Daily Life in Ancient China

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Ancient China is one of many ancient societies. It is one of the oldest ancient societies with written records of its history dating back to 1500 BC in the Shang Dynasty. It has since turned into a thriving civilisation which is still very much alive today, with an extremely large population of over 1.4 million people and a landmass of 9.5 million kilometres squared. Rest assured, China is one of the most successful civilizations today, but lets dive into all of the mystery behind Ancient Chinese society.

Food

Food

Chinese cuisine is one of the three most widely recognised cuisines known to man and is extremely important to Chinese culture as it accompanies and symbolises many social gatherings and celebrations. It includes a wide variety of foods in many different forms and you will notice that Chinese cuisine has not changed significantly since Ancient times because the Chinese believed in continuity rather than change. The Ancient Chinese people thought of food as of a very high importance, they believed that food was the necessity of the people. So, this has led the food of Ancient China to be refined and cultivated over hundreds of years. Legend has it that Chinese cuisine first originated in 15BC, during the Shang dynasty. Dishes stood out in taste, texture, smell and aesthetics amongst other ancient cuisines.

Daily Chores and Jobs in Ancient China

CHORES AND JOBS OF WOMEN

Most often in Ancient China, the women did not work a great deal and were in charge of running the family, staying at home, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. If they did work, it was most likely a not very pleasant job such as sewing, weaving and spinning for the others in the family and as their main job. Some peasant women may have also worked with men in the fields. However, it was rare to see women working outside the house.

CHORES AND JOBS OF MEN

Ancient Chinese men were the workers of the family and most often handled all outside work and business. They were often soldiers and labourers as well as having the opportunity to be educated, be scholars, merchants slaves or government officials and were in charge of farming. Additionally, men were required to join the army as a soldier for two years, while women are not allowed, under any circumstances to become soldiers in the army. Men were thought of as the superior sex to women, which is why they were the people who worked and were in charge of the household.

Daily Chores and Jobs

Clothing of Ancient China

Clothing

In Ancient China, clothing symbolised status and profession, however the rich and the poor dressed very differently, as the poor made their clothes out of hemp or ramie or even cotton at times because it was cheap, while the wealthy wore silk. There were also a lot of strict rules regarding who could wear what. For instance, only the emperor was allowed to wear yellow and at times, the poor could only wear blue or black. The colour of clothing was also important to symbolise emotion and for certain celebrations. White was worn when mourning and at a funeral and red was worn to show joy and happiness while also being worn by the bride at a wedding. Most of Ancient Chinese fashion was made up of loose robes. Women wore tunics that reached the ground while men wore tunics that went down to their knees. The sleeves were long and loose-fitting and sashes were often worn as ornementation to hold clothes together. Darker shades of clothing were preferred over lighter shades as light colours were mostly worn by common people. This original clothing and style of the Ancient Chinese was known as the Han Chinese clothing.

Religion in Ancient China

Religion

Three major religions have shaped many of the ideas and history behind Ancient China. They are called the three ways and include Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, There is also Legalism, but this isn't recognised as one of the three main religions of Ancient China. The features and attributes of the four religions are:

CONFUCIANISM

Founded by the philosopher Confucius (551-479BCE).

Taught about how to live a morally good life and how different members.

BUDDHISM

Followed the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama also known as the Buddha.

Teachings were to accept things that cant be changed and try to live a virtuous life.

A person will be reincarnated when they die and will become a better person in the next life because of what they have learned.

TAOISM

Founded by the philosopher Laozi (604BCE).

Believed in following the “way of the truth”.

Taught that letting things take their natural course was the best way to live a happy and fulfilled life.

LEGALISM

Founded by philosopher Han Feizi (280-233BCE)

Believed a state cannot be ruled by kindness and good virtue.

Strict laws and punishments needed to be put into place to ensure people followed the rules.

Housing and Environment in Ancient China

Housing and Environment

HOUSING

Homes in China had a lot in common, no matter which dynasty you were living in. Houses were laid out in a similar way, as most houses had pounded earth foundations, timber frames and walls and floors made of brick, earth or wood. Whether you were rich or poor, or whether the building was a temple or a palace, the actual layout of your house did not differ that significantly. The differences were in the size of the building and what was on the inside, the interior design/decoration, however most ancient Chinese homes had very little furniture. During Tang times, houses started to have more modern technology such as fans and heaters, but in previous dynasties houses had almost no technology, were built on rectangular blocks of land and included sleeping areas, kitchens, halls (general living space) and an outside area as well.

ENVIRONMENT

Like us, China's climate has the four seasons (winter, summer, spring and autumn). China's land is comprised mostly of forests, hills, mountains, desert, farming/agricultural land with many rivers providing a stable water source, the mountains providing a natural barrier against invaders, and the farming land providing them with a stable food source. In Ancient times with no technology, the Ancient Chinese people adapted to the land using its natural resources. The Huang He or Yellow River was where they settled and was a place for the Ancient Chinese to fish, farm and irrigate the land, which would then give them a stable food source.

Conclusion

Conclusion

After reading all of that, we can gather that Ancient Chinese life is very dissimilar to our current life here in Australia in 2019. However, these Ancient Chinese ways of life have gone on to form the thriving society that is China. We can say that with no technology they still survived by living off the land and by using its natural resources to build houses, make food, make clothing and more. We can also get a hold of the continuity of some of China's ancient traditions and ways of life to now, being that many lifestyles and practices in today's Chinese society are still the same. I hope you enjoyed this Prezi. Thank you for listening!