Quiz: Chapter 6
1. What were the Rock and Pillar Edicts that Ashoka
created?
(A) Large buildings used for worship.
(B) Large rocks and pillars used as art.
(C) 50 foot pillars and short rocks with fictional
stories written about unicorns on them.
(D) Large rocks and pillars that had laws written on
them.
2. Which social group was so marginalized in Indian
society that they were not even a part of the official
varna system?
(A) Dalits
(B) Buddhists
(C) Brahmins
(D) Shudras
3. In India’s social structure, what were the levels of
India’s caste system from highest to lowest?
(A) Kshatriyans, Vaishyans, Shudras, Brahmins
(B) Brahmins, Kshatriyans, Vaishyans, Shudras
(C) Shudras, Vaishyans, Kshatriyans, Brahmins
(D) Brahmins, Shudras, Kshatriyans, Vaishyans
4. Which of the following is NOT among the practices
of Jainism?
(A) Strict nonviolence
(B) Farming in order to stay close to the land
(C) Eating so little that one starves to death
(D) Wearing masks to prevent the inhalation of
small insects
5. What is a major similarity between Hinduism and
Buddhism?
(A) Both religions support a caste system.
(B) Both embrace the Four Noble Truths.
(C) Both religions accept that souls can reach
spiritual perfection.
(D) These two religions are polar opposites.
Use the passage below to answer questions 6-7.
“‘The north polar star is in the center of heaven
and to the north of man.’ From this one can see
that the land of China is not necessarily situated
under the center of heaven. According to the
Buddhist scriptures, above, below, and all around,
all beings containing blood belong to the
Buddha-clan. Therefore I revere and study these
scriptures. Why should I reject the Way of Yao,
Confucius, and the Duke of Chou? Gold and jade
do not harm each other, crystal and amber do not
cheapen each other. You say that another is in error
when it is you yourself who err.”
-The Disposition of Error c. 420 CE
6. What aspect of Buddhist expansion into China is
demonstrated by the passage above?
(A) Buddhist preached that Chinese ethnocentrism
was immoral
(B) Buddhism sought to replace indigenous
Chinese religions and philosophies
(C) Buddhism criticized Confucianism in China
and therefore failed to gain a significant
following
(D) Buddhist missionaries preached that Buddhism
and existing Chinese religions could coexist
and even be practiced simultaneously
7. Based on the passage above and, which Chinese
class would be the most resistant to Buddhist
influence?
(A) Daoists
(B) Merchants
(C) Scholar gentry
(D) Peasants
8. After six years of strict asceticism, Siddhartha
Gautama decided to
(A) become a Jain.
(B) commit suicide.
(C) adhere to a “Middle Path” of moderation.
(D) go back home and resume his princely duties.
9. Which of the following statements would LEAST
likely fit in with the original teachings of the Buddha?
(A) All human suffering is caused by desire.
(B) Enlightenment can most effectively be attained
by coming to realize the Four Noble Truths and
practicing the Eightfold Path.
(C) Enlightenment can most effectively be attained
by venerating many gods and bodhisattvas.
(D) Enlightenment leads to a moment of awakening
and transcendent consciousness known as
nirvana.
10. The Gupta Dynasty was much like the Zhou
Dynasty in that
(A) they were both made up of feudal regions with
weak central governments
(B) both used bureaucrats who specialized in their
areas of service to the state
(C) both of them fell to nomadic invaders
they tended not to trade with other civilizations
11. What did the Mauryan Empire politically do that
forced India into provinces?
(A) It divided India into 5 different provinces ruled warring factions and only few fragments of silk made
by satraps
(B) It brought India together socially and politically the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang,
as one whole province
(C) It divided India into separate provinces ruled by him. He pooled the resources of the various states,
governors for tax collection and law
enforcement.
(D) It split India off from the mainland of Asia to
form an island province that ruled the world
12. The region of Southeast Asia first rose to
prominence and prosperity because
(A) of its intermediary role in the trade between
southern and eastern Asia.
(B) the two large kingdoms in the region fell into
ruin and decay.
(C) Europeans began to explore the region and
began to trade there.
(D) it adopted Confucianism and combined it with a
unique form of Buddhism that was based upon
the ideas of Hinduism, although some aspects
of Christianity were also incorporated from
Judaism.
13. The most likely explanation for the decline of
Funan in the sixth century is
(A) invasions by Chinese explorers.
(B) failure of its wet-rice crop.
(C) international trade routes changed, bypassing
Funan.
(D) completely unknown to historians.
14. Buddhism appealed to many common people
because
(A) the life a monk or nun was easy to follow.
(B) it downplayed social caste and individuals.
(C) it accepted the prevailing order of Hinudusim.
(D) it was promoted by the Guptas.
“The term “Silk Road” is somewhat of a misnomer,
since silk was not the only commodity that traversed
this ancient trade route. Moreover physical goods
weren’t the only things traded; inevitably technologies
and religions also passed along the route and were
embraced and developed in this inhospitable
region…The opening of a full-length silk road where
trade could pass easily and unhindered did not happen
until nearly 115 BCE. The Chinese were split into
it out of China’s domains. It wasn’t until 221 BCE that
successfully united his land with those surrounding
built the earliest form of the Great Wall, and
developed road infrastructure. It was the Han Dynasty
that saw the benefits of trade and as the subsequent
emperors grew stronger they looked farther afield not
only for new lands, but also formed trading and
political allies.”
15. According to the document above, what was an
unintended but inevitable effect of the creation of the
“Silk Road”?
(A) East Asia was split into warring factions that
limited the export of silk.
(B) The Emperor Qin Shi Huang used state
resources to build the Great Wall.
(C) Trade in physical products became more
important than cultural diffusion.
(D) Cultural interactions were facilitated between
the Han and regions to their west.