LifeStyles
Lifestyles
Chinese civilization started around 10,000BCE, around 3,000BCE a group of farmers called the Lungshan people came to china. They harvested silk to weave fabrics. To make their houses, they baked strong bricks. They did projects like irrigation and flood control. They were really good engineers, Yu, found the Xia dynasty around 2,000BCE but there were no records of the discovery.
Then around 1,700BCE to about 250BCE, was the Shang an Chou dynasties also known as “The Bronze Age”. This dynasty was known to use jade, bronze and horse-drawn chariots. Merchants and Craftsmen lived in mud houses built near the outside walls of cities, while farmers lived in nearby villages. When chopsticks were invented, it changed the way people ate. If you lived in this time, your first priorities would probably be placed on your family to the rich and the poor. The eldest male would be leader or head of the family. Also, if you or one of the family members did something wrong, the whole family would be disgraced. The young would have to obey their parents without a fuss, this is a important part of something they do called ancestor worship. Even the nobles that have a lot of servants might have to patch his father robe with his own hands. Many children look forward to the day when the would have children of their own to honor them. Women were just to be gentle, calm, respectful and to obey her husband.
Ancestor worship was important to early Shang kings and nobles. When a man died, the people believed that his spirit lived on in the afterworld. They believed their ancestors had powers to punish them or make them wiser with decisions. To prevent the ancestors from punishing them or keep them happy, they brought food and wine to temples or special places. A way they used to communicate with their ancestors was using oracle bones. The king would ask a question and a priest would heat a bronze pin and hold it near the oracle bone. This creates a pattern of cracks, then the priest would study the oracle bone and find the answer. The king made many sacrifices to communicate with their ancestors. Some of the sacrifices included deformed slaves or people, enemies captured in war, craftsmen or merchants that upsets the nobles and even the nobles that upsets the king.
For a sport, many loved to hunt and horseback riding. Especially horseback riding which was really popular in those days. Although these are sports, they are also methods of war.
Warriors wore bronze helmets and carried daggers, spears, axes as weapons. A chariot had a driver, a spearman, and an archer. Then behind them came the foot soldiers who were peasants forced to leave their fields. Foot soldiers wore tunics and trousers.
Farmer’s life is very hard; they lived on the land near their fields in summer. Their homes were made of bamboo branches. In the winter, they would move to their permanent homes in villages. In the winter houses, there are usually only one room, the roof was either thatched or tiled. The floors were all dirt and there wasn’t any furniture either! Their walls were made of mud and their doors were facing south. Any family had a winter home. Farmers farmed small plots of land with stone and wood tools. They didn’t even own the land. The royals and nobles assigned farmers to different lands to work on. They had to give nobleman part of the food they grew; they were also supposed to give gifts to the nobles wine or silk. They had to work all the time.
This people had some gods and most of them were nature gods, like the river god, the rain god and last but not least, the earth god. There were more but the most powerful one was the sky god. To the farmers or peasants, the sky god was more powerful than any earth kings.
Merchants and craftsmen weren’t considered men, so in wars, when the city is attacked, the merchants and craftsmen were left outside of the city to fend for themselves.
The Han dynasty was from about 200BCE to 200CE. People’s life was very good in this dynasty because of the demand for Chinese silk and the “the silk road”, a big trade route. Many people bonded together into a civilization in the Han dynasty. Han tombs can tell a lot about their times. They buried models of their homes and possessions.
The Han dynasty’s medicine was useful and ingenious like acupuncture. Another inventions made during this time were paper. Other useful inventions was an instrument that could tell when a earthquake was happening so they could send food and troops to help.
Then a Han emperor around 100CE decided to make public schools, for boys only. There was a great school called the Grand School, in the capitals. At first there were only 50 students allowed to study at this great school but after about 100 years there were more than 30 000 students! Jobs were then given to educated people and nobles and they would get paid.
Cities were surrounded by a strong wall made of earth and stone. The cities had education, and trade. Marketplaces usually had free amusement like musicians and acrobats.
Although most people had good lives in this dynasty, the poor people didn’t. They had really little food and many young males joined gangs. Teen gangs would go around the cities terrorizing people.
The rich had a great difference than the poor; their kids were tutored in science, math, literature, arts, religion and music. Like today, the kids might stay at home to study or go to their tutor’s house. The rich also didn’t need to go to public schools.
Farmer’s in the Han dynasty lived in either one or two story mud houses that was thatched or tiled roofs. Barns and other buildings encircled the house. Few families lived in the same house so they could work together. Same as the Shang times, they didn’t own their farms, but they were larger in size since some lived together. This people slept at dark and had to wake up at dawn. They had simple clothes, a shirt and pants made of scratchy clothing, sandals made of straw. To keep themselves warm, they stuffed their clothes with paper and cloth.
The last dynasty I will be talking about is the Tang dynasty and it was from 600-900CE
This dynasty was also known as the “The Golden Age”, people started trying new things including fruits. That is when they started eating bananas.
If you want to be in a high position you would have to pass the government exams. If you passed, you are on your way to riches and fame!
Houses in the capital city of Ch’ang-an had baths, heaters, mechanical fans, fountains, mirrors and musical instruments. The pagoda look was very popular during the Tang times. The homes of the wealthy and nobles were very huge and had several rooms while farmer houses had only on room.
The hair and clothing in the Tang dynasty was interesting, men had topknots. They would shave their hair except the middle of the head, which they would let it grow, then they would wrap it up into a knot. To keep the hair in place, they would put on gold and decorated hairpins. As for women, they had jewel crowns with little bells on the edges. Women had little make-up boxed that also held a mirror, rouge and lipstick.
The shoes were also important, they used it to tell there sign of status. Peasants had sandals made of straws and nobles wore fine cloth slippers.
For entertainment, they played board games. Music, dancing, hunting with falcons and archery was also anther kind of entertainment.
They stopped sacrificing people but honoring ancestors was still very important. Families had to respect each other and help each other. When a girl is getting married, they had to go live with her husband. Girls were encouraged to stay home and learn while the boys went to school but they didn’t have to.
Now the farmers are happy as ever! They get to actually get to own the land, each farmer was received one portion of land about 15 acres. The farmers ate beans, turnips, melons, peaches, chicken and lots of fish. Even though these farmers worked hard, they were happy, for most of their lives, they didn’t have war. They had developed a culture loaded with ancestor worship and festivals. They enjoyed simple pleasures and were aware of the many beauties of nature
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