world.
- Type the answerLevel 2
4. Which storm god was the wild brother of Amaterasu?
Answer: Susanoo
Susanoo's rampage drove Amaterasu into the cave.
- Put in orderLevel 3
5. Put the Amaterasu cave story in order.
Answer: Susanoo rampages through heaven -> Amaterasu hides in a cave -> The gods hold a noisy dance -> She peers out and sees the mirror
Susanoo rampages, she hides, the gods hold a dance, and she is drawn out by the mirror.
- Fill the blankLevel 3
6. The two oldest Japanese books recording these myths are the Kojiki and the ____.
- Nihon Shokicorrect
- Tale of Genji
- Book of Songs
- Analects
The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki record Japan's oldest myths.
Chinese Dragons and the Zodiac
- Guess the numberLevel 2
7. How many animals are in the Chinese zodiac cycle?
Answer: 12 animals
There are twelve zodiac animals, one for each year.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
8. What do Chinese dragons mainly control?
- Water, rain and rivers
- Fire and volcanoes
- Gold and silver mines
- Wind and snow only
Chinese dragons rule rivers, seas, rain and storms.
- Picture questionLevel 2
9. 🐲 Which Chinese symbol of good luck and rain is shown here?
- The dragoncorrect
- The tiger
- The crane
- The carp
The dragon is a lucky, water-bringing creature in China.
- Put in orderLevel 2
10. Put these zodiac animals in their correct order.
Answer: Rat -> Ox -> Tiger -> Rabbit -> Dragon
The cycle begins rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon.
- Fill the blankLevel 3
11. A Chinese person's zodiac animal depends on the ____ they were born in.
- yearcorrect
- hour
- month
- town
Each year of the twelve-year cycle has its own animal.
- Match the pairsLevel 3
12. Match each Chinese festival to its story or custom.
Answer: Mid-Autumn Festival = Mooncakes and Chang'e; Dragon Boat Festival = Boat races for Qu Yuan; Chinese New Year = Scaring off the beast Nian; Qixi = The cowherd and the weaver girl
Chinese festivals carry myths through food, races and lights.
Pangu and Nuwa
- Fact or fibLevel 2
13. Chinese myth says an archer once shot down extra suns that were burning the earth.
Answer: True
True. Hou Yi shot nine of the ten suns out of the sky.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
14. Nuwa is often shown with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a ____.
- snakecorrect
- horse
- fish
- bird
She is usually pictured with a serpent's tail.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
15. What did Pangu do after he hatched?
- He pushed the sky and earth apartcorrect
- He built the first city
- He swallowed the sea
- He made the first boat
He pushed the sky and the earth apart and held them separate as they grew.
- True or falseLevel 2
16. Chinese myth says parts of the world were formed from Pangu's body after he died.
Answer: True
True. His eyes became the sun and moon, and his breath became the wind.
- Type the answerLevel 2
17. Which goddess repaired the broken sky with coloured stones in Chinese myth?
Answer: Nuwa
Nuwa melted five-coloured stones to patch the sky.
- Choose all that applyLevel 4
18. Which figures are Chinese culture heroes credited with gifts to humanity? Pick all that apply.
- Shennongcorrect
- Fuxicorrect
- The Yellow Emperorcorrect
- Susanoo
Shennong, Fuxi and the Yellow Emperor are all credited with civilising gifts.
The Monkey King
- Fact or fibLevel 2
19. The Monkey King once caused chaos in heaven itself.
Answer: True
True. His havoc in heaven is one of the most loved parts of the story.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
20. The Monkey King was trapped under a ____ for five hundred years as a punishment.
- mountaincorrect
- lake
- bridge
- tree
The Buddha trapped him beneath a mountain until the monk freed him.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
21. Who is the Monkey King of the story Journey to the West?
- Sun Wukongcorrect
- Hou Yi
- Yu the Great
- Zhu Bajie
Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is one of the most famous characters in Chinese literature.
- True or falseLevel 2
22. The Monkey King can change his shape into many different forms.
Answer: True
True. He is famous for his seventy-two transformations.
- Type the answerLevel 2
23. What is the Chinese name of the Monkey King?
Answer: Sun Wukong
Sun Wukong is his name in Chinese.
- Choose all that applyLevel 3
24. Which characters travel together in Journey to the West? Pick all that apply.
- The monk Xuanzangcorrect
- Sun Wukongcorrect
- Zhu Bajiecorrect
- Nuwa
The monk travels with the Monkey King, the pig Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing.
Yokai, Kitsune and Japanese Spirits
- Build the sentenceLevel 2
25. Build a sentence about Japanese nature spirits.
Answer: Kami are spirits found in nature
Kami are spirits found in nature.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
26. Which of these come from Japanese tradition? Pick all that apply.
- Kamicorrect
- Yokaicorrect
- Torii gatescorrect
- Ziggurats
Kami, yokai and torii gates are Japanese. Ziggurats are Mesopotamian.
- Match the pairsLevel 2
27. Match each Japanese creature to what it is.
Answer: Kitsune = A fox spirit; Tanuki = A raccoon dog trickster; Kappa = A river creature; Oni = A horned ogre
Japanese folklore is full of animals and spirits with distinct forms.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
28. What are yokai in Japanese folklore?
- Strange spirits and creaturescorrect
- Types of sword
- Court poems
- Mountain villages
Yokai are strange spirits and creatures, some playful and some frightening.
- Fact or fibLevel 3
29. The beckoning cat figure, maneki-neko, is believed to bring good luck to a shop.
Answer: True
True. The raised paw is meant to invite in customers and fortune.
- Fill the blankLevel 3
30. The fox spirits that serve the rice god ____ guard shrines across Japan.
- Inaricorrect
- Amaterasu
- Susanoo
- Tsukuyomi
Inari shrines are lined with fox statues.
Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.
How you practise
This unit mixes 12 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.
- Build the sentence
- Choose all that apply
- Fact or fib
- Fill the blank
- Guess the number
- Match the pairs
- Multiple choice
- Picture question
- Put in order
- Sort into groups
- True or false
- Type the answer
Practise Chinese and Japanese Myths
110 questions across 18 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.
Play this unitMore units in World Mythology
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- Egyptian MythsRa, Osiris, Isis, Anubis and the Egyptian afterlife
- Roman Gods and LegendsJupiter, the Roman gods, Romulus and Remus, and Aeneas
- Mythical CreaturesDragons, unicorns, the phoenix, griffins and sea monsters
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