ANCIENT CHINA Culture Religion Culture Chinese culture had

ANCIENT CHINA Culture Religion

Culture � � � � Chinese culture had many different aspects to it, as do all cultures. Some of the interesting aspects of Ancient Chinese culture were the: -people -clothing -literature -food -philosophies

The Chinese People � � � Put a lot of emphasis on everybody acting the right way for their position in life. Rich should act different than poor, women should act differently than men, city people should act differently than country people. Most important relationship was with your family. Children lived with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Oldest male was the head of the family.

The Chinese People � � Most children did not go to school, they worked on their families farms. Girls grew up, got married, and then moved in with their husbands family. They got married very young, and had to do whatever their husband’s mother told them to do. A woman’s role was to be gentle, calm, respectful, and obey her husband. Slavery was also a part of Chinese culture. Some were born as slaves, others were sold into slavery to pay debts.

The People RICH � � Had servants Lived in cities, or were rulers of their district Imitated the imperial palace. Had elaborate homes, with many rooms and fireplaces. Each home had a courtyard POOR � � � Lived in houses packed together. Very little food, little to no sanitation People in the country were poor farmers. Lived in one or two story mud houses. Several families lived in one house to work together

Clothing � � People in China mainly wore tunics (long tshirts. Women wore the tunics long, almost touching the ground, while men wore shorter ones to the knees. Almost everyone in China, both men and women, wore their hair long. It was viewed as disrespectful to cut your hair During the Sui Dynasty, the emperor decided that poor people could only wear black or blue clothes, the rich should wear colored.

Foot Binding � � � In Ancient China, during the Sung Dynasty, a fashion started for women to bind their feet. Women thought that to be beautiful, they needed tiny feet, only three inches long. They got these feet by wrapping tight bandages around their feet when they were little, only five or six years old.

Foot Binding � � The bandages were so tight, that they broke the girls toes and bent them underneath their feet so they had to walk on top of them. The girls would spend most of their time crying for two or three years before their feet would stop hurting. Women with bound feet couldn’t walk very well, and when they worked in the fields, many would crawl. The earliest version of Cinderella comes from China. The prince choosing Cinderella because she has the tiniest feet of any girl.

Foot Binding

Literature � � � Started writing in 1500 BCE Wrote on “oracle bones” or animal bones to tell the future. Writing is the same that people use in modern China, just an earlier version. Signs came from pictures, like Cuneiform and Hieroglyphics Also wrote on strips of bamboo and on silk cloth

Literature � � � Earliest book was written on silk called the I Ching. It was a fortune telling book. Around 300 BCE, during the warring time, a general wrote a book called the Art of War, which was about the best ways to organize armies and battles Around 100 BCE, they invented paper to write on. It was cheaper than silk, so more people wrote and copied books during the Han Dynasty.

Food � � � Rice was the first grain farmed in China. There is evidence of rice farming along the Yang-tse River as early as 5000 BCE. In northern China, people started farming millet and sorghum, which was boiled into a cereal like oatmeal. Tea grows wild in China. By 3000 BCE, almost everyone drank tea.

Food � � When people could afford it, they would buy or grow vegetables to put on their rice. Meat was very expensive, so it was rarely eaten, and if it was, it was cut into small pieces.

PHILOSOPHIES Taoism Confucius

Philosophies TAOISM � � � Live in harmony with universe, rather than fighting it People should not live with rigid rules and laws People should try to work with the natural way of the world CONFUCIUS � � � People should recognize their responsibilities to the larger society People should hold up the laws and customs If everyone is a good citizen, then the whole community would benefit

Confucius � � � His main interest was to figure out ways for the government to take better care of the people He lived during the 500’s BCE Government officials didn’t like him, because he thought they needed to treat people better

Religion � Before the Han dynasty, the Chinese believed in gods of nature, magical beings, dragons, and ghosts.

Religion � � During the Shang dynasty, people believed in ancestor worship. They believed that when a man died, his spirit lived on and had magical powers. To keep the ancestors happy, they would leave gifts for them. Used oracle bones to communicate with ancestors

Buddhism � � � Became popular during the Tang Dynasty Originated in India Has four noble truths � Life is filled with suffering � Suffering is caused by people’s wants � Suffering can be ended if people stop wanting things, like more pleasure or more power � To stop wanting things, people must follow 8 basic laws, called the Eightfold path

Buddhism � Eightfold Path � To know the truth � To intend to resist evil � To not say anything to hurt others � To respect life, property, and morality � To work at a job that does not injure others � To try to free one’s mind from evil � To be in control of one’s feelings and thoughts � To practice appropriate forms of concentration

Buddhism � � Teaches that true achievement does not come from competition or comparison A person is successful if one has given their best Values love, wisdom, goodness, calm, and selfcontrol Is now a major religion of the world