2004 Revised DBQ
WORLD HISTORY SECTION II Total Time – 1 hour, 30 minutes Question 1 (Document-Based Question) Suggested reading and writing time: 15 minutes for planning; 45 minutes for writing Directions: Question 1 is based on the accompanying documents. The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.
Question 1: Using the documents and your knowledge of world history, analyze the changes and continuities in response to the spread of Buddhism in China. Document 1
Document 2 Source: Kumarajiva, a Central Asian monk and scholar who was captured and brought to the capital of the Later Qin state, “The Lotus Sutra, Chapter 28, Encouragements of the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy,” translation from Sanskrit to Chinese, 406 C.E.
If there are those who accept, uphold, read, and recite this sutra, memorize it correctly, understand its principles, and practice it as the sutra prescribes, these persons should know that they are carrying out the practices of the Universal Worthy himself. IN the presence of immeasurable, boundless numbers of Buddhas, they will have planted good roots deep in the ground, and the hand of the Thus Comes Ones will pat them on the head.
If they do no more than copy the sutra, when their lives come to an end they will be reborn in the Trayastrimsha heaven. Such persons will put on crowns made of seven treasures and amidst ladies-in-waiting will amuse and enjoy themselves. If there are persons who accept, uphold, read, and recite the sutra and understand its principles, when the lives of these persons come to an end, they will be received into the hands of a thousand Buddhas, who will free them from all fear and keep them from falling into the evil paths of existence. Immediately they will proceed to the Tushita heaven, to the place of Bodhisattva Maitreya.
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Document 7 Source: Picture of a carving of the Maitreya Buddha and his disciples in the Feilei Feng Caves in the Lingyin Temple near Hangzhou, China, 10th through 14th centuries C.E.