China
3 Levels of Chinese Society Gentry- wealthy upper class Valued scholarship Supported Confucian revival
Peasants: worked the land Lived in small self sufficient villages Relied on one another Valued family ties
Merchants- wealthy but low social status b/c their riches came from the labors of others.
Women Higher in status in the Tang and Song dynasty Song- footbinding custom emerges Women were generally subordinate
Footbinding The Chinese believed that women with small feet were beautiful They would tightly bind children’s feet forcing them not to grow. The result was horribly disfigured feet and major disabilities in many Chinese women
Severely disfigured feet as a result of footbinding Little Chinese girl with her feet bound
Literature & Art Poetry: Li Bo- famous poet Stressed harmony with nature Du Fu- discussed horrors of war
Art - Landscapes; focused on nature - Porcelain - Sculpture and architecture; pagoda or temple Sini or "Chinese" manuscript dated to the 12th century AH
Chinese landscape focusing on a sunset over Beijing
Chinese porcelain; vase from the Ming Dynasty
Chinese Pagoda or temple