1. How many kinds of beings are there according to Buddha?

Ans: There are six kinds of being according to Buddha. They are- gods, half gods, ghosts, demons,
animals, and humans.

2. What is the ‘Wheel of Life’?

Ans: When humans die their spirits are reborn into other beings, depending on how they behaved in the
last life. A human who had been bad in one life might be reborn as an animal or a demon: a good animal
might be reborn as a human or even a god. This is called the Wheel of Life.

3. What is the aim of all beings according to Buddha?

Ans: The aim of all beings, Buddha said, is to escape from this wheel by learning to stop wanting. When
people think and meditate, and have destroyed all desire, they reach a state called Nirvana.

4. Write the differences between Hinayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism.

Hinayana Buddhism Mahayana Buddhism

 They were stricter than other monks.
 They did not allow amusements such as
not eating after mid-day, dancing, singing,
etc.
 They believed that Gautama was an
ordinary man, not a god.
 They also said that monks would ever get
to Niravana. (Thervada)
 They were less strict.
 They allowed amusements.
 They believed that Gautama was a god
and not a human being.
 They believed that ordinary people could
also get to Nirvana.

5. Where was the big meeting held? Why was it held?

Ans: The big meeting was held at Patna in northern India to talk about these differences.

6. Where did the less strict monks quite peacefully move away?

Ans: They quite peacefully moved towards north-west India.

7. By whom was the Buddhist statues inspired?

Ans: The Greek god Apollo.

8. Which kind of Buddhism is still practiced in South-east Asia?

Ans: Hinayana Buddhism is still practiced in South-east Asia.

9. Write some countries name in South-east Asia where Hinayana Buddhism is still practiced.

Ans: Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand.

10. Write 4 reasons why Buddhism ended in India.

Ans: Two very powerful groups of people called Brahmins and Warrior Caste did not like Buddhism
because they did not believe the caste system and peace.

Many of the Buddhist monks seemed more interested in study and ceremonies than in helping people.

In the 6th century AD the fierce Xiong-nu invaded India. They destroyed many of the great Buddhist
monasteries and stole their treasures. This made Buddhism even weaker.

In the 12th century AD the Turkish Muslims destroyed the last great Buddhist monasteries, and
Buddhism seemed to have died out in India.

11. In which countries is Hinayana Buddhism practiced?

Ans: Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

12. In which countries is Mahayana Buddhism practiced?

Ans: China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam.

13. Why is Buddhism a success?

Ans: Buddhism was very successful because it changed to suit different countries. It also took over ideas
from the earlier religions of these countries. It changed the style of its buildings to suit different places.

14. Which country was the first large country outside India and Sri Lanka to become Buddhist?

Ans: China.

15. Why did people change their religion to Buddhism?

 By the end of Han Dynasty, life was very troubled in China and people life’s were miserable.
 Ordinary people were very unhappy and wanted a new religion that would give them some
hope.
 Buddhism had many similarities with Confucianism and Daoism (their old religion) so it was not
hard for people to change their religion.

16. In which Dynasty Buddhism was the most important religion?

Ans: Tang Dynasty.

17. Who was the first important Buddhist pilgrim, which route did he take and what did he do?

Ans: The first important pilgrim was Fa Xian who crossed Central Asia. He came to China by ship
(land route and sea route) and brought back many holy books and spent the rest of his life
translating them.

18. Who was the second important Buddhist pilgrim, which route did he take and what did he do?

Ans: Xuan Zhuang left China and crossed Central Asia into north-west India. He spent sixteen years
collecting and studying. He translated many of them. He wrote a famous book called ‘The Record of the
Western Regions,’ about what he had seen in his travels. It’s very important because it describes many
things which no one else has written about. (land route)

19. Who was the third important Buddhist pilgrim, which route did he take and what did he do?

Ans: Yi Jing left Guangzhou and went by sea to India. (sea route) He stayed there for many years
studying and translating Buddhist books. He also wrote about the countries of South-east Asia. This is
the only book we have about the part of the world at that time.

20. Who did Buddhist teaching influence?

Ans: Confucian scholars.

21. Before Buddhist teaching, what did Confucian scholars mainly think about?

Ans: They mainly thought about what people did, and how they should behave in their families, and in
their villages and state.

22. After Buddhist teaching, what did Confucian scholars think about?

Ans: They began to think more about knowledge and what happened in people’s minds. This led to the
development of neo-Confucianism in the 12 th century AD.

23. In the 8th century, what did more people want to learn?

Ans: More people wanted to learn Buddhist and Daoist prayers, and to study Confucian writings for the
civil service examinations.

24. How did the Chinese people improve their way of ‘printing books’?

Ans: All the books before the 8th century had to be written by hand, which was very slow. But after the
8th century, the Chinese learned how to carve a whole page on a block of wood.

25. Whom did the Chinese artists copy?

Ans: The Chinese artists copied the Indian way of drawing and making statues of Buddha.

26. What is this picture about?

Ans: It shows a Buddha leading the spirit of a woman who has just died to the Pure Land in the sky.

27. Where were these paintings hung and why was it hung?

Ans: Paintings like this were sometimes hung in the rooms of people who were dying. This made them
feel less afraid of death because they were going to such a wonderful place.

28. The Buddhists were the first people to build what?

Ans: Pagodas.

29. What are pagodas?

Ans: Pagodas were tall temples, often built at holy places or over holy objects.

30. Where did the idea of pagodas come from?

Ans: Buddhist stupa.

31. What did the Buddhist monks want to teach the people?

Ans: The Buddhist monks wanted to teach people about their religion and told them stories.

32. What were these stories about?

Ans: These stories told people how they should behave, but they were also interesting, to make the
people listen to them.

33. What is one of the most famous stories?

Ans: One of the most famous story is about Xuan Zhuang and his disciples, the monkey, the pig and the
sand monk.

34. What did these stories influence?

Ans: These stories influenced the writing of novels in China.

35. How did Buddhism spread in Japan?

Ans: Buddhism spread to Japan from Korea in the 6 th century AD, and soon a very important religion in
Japan.

36. Write the travel of Buddhism.

Ans: First of all, Buddhism went from India to China. Here it added many Confucian and Daoist ideas to
its beliefs. From China it went to Korea, where it added more ideas. When it reached Japan it took over
some ideas from the early Japanese religion called Shinto.

37. What did people worship in Shinto?

Ans: In Shinto people worshipped nature - the sun, trees, stones and water - and also their ancestors.

38. What were the two kinds of Buddhism that became popular in Japan?

Ans: Pure- Land Buddhism and Zen Buddhism.

39. What does Zen mean?

Ans: Zen is a Japanese word meaning ‘meditation’ or ‘thinking’.

40. What kind of religion is Zen?

Ans: Zen is a ‘quiet’ religion in which people find peace by meditation.

41. Where is Zen Buddhism still practiced?

Ans: It is still widely practiced in Japan and many other parts of the world.

42. What did Zen Buddhism lead to?

Ans: Zen Buddhism led to the Japanese customs of the tea ceremony, flower arranging and the sand
gardens. All of these activities are peaceful and make the mind calm.

43. What were the beliefs of pure land Buddhism?

Ans: This kind of Buddhism said there was a beautiful land in the sky where everything was perfect.
People would go there when they died if they had been good. It was a bit like the Christian Heaven or
the Islamic Paradise.