1. Chapter 15 Section 3: China: Patterns of Life

2. 1. Who did peasants rely on?  Self-sufficient & self-reliant  Relied on family  Headman  Had little contact with distant rulers

4. 2. Social Classes  All people were not equal  Age, gender, education, and occupation determined a persons place in society

5. 3. Organization of Social Classes  Gentry  Peasants  Artisans  Merchants  Soldiers

6. 4. Gentry  Wealthy landowners, educated by Confucian classics  They looked down on those who did physical labor  To show they didn’t have to work with their hands they let their fingernails grow very long  Government officials & scholars, collected taxes and advised the emperor

8. 5. Majority of the People  The vast majority were peasants  Owned land or tenant farmers  Paid taxes but avoided imperial government  Feared the government’s harsh system of justice and punishment  Enjoyed limited leisure time  Celebrated festivals & enjoyed tales told by storytellers

9. 6. Describe differences between Gentry & Peasants  Gentry  no physical labor  government officials  time and wealth to support the arts  Peasants  physical labor  little to do with how nation was ruled  poor and most of their day working

10. 7. Village Headman  Kept order  Resolved disputes  Did not want to involve Imperial government

11. 8. Social Mobility  Education  Families would use their wealth to educate their sons  Young men would then have to pass civil service exams  ensured that officials shared Confucian values and traditions.  Women “marry up”

12. Artisans & Merchants  Produced the goods the Gentry and peasants did not  Achieved social mobility through educating their children  At times an entire village supported the education of only one student

13. 9. Joint Families  Ideal in China  Farming societies  By working together families could produce what it needed to survive  Patrilineal and Patrilocal

14. 10. Values of traditional family  Family first  Respect for elders  Filial piety  Duty  Harmony

15. 11. Reverence for Ancestors  or Veneration  Filial Piety  Family’s interests before their own  Believed that the extended family included the living, the dead, & all future generations  Ancestors lived in another world and depended on descendants to provide them with necessities  Without them the ancestors would become ghosts & their descendants would suffer

16. 12. Marriages  Arranged Marriages  Gentry strengthened their position in society  Families consulted their ancestors for approval  Go-Between (Matchmaker) worked out the details of the marriage  ex. the dowry  Priests studies birth dates to determine wedding day that would bring good fortune

17. 13. Woman’s role  Inferior to men---Patriarchal  Girls were valued for their work and motherhood  Daughters births were not celebrated, sons births revered  When she married she left the family & became part of her husband’s family  Under guidance of mother-in-law

19. 14. Practice in 950AD  Foot Binding –   Painful Memories for China's Footbinding Survivors – NPR Hyperlink Painful Memories for China's Footbinding Survivors – NPR Hyperlink  Kept the feet small  Began at imperial court but spread to many parts of China  Women with bound feet were thought to be beautiful  to turn them into the prized "three-inch golden lotuses."  Feared that they would not be able to find a husband for a daughter who had large feet  Banned in 1912

20.  Legend has it that the origins of footbinding go back as far as the Shang dynasty (1700-1027 B.C.). The Shang Empress had a clubfoot, so she demanded that footbinding be made compulsory in the court.  But historical records from the Song dynasty (960-1279 A.D.) date footbinding as beginning during the reign of Li Yu, who ruled over one region of China between 961-975. It is said his heart was captured by a concubine, Yao Niang, a talented dancer who bound her feet to suggest the shape of a new moon and performed a "lotus dance."

26. Shoe For a Bounded Foot -The shoe is slightly larger than a pack of cigarettes

27. Body Modification is common in many Cultures

39. How did tradition benefit Chinese society? How did tradition benefit Chinese society?  Creates order