Where and when Buddhism began, and what its followers believe and practice

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Practice and spread (cards A to D). Card A, Ashoka's edicts, in our words: Ashoka, a ruler of the Maurya Empire in the 200s BCE, had messages carved on rocks and pillars across his lands. In them he speaks of dhamma, his word for right conduct and care for others, and of regret over the suffering caused by a war he fought. Buddhist tradition says he supported Buddhism and sent missions abroad, including to Sri Lanka. Card B, the pillar at Lumbini, in our words: a pillar at Lumbini carries an inscription from about 249 BCE. Scholars read it as saying that Ashoka visited the place and that the Buddha was born there. Card C, spread, in our words: by about the 1st century CE, Buddhism had traveled by trade routes to China. It reached Korea in the 300s CE and Japan in the 500s CE. By the 1200s it had nearly disappeared in India, where it began, though it kept growing elsewhere in Asia. Card D, today: the Pew Research Center estimated that about 4.1 percent of the world's people were Buddhist in 2020, and that 98 percent of Buddhists lived in the Asia-Pacific region.

2. 1.

   Card B dates the Lumbini pillar to about 249 BCE. The Buddha's latest death date is 368 BCE. At the least, how many years after his death was the pillar made, Bo asks?

   • About 249 years
   • About 120 years
   • About 20 years
   • About 617 years
3. 2.

   Card B says scholars read the pillar as stating that the Buddha was born at Lumbini. What can Esme claim from that card?

   • The pillar shows the Buddha was a ruler of the Maurya Empire
   • The pillar settles that the Buddha was born at Lumbini, with nothing left to ask
   • In Ashoka's time, people linked Lumbini with the Buddha's birth
   • The pillar shows Ashoka was born at Lumbini beside the Buddha
4. 3.

   Card A says tradition holds that Ashoka sent missions abroad, including to Sri Lanka. What could follow from a ruler supporting missions, Jun asks?

   • Buddhism would stay inside the borders of the Maurya Empire
   • The whole population of the lands he reached would become Buddhist
   • Buddhism could spread to new lands more quickly
   • Buddhism would be replaced by a new religion of the ruler's own making
5. 4.

   Card C says Buddhism nearly disappeared in India by the 1200s but kept growing elsewhere. What does that show about a religion's spread, Kira asks?

   • A religion can fade at home and still grow in other lands
   • A religion disappears from the world once it disappears at home
   • A religion stays strongest in the place where it began
   • A religion spreads where rulers order people to follow it
6. 5.

   Ashoka's own edicts mention regret over a war. Buddhist tradition praises him as a model supporter. How do the two sources differ, Milo asks?

   • The edicts are later retellings and the tradition is Ashoka's own writing
   • The edicts give Ashoka's own words; tradition gives followers' later view
   • Both are Ashoka's own words, written in two different years of his reign
   • Both are neutral reports with no reason to show Ashoka favorably
7. 6.

   Card B says scholars read the Lumbini pillar as naming the Buddha's birthplace. Which find would best test how early that link is, Noah asks?

   • A dated object from before Ashoka's time that mentions Lumbini
   • A second pillar by Ashoka at another place that he visited as ruler
   • A copy of the pillar's words made by scribes in a much later century
   • A modern guidebook that says the Buddha was born at Lumbini
8. 7.

   Card D says about 4.1 percent of the world's people were Buddhist in 2020, and 98 percent of Buddhists lived in the Asia-Pacific region. Which claim does that support, Pia asks?

   • Buddhism is the largest religion in the Asia-Pacific region
   • Nearly all Buddhists lived in one region of the world, Asia-Pacific
   • About 98 percent of the world's people were Buddhist in 2020
   • Buddhism grew in Asia-Pacific because rulers ordered people to join
9. 8.

   Ashoka had messages carved on rocks and pillars across his lands. Why would a ruler do that, Ren asks?

   • To make the messages last and be seen in many places
   • To hide his messages from the people of his own empire
   • To show scholars of today that his dates were exact
   • To record the Buddha's own sermons word for word
10. 9.

    Card C says Buddhism nearly disappeared in India by the 1200s. Which source would be good evidence for that, Tala asks?

    • A modern guidebook that summarizes the history of India
    • Records made in India during the 1100s and 1200s
    • No record can be good evidence, since the 1200s were so long ago
    • Faxian's account of his trip around 400 CE
11. 10.

    Card C dates Buddhism's arrival in China to about the 1st century CE. Which new find would best show an earlier date, Zee asks?

    • A later Chinese history book that says Buddhism reached China much earlier
    • A new copy of an Ashoka edict found at another site in India
    • More Buddhist monasteries built in Japan during the 500s CE and after
    • A securely dated Buddhist object found in China from before that time