30th Anniversary Contest
30th Anniversary of the Formal Opening of the City 10,000 Buddhas & the Consecration of the Image of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva
Main Objective
It’s been 30 years since the formal Opening of the City Ten Thousand Buddhas & the Consecration of the Image of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. We will have a series event to reflect with gratitude and renewal with vigor. In order to create an entertaining and educational activity, the Buddhist Knowledge Contest has been organized as part of this year’s activities.
Participant Eligibility
Parents and volunteers from CTTB and branch monasteries of DRBA; students from Instilling Goodness Elementary and Developing Virtue Schools; and Developing Virtue Alumni are all welcomed to participate in the contest.
Contest Method & Procedure
There will be 5 people per team. There will be individual rounds and team rounds. (Please see “Contest Rules” below for details.) The contest will have 1st round, 2nd round, and final round.
Note: The order of each team: 1. Parent/volunteer (in Chinese), 2. Parent/volunteer (in Chinese), 3. Developing Virtue alumni (in Chinese), 4. Developing Virtue School (in Chinese), 5. Instilling Goodness (in English).
If there are ten teams in the 1st round, then they will be divided into two groups; five teams per group for the 1st round. The 1st and 2nd places and a total of four teams will go in the final round. The six losing teams will go in the 2 nd round, and the 1st and 2nd places will also join in the final round.
There will be six teams in the final round, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places will have special awards. The other participating teams will be given a certificate for participation.
Language
Parents, volunteers, and secondary school students will compete in Mandarin Chinese. The elementary school contestants will compete in English.
Contest Topics
The four topics for parents, volunteers, Developing Virtue alumni, and secondary school students are: Geography and History of Buddhism, Buddhist Scriptures, Precepts, and Chinese Idioms. The geography and history of Buddhism cover the life of the Buddha, the brief biographies of Buddha’s ten foremost disciples and renowned Buddhist monks (excerpts from the Venerable Master’s Water Mirror Reflecting Heaven). The Buddhist Scriptures include: The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra, The Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva (for parents and volunteers only), Universal Door Chapter, Universal Worthy’s Conduct and Vow Chapter. The precepts cover the Three Refuges and Five Precepts, and Lay Bodhisattva Precepts (for parents and volunteers only ), as well as Buddhist’s Deportment. There will be 100 Chinese idioms/sayings that are related to Buddhism and charities. The Buddhist Knowledge Contest will provide materials for reference.
The elementary school students only cover Human Roots for Young Readers (Vol. One & Two).
Location
The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, Talmage, California, 95482 U.S.A.
Date & Time
July 5th, 2009 at 1:00 p.m.
Registration Deadline & Method
May 31st, 2009; please e-mail applications to foxuechangshi@drba.org
Contest Rules
1. Contest will race to answer by means of pressing a buzzer. Correct questions will be worth 10 points, incorrect answers will result in the deduction of 5 points, and failure to answer within 5 seconds of pressing the buzzer will also result in the deduction of 5 points.
2. All teams will start with 20 points.
3. Every round will have a total of 40 questions, which cover the four topics: Geography and History of Buddhism, Buddhist Scriptures, Precepts, and Chinese idioms/sayings.
4. The 5 team-members will take turns to answer the first 30 questions individually. Teammates may not help or consult with each other during this time; otherwise, it will be counted as wrong. The last 10 questions will be answered as a team, with all 5 team-members being able to answer; however, only one team-member may give the answer. If 2 members speak with different answers, the answer will be considered wrong.
5. The questions will be separated into free response questions and multiple-choice questions. Answers to the free response questions must include the entire answer to all parts of the questions, or it will be considered wrong. Questions to the multiple-choice questions must include the number of the answer selection. Answers given without its number will be counted as wrong, even if the answer is correct.
6. The first question of each round will be a warm-up question, to familiarize the students with the format. No points will be rewarded or deducted for these questions.
7. If a team or team member has not shown up before the end of the warm-up question, they will lose eligibility to compete.
8. The team that answers the warm-up question correctly will get to choose the topic of the first question. All teams that answer subsequent questions correctly will be allowed to choose the topic for the next question.
9. If no team attempts to answer within ten seconds after the question has completely read, the judge will give the answer to the question, and the contest will continue onto the next question, with the question-reader determining the next question topic.
10. Any team that presses the buzzer must wait until the judge says, “ Team XX, please give your answer” before answering, and must answer within 5 seconds.
11. Every team only has one chance to answer each question. If a team answers incorrectly, the other teams must wait until the judge says, “Answer Incorrect!” before pressing their buzzers.
12. Contestants may press their buzzers before the question has been finished reading, at which point the question reader will stop reading. If a team answers incorrectly, the question reader will re-read the question.
13. If at the end of a round, there are teams with equal points, tie-breaker questions will be read until the tie is broken. (Only teams that are tied are allowed to answer.)
14. The judge's decision is final and must be respected.
15. If there is any problem regarding the rules, contest organizers will address them at the meeting before the contest.
