Download LEQ Sample Annotated Essay

LONGESSAYQUESTION(LEQ):
Ø HistoricalThinkingSkill:Comparison(Compare&Contrast)
SamplePrompt:
CompareandcontrastthediffusionofreligionsinAfro-Eurasiaduringtheperiodof600BCEto
600CE.
LEQEssay
RubricComponents
InAfro-Eurasia,duringtheperiodof600BCEto600CE,bothIndia THESIS
andChinaadoptedBuddhisttraditions,whereastheRomanEmpiredid not and eventually adopted Christianity as its official religion instead. However,BuddhismandChristianitywerebothdiffusedbymeansofthe GreatSilkRoad.Inaddition,thecentralgovernmentsofHanChinaand Mauryan India promoted the diffusion of Buddhism throughout their respectiveempires.
OnemajordifferenceinthediffusionofreligionsinClassicalAfroARGUMENTDESCRIPTION
EurasiawasthatbothIndiaandChinaadoptedBuddhistreligiousbeliefs (COMPARISON-SIMILARITY)
andpractices,whereastheRomanEmpirefailedtodoso.Instead,the
Roman Empire eventually adopted Christianity as its official religion.
Buddhismfirstdevelopedinthe4thcenturyBCEintheregionofSouth ARGUMENTEXPLANATION
AsiawhichwasmuchcloserinproximitytoChinathantheMediterranean (COMPARISON-SIMILARITY)
worldwhereRomedeveloped.Duetoitsgreatergeographicproximity
and direct links by way of the Great Silk Road from India to China,
BuddhismdiffusedmorereadilyfromIndiatoChina.Directcontactsby
Buddhist merchants and monastics (monks and nuns) from India,
traveling to China, aided in the diffusion of that religion into China.
Likewise, Chinese emperors of the Han dynasty regularly sent
ambassadorsandpriestsonjourneystoIndiatoseekoutrelicsandtexts
oftheBuddhainordertobringthembacktotheMiddleKingdom.This
is surprising, perhaps, considering the rampant xenophobia of the
Chinese. Unlike China, Rome did not actively seek out religious
knowledge,includingBuddhism,fromIndia.Formostofitshistory,Rome
was far more interested in preserving the state religion of its empire,
whichsometimesincludedtheworshipofitsemperors,or“Caesars”,as
gods.Forexample,AugustusCaesarwasdeifiedafterhisdeathbythe
Roman Senate and temples were built and dedicated to his memory
throughout the empire. Glorification of the Roman state and its
emperorswascommonplaceuntilEmperorTheodosiusmadeChristianity
EVIDENCE#1
theofficialreligionoftheRomanEmpirebyimperialdecree.Theold
Roman polytheistic beliefs were replaced by this newer monotheistic
faith and any religion that did not adhere to the religious beliefs of
Christianity were outlawed. Earlier, in India, however, Buddhism was
EVIDENCE#2
promotedduringtheMauryandynasty,particularlyundertheleadership
ofEmperorAshoka.Hispillarsandrockedictsproclaimedprotectionof
USEEVIDENCETO
BuddhistsandembracedaBuddhist-influencedsystemoflaw,whilestill
SUBSTANTIATETHESIS
protectingtheHindumajorityofIndia.UndertheGupta,however,this
promotionofBuddhismbytheIndiangovernmentcametoanendand
HinduismultimatelytriumphedastheprimaryfaithinSouthAsiabythe
end of the Classical Era. In China, by the end of the Han dynasty,
Buddhism had become quite popular among all classes alongside the
EVIDENCE#3
continuing Chinese religious traditions of animism, ancestor worship,
Daoism,andConfucianism.
Incomparison,BuddhismandChristianitywerediffusedbymeans ARGUMENTDESCRIPTION
oftheGreatSilkRoad.ThiswaspossiblebecausetheSilkroutesprovided (COMPARISON-SIMILARITY)
directoverlandlinksbetweentheMiddleEast,CentralAsia,SouthAsia, ARGUMENTEXPLANATION
and East Asia. The Great Silk Road was further linked to other trade (COMPARISON-DIFFERENCE)
routes:TheMediterraneanSeaandRomanroadsintheWestandthe
Indian Ocean to the South. Because the Roman Empire included
territorieslinkeddirectlybytheGreatSilkRoad,MediterraneanSea,and
Romanroads,ChristianitydiffusedrapidlyfromitsoriginsinIsraelinthe
MiddleEast.Likewise,BuddhismwasabletodiffusefromIndiatoChina
viaGreatSilkRoadconnectionsacrosstheHimalayas.Attheirpeak,the
RomanEmpireandHanChinaprotectedextensiveareasoftheGreatSilk
Roadwiththeirpowerfularmies.Thispromotedmerchantactivity.Asa
result,themerchantsnotonlybroughttheirgoodstosellineachofthese
empires,buttheyalsointroducednewfaiths.Oneofthepeoplethatwas
EVIDENCE#4
particularlyimportantinspreadingtheideasofJesusalongtheGreatSilk
Road,Mediterranean,andRomanroads,wasSaintPaul.Accordingto
USEEVIDENCETO
theBible,PaulwasanearlyChristianconvertfromSyria.Paulinspired
SUBSTANTIATETHESIS
other preachers and established some of the earliest churches in the
MiddleEastandalongtheMediterraneancoast.Anoutcomeofthisearly
evangelismwasthatChristianmonasterieswereeventuallyestablished
intheMiddleEastalongtheGreatSilkRoad.Buddhistmonasterieswere
EVIDENCE#5
also established along the Great Silk Road, but these were located in
CentralAsiaandTibet.ChristianandBuddhistmonasteriespreservedthe
USEEVIDENCETO
religious traditions of these faiths, but also served as points of further
SUBSTANTIATETHESIS
religiousdiffusionontheGreatSilkRoad.
JustastheGreatSilkRoadwasusedbytravelersandgovernments
SYNTHESIS
todiffuseBuddhismandChristianityintheperiodof600BCEto600CE,
(ADEVELOPMENTINA
thenexterasawanewreligionexpandfarmoreeffectivelyacrossthe
DIFFERENTHISTORICAL
Silk Routes. The Post-Classical Period witnessed the diffusion of Islam
PERIOD)
alongtheGreatSilkRoad.ThoughIslamlackedmonasticstodiffusethe
faith,Islamspreadprimarilyduetomilitaryconquest,merchantactivity,
andtheevangelizingeffortsofSufimystics.Islamwasusuallyreligiously
tolerant as long as a head tax was paid by the subjects of Islamic
governments, so Christianity and Buddhism continued to be practiced
alongtheGreatSilkRoad.
During the Classical Era of 600 BCE to 600 CE, Afroeurasian
THESIS
religions of Buddhism and Christianity diffused along the overland silk
(RE-WORKED)
routes.Inaddition,monasticsandmerchantsplayedamajorroleinthe
diffusion of both Buddhism and Christianity. However, whereas
Buddhism was promoted by the Mauryan Empire of India and the
government of Han China, it did not have a major impact on Rome.
Instead, Rome adopted Christian beliefs that were, for the most part,
missinginChinaandIndiaduringtheperiod.