The People’s Republic of China is the world’s third largest country after Russia and Canada. According to the Li Yi Model of the Chinese Social Stratification of 2005, the China of today is made up of a peasant class, a working class, a capitalist class and a class of cadre and quasi-cadre. How does this differ from the class divisions of ancient China?

Under the Han dynasty (202 BC to AD220) a bureaucracy based on Confucianism was developed and the teaching of Confucius was based on five basic relationships in life: Ruler to subject, friend to friend, husband to wife, elder brother to younger brother and father to son. All except friend to friend involved one person having authority over the other. Confucius encouraged strong family ties, respect of elders by the young and ancestor worship.

The emperor was also expected to conduct a proper relationship between himself and heaven, heaven being seen as the governing authority of the whole universe.

Most of the land in ancient China was owned by the wealthiest and most powerful families. These high-ranking people along with large numbers of semi-serfs also took most of the important military and civilian positions of the government and shared these positions with their own clans.

China then split into the separate kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu. The next four centuries were known as the Three Kingdom period when there was huge warfare between states; one of the most gruesome of times in China’s history. During this period, imperial officials were given the job of assessing the level of talents of individuals who were recommended by the local elites to become court officials. These individuals would then be given one of nine grades depending on their skills, however generally only the wealthy and powerful were selected. This method of classification of court officials continued until an examination system was implemented by the Emperor Yang.

China was unified by Qin Shhaungdi and it was during the Qin dynasty (221-206BC) that the majority of the original Great Wall was built.

Between the Qin Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty (221 BC to AD1911) the main classes of the bulk of Chinese people were: merchant, craftsman, peasant/farmer and landlord. There was a big difference in lifestyles of the wealthy upper class and peasant class.

At the top of the class system was the Emperor, the richest man in China and the royal family. Under the Emperor were the nobles, this class made up of high-ranking officials who fought in the emperor’s army. Many nobles lived in exquisite palaces and enjoyed a life of luxury. Robes of silk were worn by both men and women as a status symbol.

During the Song Dynasty (960 AD to 1279 AD) it was a common practice of the rich to bind the feet of young girls with long strips of cloth. This was a painful exercise the aim of which was to stop the feet of these young females growing. Small feet were admired in China and this custom spread to other classes, petering out in the early 1900’s.

Craftsmen formed a minor social class of potters, stonemasons, bronze and jade workers. Within this class division, talented workers made and decorated superb items and containers for the nobles and emperor to use in important ceremonies as symbols of their wealth.

Tradespeople ranked below the nobles but above the farmers. These people, who were in the business of buying and selling, did not produce anything themselves but they did benefit from these negotiations, some becoming very rich which did not always please the farmers who felt they were doing all the work for very little pay.

Farmers formed one of the largest classes in China, growing wheat, barley, rice, fruit and vegetables. Very few farmers owned their land. The land they worked came under the control of either the nobles or the emperor. Farmers were allowed to keep only enough of their crops to feed their families.

In ancient China, the rich were very wealthy and the hard working poor were very poor! The poor lived in houses of mud and straw while the homes of the wealthy were usually made of wood with a tiled roof. The diet of the poor consisted mainly of steamed bread and wheat noodles. In the south, rice which was grown in flooded fields called paddies was the main diet of the peasants.

There has always been a massive difference in the lifestyles between the different class systems in China and although attitudes have changed and poor families would not for instance be expected to sell their daughters to be servants of the rich, as in ancient times, the rich continue to enjoy a wealthy and luxurious lifestyle compared with the often over-crowded and ramshackle conditions of the poorest of the poor.

References

Millard A, Vangas P, “The Usborne Book of World History” Usborne Books (2009)

Fry, P S “History of the World” Dorling Kindersley (2007)

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/

http://www.history-of-china.com/

http://history.cultural-china.com/

http://www.funtasticus.com/2008/04/16/rich-and-poor-the-life-of-people-in-china/