7.4.3
Everyday life
People in ancient China had very different lives based on their social class. Rulers, lords and wealthy people had a lot of power, while peasants, artisans and slaves faced many struggles. Most people were peasant farmers living in small villages. They worked long hours on family farms and did most tasks by hand. Floods and droughts often forced families to work together on irrigation canals. In towns, crafts were passed down from father to son. Craftsmen and merchants also had hard lives, but they could travel for work and trade, which was better than being a peasant. Women’s hard lives In ancient China, women were seen as less important than men. Fathers were in charge of families. Women took care of the home and children, and peasant women often worked in the ýelds, too. Their fathers arranged their marriages, and after marriage, they lived with their husband’s family. Married women had to obey their husbands’ family members but could gain respect by having sons. Baby girls were not valued and sometimes were abandoned or sold.
SOURCE4 Abronze mao (spearhead) from the late Shang dynasty
Entertainment Most families in ancient China worked hard with little time or money for fun, except during festivals. However, rulers and wealthy merchants enjoyed many entertainments. They had Chinese opera with stories, board games and acrobatics, which became popular during the Qin dynasty.
SOURCE5 From Michael Lowe, Everyday Life in Early Imperial China
. . . evidence in the form of reliefs [sculptures] that decorated a tomb illustrates the type of entertainment that rich families could afford to stage, right at the end of the Han period. There was dancing and sword-play, juggling and acrobatic feats, accompanied by skilled players with their drums and bells, their wind and stringed instruments; and we know of other forms of amusements . . . such as cock-ýghting, dog or horse racing and bird hunting.
7.4.4 Death and burials We know little about how poor people dealt with death in ancient China, but we know a lot about the funeral customs of the rich. They could afford fancy tombs and elaborate ceremonies. Many people believed that when someone died, their soul went to a spirit world. A big funeral showed that the deceased was important in life. People thought that the living needed to help the dead so they wouldn’t become evil spirits. From about 5000 BCE to the 1700s CE, wealthy families buried goods like food and drink with their dead. Sometimes, rulers had people buried with them to serve them in the afterlife. Rich families had grand funeral feasts and ceremonies, and they were sometimes buried with puppets dressed in ýne silk. Their tombs had paintings of joyful banquets. Poor people didn’t have these things and were likely buried in simple pits. Many may not have had any burial during famines or wars.
TOPIC7 Ancient China 195
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