(APWH) Themes (C): The Spread of Early Christianity and Buddhism

Map Literacy: Which of the following best describes the patterns shown on this map?

• Variations of beliefs within a single region

• Gradual diffusion of religion

• Differentiation of religious concepts

• Independent development of religion

Answer explanation

B. This map best shows the gradual diffusion, or spreading, of religion since the arrows are all connected to each other. You can see where the religions spread to and where they spread from.

A. This map does not show independent development of religion, since the arrows on the map are all connected to each other and therefore are not independent of each other.

C. This map doesn't show anything regarding religious concepts or ideas - it's a map of the movement of religion, not the content itself.

D. Similar to why answer 'A' is not correct, answer 'D' is not correct because this map shows almost all of Afro-Eurasia showing the spread of Christianity and Buddhism.

Content Knowledge: Which of the following best explains what came in the 3rd - 4th centuries C.E. that eventually disrupted the patterns you see here shown on the map?

• The reduction of Silk Road trade as classical-era empires fell

• The persecution of Buddhism by Tang dynasty in China

• The spread of Islam into Western Asia and Africa

• The persecution of Christianity under the Roman Empire

Answer explanation

A. From the 200's - 300's (3rd and 4th centuries), all of the major classical-era empires fell, including the Romans, Gupta, and Han.

B. This isn't the correct answer because it's just specific to China, and not the whole Afro-Eurasian world which is shown on this map.

C. This isn't the correct answer because Islam didn't get started until the 7th century (600's).

D. The persecution of Christians didn't really do much to affect Silk Road trade. It was a Roman affair, mostly.

Comparing and Contrasting: As Christianity and Buddhism spread throughout Eurasia, they had which common impact on social structures?

• Christianity and Buddhism favored the elites of society in their teachings on achieving a good afterlife.

• Christianity and Buddhism offered women an escape from traditional gender roles through monastic living.

• Christianity and Buddhism promoted the violent upheaval of traditional social structures.

• Christianity and Buddhism helped bring religious solace to ordinary people in the form of salvation and enlightenment.

Answer explanation

D. While Christianity and Buddhism have some large differences, both still became popular with ordinary people and could soothe those who were suffering by aiding people in being saved (Christianity), or to be reincarnated into a better life (Buddhism).

A. Christianity and Buddhism actually favored the poor and lowest rungs of society the most because they both were universal in their appeal.

B. While Christianity would eventually have nuns (women living a monastic life), this wouldn't really emerge until the Middle Ages - a time period which takes place after the time period covered in this map. Buddhism never had female monks until relatively recently.

C. Both Christianity and Buddhism, at least in their early days, were strictly non-violent, so they wouldn't have promoted violent upheaval of traditional social structures.