Ancient China
Published on: 19-Feb-2025
Ancient China is one of the oldest and long-lasting civilizations in the history of the world. The history of Ancient China can be traced back over 4,000 years, though the earliest known written records of the history of China dates back from 1250 B.C., from the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 B.C.). The word China is derived from the Chinese dynasty named Qin which was pronounced as ‘chin’ and pronounced by the Persians as ‘cin’ and ‘cina’ in Sanskrit. Although this civilization was better than others, still it lacked in basic religious, social and moral teachings which was one of the core reasons for continuous bloodshed among the elites because they simply followed their greed, and lust for power and wealth.
Wei River People
In about 3000 B.C., immigrants from the West began settling in the valley of the Wei River near its confluence with great Hwang Ho. These people had already developed many of the arts of civilization mentioned in Chinese mythology. They had domesticated flocks and herds of animals, build dwellings, tilled soil, and knew enough about government to create an organized state in their new home in the river valley. They intermarried with the more primitive inhabitants of the regions, steadily grew in power and expanded along the Hwang Ho valley.
Legends of the Period
The Period from 3000 to 2205 B.C., the beginning of China’s first dynasty was one in which advances were made in agriculture, silk-worm breeding, and fishing. Some of the rulers used picture symbol in writing, and worshiped Shang-li the Supreme Being. The first Chinese dynasty was the Hsia, which endured from 2205 to 1766 B.C. Its first ruler was Yu, about whom the Chinese historians spoke in lavish terms. Yu was credited with having controlled the floods of nine rivers by cutting through nine mountains and creating nine lakes. As an administrator, he divided the China into nine provinces, extended his territory westward to ‘the moving sand’, and finally subdued aboriginal tribes in the south. The Prestige of the Hsia dynasty certainly waned steadily after the death of Yu. Later on, the cruelty and excess of one emperor exhausted the patience of the people. A revolutionary hero called T’ang, the lord of Shang, led the rebellion, captured and banished the tyrant and set himself on the throne. 1
Shang Dynasty
T’ang founded a new dynasty, the Shang, which endured from 1766 to 1122 B.C. Archaeological evidence proves that the Shang dynasty had a real existence. Shang culture was the direct ancestor of the later Chinese culture. Emperor T’ang ruled only twelve years. He appears to have been a just and able monarch, but the Shang followed the same path of decadence as their predecessors. Another king of Shang dynasty was Wu Yi who was an atheist and is known to have blasphemed the spirit of heaven. His reign was from 1198-1194 B.C. according to Herbert A. Giles. He made an image in human form, which he called God. With this image he used to play a game with dice, and if 'God' lost, he would overwhelm the image with insult. He also made a bag of leather, which he filled with blood and hung up. Then he would shoot at it, saying that he was shooting God. 2 He also played liubo with the idol and had it lose three times in a row, then destroyed it. The excesses of another emperor proved the last straw. Not caring to endure further such novel tortures as balancing on greased poles over a bit of burning charcoal, the people at last rebelled under the leadership of Chou. The rebels were victorious and the emperor committed suicide. 3
Zhou Dynasty
Zhou dynasty, also known as Chou dynasty ruled ancient China for about eight centuries, establishing the distinctive political and cultural characteristics that were to be identified with China for the next two millennia. 4 Around the year 1046 B.C., King Wu, of the province of Zhou, rebelled against King Zhou of Shang and defeated his forces at the Battle of Muye, establishing the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046- 256 B.C.). 1046-771 B.C. marks the Western Zhou Period while 771-226 B.C. marks the Eastern Zhou Period. The Mandate of Heaven was invoked by the Duke of Zhou, King Wu’s younger brother, to legitimize the revolt as he felt the Shang was no longer acting in the interests of the people.
The Mandate of Heaven was thus defined as the gods’ blessing on a just ruler and ruled by divine mandate. When the government no longer served the will of the gods, that government would be overthrown. Further, it was stipulated that there could be only one legitimate ruler of China and that his rule should be legitimized by his proper conduct as a steward of the lands entrusted him by heaven. Rule could be passed from father to son but only if the child possessed the necessary virtue to rule. This mandate would later be often manipulated by various rulers entrusting succession to unworthy progeny.
Under the Zhou, culture flourished and civilization spread. Writing was codified and iron metallurgy became increasingly sophisticated. The greatest and best-known Chinese philosophers and poets, Confucius, Mencius, Mo Ti (Mot Zu), Lao-Tzu, Tao Chien, and the military strategist Sun-Tzu (if he existed as depicted), all come from the Zhou period in China and the time of the hundred schools of thought.
The chariot, which was introduced to the land under the Shang, became more fully developed by the Zhou. It should be noted that these periods and dynasties did not begin nor end as neatly as they seem to in history books and the Zhou Dynasty shared many qualities with the Shang (including language and religion). While historians find it necessary, for clarity’s sake, to break events into periods, the Zhou Dynasty remained extant through the following recognized periods known as The Spring and Autumn Period and The Warring States Period. 5
Climate and Geography
On the east, China was bounded by the Pacific Ocean. On the west, northwest, and southwest great mountain chains, vast desert stretches, and semiarid plateaus isolate and protect the middle regions. The south was subtropical, with monsoons and typhoons, while the north experiences extremes of heat and cold. There was a corresponding variety of vegetation, aided by the natural fertility of great sections of the country. The north possessed the loess, a loam which was built up of dust carried by winds eastwards from the plains of central Asia. The central and northeast areas contained a large alluvial plain formed by deposits from the muddy waters of the Yangtze and Hwang Ho, in which agriculture flourished. 6
Eastern China was much wetter and more fertile. Many rivers ran from west to east, originating in the Tibetan highlands or the Himalayas and emptying into the Pacific. These include the Pearl, the Hai, the Yangtze, and the Yellow Rivers. The Yangtze River in southern China has been China’s longest river. It began from the Tibetan Plateau and entered the Pacific Ocean near the site of the modern city of Shanghai. The Yangtze basin was warm and wet and had a stable temperate to subtropical climate. The soil was very fertile, making this area one of the first places that humans domesticated plants, starting around 8000 B.C. The river had become a major transportation route by the first century B.C. Ships could sail 600 miles upriver from the ocean, allowing foreign imports to reach well inland. Many cities rose up on the river’s banks; one of the most important was modern Nanjing, built around 500 B.C. The Yangtze was wide and difficult to cross, making it an effective boundary between ancient kingdoms. Summer rains in the Yellow River region were unreliable, and winters were severe. The climate was harsh and unstable, prone to droughts and unexpected violent floods, both of which killed millions of people over the centuries. China was afflicted with numerous severe droughts during its ancient history. Writings from the 6th century B.C. mention the techniques for coping with drought and methods of praying for rain, some of them suggested by the philosopher Confucius. Rulers also put a great deal of work into holding back floods. 7
Language
During the formative centuries, the Chinese created a written language which has persisted without many radical alterations to the present. In consequence, it is the oldest form of writing now used in the world. The Chinese language was monosyllabic. Difference in meaning was achieved through the use of tones, of which there are from four to nine different sounds for each word. The written language was composed of about 40,000 characters, each of which expresses a distinct idea. Whereas the spoken language of China has split into around hundred dialects so that a Cantonese usually cannot understand, a man from the north, the written language has remained comparatively unchanged. 8
The characters of the Chinese language represented ideas, not sounds, it was an ideographic, not a phonetic, language. Consequently, it had practically as many characters as it had ideas. Like the arithmetical digits, these characters had a meaning primarily for the eye, not for the ear. Most authorities estimate their number, exclusive of obsolete words and synonyms, at about 25,000. Considering as totally different, these characters to which a stress marks give a different meaning, other estimates make the number of 260,000. However, many of these 25,000 characters were seldom used. In fact, the nine sacred books, contain less than 5000 different characters. There were six distinct types of handwriting which were the ornamental, the official, the literary or pattern style, the common hand, the running hand and the angular style similar to printing. 9
Under the Chou dynasty it took the form which it possesses (with some modification) today. Chinese has been noted for its terseness and brevity and at the same time, for its subtlety and complexity. Its long changeless continuity has the major advantage for its users today that the literate Chinese can read the literature which was written twenty centuries ago. The Chinese script and pictures symbolize in some ways the character of China’s civilization. Despite all changes and departures, they remained constant, conservative and continuous. 10
Religious Beliefs
Religious practices in ancient China go back over 7,000 years. Long before the philosophical and spiritual teachings of Confucius and Lao-Tzu developed or before the teachings of the Buddha came to China, the people worshipped personifications of nature and then of concepts like ‘wealth’ or ‘fortune’ which developed into a religion. Since these religions were man-made, they were unable to answer the basic questions of the ancient Chinese race. Those people didn’t know who was their real creator, why were they created and why were they sent to this world. Furthermore, as time passed, their so-called scholars kept adding new things to it and their religion became more and more complicated. Consequently, instead of solving their problems, their religion misguided them more.
Concept of God
Chinese conventional religion was polytheistic; numerous gods were loved in a pantheistic view where heavenly nature was intrinsic on the planet. 11 The divine beings were energies and standards uncovering, mirroring and spreading the method for Heaven, which was the incomparable godhead showing in the northern culmen of the starry vault of the skies and its request. They used the term of Great Supreme for their biggest god which meant that there was nothing above it. According to their belief the Great Supreme produced Yin and Yang. When Yang and Yin united, they produced water, fire, wood, metal, and earth. When these five forces operated in harmony the four seasons came to pass. The essences of the Infinite, of Yin and Yang, and of the five elements combined, the heavenly became male and the earthly became female. When these powers acted on each other all things were produced and reproduced and developed without ending. Moreover, the man was considered to be the best and most intelligent of all. This nature was law. All men were thus born and had this law. 12
Gods
There were over 200 gods and goddesses worshipped throughout ancient China, but if one were to count every deity or spirit, the number would be over 1,000. Each town, village, city, field, farm, and sometimes even separate plot in a graveyard, had its own Tudi Gong. 13 There were also spirits known as Kuei-Shen, 14 nature spirits, who might inhabit a tree or live by a stream or preside over a garden. The gods were believed to have created the world and human beings, and they kept the world and surrounding universe functioning. Each deity had his or her own special area of power and influence, and the most important were given their own shrines and temples, although shrines were also erected to local spirits and to noble men and women who became deified after death. All of the gods, goddesses, and spirits were important to the people of ancient China. 15
Shang Ti
The religion of early China consisted of the worship of a supreme God, called Shang-ti, and a lesser spirit of heavens, the worship of the earth and its attending spirits and the worship of man through the spirits of his ancestors. The sun and stars were also given reverence for their effect upon earth and its inhabitants. 16
Shang-ti was regarded as the high god or celestial god of the Shang dynasty. The name itself meant the ruler, the sovereign, or perhaps the Lord upon high. It was a reference to a force transcendental in nature to whom the Shang rulers owed praise and for whom they offered sacrifice and a verity of rituals and ceremonies. With the founding of the Chou dynasty, a new figure emerged as a high god. That was T’ien and in many Chou writings there is still mention of Shang-ti, but alongside T’ien. 17 He was also known as the Jade emperor who lived in a palace and other gods served him as the high officials. Some of these gods resided inside the palace and some lived outside. Outside the palace, there were many gods whose functions were like those of the governors in the provinces, and on same date, or at the call of Jade Emperor, they went to the palace, otherwise they lived in their own residence and did their own work. 18 These details show that as time went on, the ancient Chinese became more confused about their concept of God due to the limitation of the human mind.
Dragon God
The Dragon god was one of the gods in heaven. He was the god of rain while he lived in the sea. Too much or too little rain meant nothing but disaster for the agriculture people; therefore, to get proper amount of rain, this god was worshipped on the specific day (usually on their birthdays), and during drought or flood. 19
Yan Wang
Yan Wang also known as Yan-Lo was the dreaded prince of the underworld and the god of dead. 20 According to Chinese, Yang Wang had many servants, and sent fourth mandates to collect the soul of the people when their lives were due to end. After that, these souls were judged in hell, chastised and reincarnated. In order to avoid premature death and torture in hell, the temples of Yan Wang were visited and sacrifices were offered on specific days. 21
Chang’e
Chang’e which was also known as Ch’ang O was the goddess of moon whose loveliness was celebrated in poems and novels. She sought refuge in the moon when her consort, Hou Yi (the Lord Archer), discovered that she stolen the drug of immorality given to him by gods. Each year on the 15th of the eight-lunar month, Chinese people celebrated the memory of Chang’e with a Mid-Autumn Festival. With a full moon shining in the heavens, ’moon cakes’ were eaten and offered as gifts to friends and neighbors. Many go outside to view the supposed outline of a toad on the surface of the moon, for this creature, according to one legend, was now Chang’e. 22
Guandi
Guandi the god of war, was a great warrior and hero who was deified after his death 23 which was ludicrous because the created could never be the creator. He was also known as Kuan Ti, Guan Yu, Guan Gong and Wudi. He was popular among common people because they believed that his control over the evil spirits was so great that even actors who played his part in dramas shared his power over demons. He wasn’t only famous among soldiers but also chosen as a patron of numerous trades and professions. This was because Guan Yu, the mortal who became Guandi after death, according to tradition was a peddler of bean curd in early life 24 but none of their religious scholars ever thought that on what grounds he was selected and why others couldn’t can attain the same status after him? If the others were eligible as well, then, the result would have been in the form of millions of new gods; with such numerous gods, wouldn’t there have been chaos? If others couldn’t be deified then why Guandi was only deified? It is a logical issue which needs to be considered by the Chinese religious scholars.
Concept of After Life
The Traditional Chinese believed that ancestors were not only alive but also powerful in determining the destiny and welfare of the living community. If not provided with the proper sacrifices and if not informed periodically about the situation of the family’s affair, the ancestors return would be angry or anxious and therefore to punish their descendants who did not show their filial piety. 25 It was obvious that the sacrificed material never reached the deceased hence it was given to the priests. Such things were basically the inventions of the priests so that could enjoy the worldly benefits in the name of religion.
Other Religious Beliefs
Ancient China was home to three schools of philosophy that have affected thought, religion, and behavior throughout its history. These schools of philosophy were known as Legalism, Confucianism, and Taoism. 26
In Imperial China, religious beliefs were divided into three ways of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Throughout its long history, China was tolerant of all religions. Although there were disagreements over religious principles, few people were persecuted for their beliefs. In this respect, the Chinese empire was unique among civilizations. Confucianism and Daoism emerged in the Warring States period. Against the backdrop of constant warfare, these two religions encouraged more peaceful ways of being. Buddhism came to China from India in the 1st century A.D., and its gentle teachings became popular in the troubled centuries that followed the end of the Han dynasty. The return of strong government under the Tang emperors (618–906 A.D.) led to the decline of Buddhism and the revival of Confucianism. Nevertheless, Buddhism had taken firm root in Chinese culture and became China’s most popular belief. 27
Legalism
Legalism was the belief that society needed to be built on law and serve the interest of the state. Legalism continued to exert a strong influence up to modern times and was particularly powerful in its effect on the governments of the Qin and Han dynasties. As Legalism was practiced, judges were supposed to correctly identify a crime and its punishment as specifically set forth in law. Strict law defined the crime and its punishment and not be subject to interpretation by the judge or other individuals. Underlying Legalism was the belief in a powerful centralized state run by officials who were appointed by a ruler who needed be obeyed without question. The law, which could not be questioned, had to be made known to the public and administered according to specific rules and regulations. By the time of the Han dynasty, the law was to be applied equally to all, commoners as well as in the nobles. But by the late Han dynasty, there were distinctions based on rank in how the law was applied. 28 Legalists were often regarded as the villains of Chinese philosophy because they taught techniques of government that relied on raw power and came with no moral justifications. They could make people do whatever the ruler wanted—good or bad—and most rulers were interested in success in war. Legalists, therefore, increased the power of the state, and they disdained history and philosophy as a waste of time. 29
The Legalists had ideas that were much more practical. They believed that people didn’t need to be motivated with vague concepts of morality or visions of a simpler world but rather they needed to be trained with the help of rewards and punishments. Legalist scholars used to approach an anxious ruler and rather than saying, ‘you first need to shape up your own life’ (as did Confucians) or ‘relax and don’t worry so much’ (the Daoist line), they would suggest that if they were allowed to set up the laws of a state, the ruler could enjoy himself while the country pretty much ran itself. Laws, they argued, needed to be objective quantifiable, if possible, applied equally, widely publicized, and strict. If a ruler wanted his people to fight hard in battle, he should offer a reward say, ‘a piece of gold for each enemy head the soldier brought in’. In fact, in the Legalist state of Qin, one way to get ahead was precisely ‘getting a head.’ It was a gruesome method of accounting, but it had the advantage of being clear-cut and easily administered. And family background was irrelevant; whether someone’s father was a general or a peasant, four heads were worth four pieces of gold. 30
Confucius
Confucius (551–479 B.C.) was a Chinese instructor, editorial manager, lawmaker, and thinker of the Spring and Autumn time of Chinese history. The philosophy of Confucius, called Confucianism, underlined individual and administrative ethical quality, rightness of social connections, equity and truthfulness. Confucius considered himself a failure in life. Tradition has it that his pleas for employment were rejected by some seventy different rulers. When he failed to gain office, he became a teacher, and the ideas he developed were later widely adopted in China. 31 Confucius taught the way of his imaginary heaven. In effect, he transferred to living human beings the respect and devotion traditionally given to ancestors. Confucius is said to have edited five ancient classics: Book of Documents, Book of Odes, Book of Rites, Book of Changes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals.
Book of Documents
The Book of Documents was a compilation of 58 chapters detailing the events of ancient China. The Book of Documents tells the deeds of the early sage-kings Yao and Shun. These narratives are influential in the development of the understanding of a sage. The compilation also includes the history of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The Book of Documents is often considered the first narrative history of ancient China.
Book of Odes
The Book of Odes is translated as the Book of Songs or the Book of Poetry. The Book of Odes was comprised of 305 poems dealing with a range of issues, including love and marriage, agricultural concerns, daily lives, and war. The Book of Odes contains different categories of poems, including folk songs and hymns used in sacrifice. Kongzi is believed to have selected the 305 poems in this collection from a much wider collection.
Book of Rites
The Book of Rites described the social norms, governmental organization, and the ritual conduct during the Zhou dynasty. Believed to have been compiled by Kongzi, the Book of Rites is the foundation of many ritual principles that arise in later Imperial China. According to the Book of Rites, proper ritual conduct would maintain harmony in the empire, as well as emphasize the virtue of piety.
Book of Changes
The Book of Changes contained a system of divination, which was centered largely around the principles of yin and yang. The Book of Changes has also been translated as I Ching or Classic of Changes. Some of the divination practices are still used today.
Spring and Autumn Annals
As the longest of the Five Classics, the Spring and Autumn Annals was a historical chronicle of the State of Lu. Unlike the Book of Documents, the Spring and Autumn Annals appear to have been created specifically for annalistic purposes. The Spring and Autumn Annals was traditionally understood as being written by Confucius, but modern scholars believe the text was actually written by various chroniclers from the State of Lu.
His disciples preserved his own teachings in a book known as the Analects. Early in the second century B.C. the Han dynasty adopted Confucianism as its official ideology. Eventually all Chinese officials had to pass rigorous examinations in the Confucius classics. They also spent a good part of their time performing the Confucian Rituals. 32
Basically, he thought that increasing violence and the breakup of society could be countered with a return to the morality of the past, by which he meant the aristocratic ways of the early Zhou dynasty. He urged his students to study ancient history and literature, and he felt that if a ruler lived according to high ethical standards, the people would naturally follow his example. 33
Under the influence of Confucius, B.C. 551− 479, the old order of things began to undergo a change. The Sage's attitude of mind towards religion was one of a benevolent agnosticism, as summed up in his famous utterance, ‘Respect the spirits, but keep them at a distance.’ 34 Confucius believed that the early years of the Zhou dynasty (1027–256 B.C.) were golden years of social harmony. In his own lifetime (551–479 B.C.) Confucius saw only growing disorder. The king’s authority was greatly reduced as ambitious lords fought each other for power. This increasing turmoil led Confucius to develop a new moral outlook. It was based on kindness, respect, and the strength of the family. He said that a good ruler should set an example by dealing fairly with his subjects, using force only as a last resort. In return, subjects had a duty to respect and obey their ruler. 35 Confucius believed in destiny; he was superstitious, changing color at a squall or at a clap of thunder; and he even countenanced the ceremonies performed by villagers when driving out evil spirits from their dwellings. He protested against any attempt to impose on God. 36
Confucius's teachings redirected to the living beings instead of the respect and rituals that Chinese had traditionally given to dead ancestors. Confucius also made revolutionary innovations in the institution of teaching. Prior to his time, education was available only to those with the means to buy it. Confucius taught that education should be open to all who had interest and intellectual ability, regardless of whether they could pay. Despite these radical innovations, Confucius saw himself not as an innovator but as a restorer of Chinese. As a teacher, Confucius did not aim to impart knowledge or foster intellectual ability but to nurture a quality of the inner person known in Chinese as jen. The term is difficult to translate but means something like ‘genuine humanity.’ Confucius taught that people could realize this internal quality by means of external observances: They could become genuinely humane by performing their duties without thought of reward (yi) and by observing the rules of propriety (li) that governed relations between human beings. When applied to specific roles, Confucius referred to the process of cultivating virtue as a ‘rectification of names’, traditions. 37
Confucius divided the man’s relation in to five Constants. They were those of sovereign and minister, father and son, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, and that between friend and friend. According to him the ruler was the son of heaven, and was to be honored above all others and served with loyalty. The parent’s goodness to their children was boundless like heavens therefore, the parents needed to be served filially. Brothers were branches from the same root therefore, mutual respect was important. The marriage relation was the origin of all human relations; therefore, mutual gentleness was also important. 38 Friends supported each other, and that is why they were also an important part of the society. He did not teach about a personal god or even promote a doctrine of religion. He did include in his teachings the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven and the belief in Destiny. 39
Confucius believed that family relationships also needed to be governed by mutual respect, since strong family bonds formed the basis of a stable society. He summed up his philosophy when he said: ‘Let the prince be a prince, the minister a minister, the father a father, and the son a son.’ Confucius encouraged ancestor worship because it strengthened family loyalties. As a result, the Chinese came to see themselves as part of a greater family that encompassed not only the living but also the dead and the unborn. 40
Rituals and Practices
Confucius combined both the senses of ritual, religious ritual and noble etiquette, and then developed his own definition of ritual. He noted that carrying out rituals required reverence for the ancestors and respect for a duke or lord, then expanded this to explain ritual as reverence and respect for all the people one deals with in social situations. Confucius concluded that ritual was a moral action that ensured a proper civilized society. 41
Confucians believed that in the human realm li had religious, social and psychological dimensions, its meaning extended from ritual to propriety, from civil laws to codified customs, and from moral rules for behavior to ethical senses for thinking, feeling and acting. The religious dimension of li indicated the means by which humans communicated with spiritual powers. It is believed that the orderly performance of dance and music combined with offerings and sacrifice pleased the ancestors and the spirits to whom it was dedicated; in this way the descendants were able to express their gratitude and commitment. During this process, faults were repented, confidence gained, and happiness and success secured. In its social dimension, li was the principle by which the ancient kings embodied the laws of heaven and regulated the expressions of human nature. Therefore, he who had attained li (ritual) lives, and he who has lost it, died.
The most important aspect of Confucius rituals was sacrifice. There were three Chinese characters for sacrifice: si, ji and xiang. Each of these characters had a special meaning linked to a special purpose: si was to offer sacrifices to heavenly spirits, ji to earthly spirits and xiang to the spirits of the ancestors. In general, however, all activities in relation to sacrifice could be called jisi or si. According to the Rites of the Zhou, 42 a collection of rituals edited during the late Warring States period or the early Han time, there were three grades of sacrifice, the grand sacrifice (dasi) with offerings of jade, silk and animals, the medium sacrifice (zhongsi) with offerings of animals and metal; and the small sacrifice (xiaosi) offering only animal victims. 43 In later imperial China dominated by Confucianism, the grand sacrifice was made to Heaven and the Lord on High in the Temple of Heaven, to Earth in the Temple of Earth, to sheji at the Altar of the Spirits of Land and Grains, to the royal ancestors in the Temple of Ancestors, and to Confucius in the Temple of Confucius. The medium sacrifice was offered to the sun and moon, to the gods of agriculture and sericulture and to the former emperors, while the small sacrifice was offered in ordinary temples. 44
Confucius and his beliefs were condemned from the beginning, including Laozi's rationality and Mozi's evaluate, and Legalists, such as Han Fei despised it because that ideas of Confucius would lead individuals to be organized and presented a totally different idea. 45 Later on, influxes of resistance and denunciation demonstrated that Confucianism, rather than assuming acknowledgment for the wonders of Chinese human progress, having the blame for its disappointments. The Taiping Rebellion described Confucianism sages as well as gods in Taoism and Buddhism as devils. In the New Culture Movement, Lu Xun reprimanded Confucianism for forming Chinese individuals into the condition they had come to by the late Qing Dynasty: his reactions are drastically depicted in ‘A Madman's Diary,’ which suggests that Confucian culture was cannibalistic. Radicals amid the Cultural Revolution portrayed Confucius as the delegate of the class of slave proprietors.
South Korean author Kim Kyong-il composed an exposition entitled ‘Confucius Must Die for the Nation to Live’ and said that obedient devotion was uneven and dazed, and if it continued, social problems would continue to all. 46 It meant that their own scholars accepted the failure of this religion and considered it a hindrance in their progress because of its incomplete teaching about several issues of a common individual.
Taoism
Taoism was a philosophical convention of Chinese commencement which underlined living in concordance with the Tao which implied ‘the way’. Tao was a central thought in most Chinese philosophical schools. Taoism signified the rule that was the source, example and substance of everything that exists. The philosophy associated with the name of Lao Tzu, who lived about B.C. 600. Taoism operated with Confucianism, though in an opposite direction, in declining the old faith while putting nothing satisfactory in its place. 47 His teachings were followed by many during the Han dynasty even though Confucianism was the official philosophy. 48 The Taoists rebelled against the evils of political disorder and moral decadence which they saw about them in contemporary feudal society. 49
Scholars have often distinguished two different trends in Taoism: philosophical Taoism and religious Taoism. Philosophical Taoism referred to ideas put forth roughly from 600 to 200 B.C. Religious Taoism referred to movements and practices like Alchemy (transforming metals into medicines that were thought to grant immortality) and Meditation that began around the first century A.D. These two trends helped to distinguish two major stages in the history of Taoism. But it would be incorrect to think that philosophical and religious Taoism were entirely separate movements. 50
Taoism taught not the way of heaven like Confucius but the way of nature. As encapsulated in the Tao Te Ching (the Way Power Classic), this way never acted deliberately, yet it accomplished everything. Taoists tend to emphasize wu wei (action without intention), naturalness, simplicity, spontaneity, and the three treasures: compassion, frugality and humility. Applying this principle to government, they suggested that the government that meddled least in the lives of its subjects was the best government. Taoists eventually developed elaborate rituals and experimented with exercises, herbs, and minerals in their search for a long life and immortality. They also formed secret societies that occasionally attempted to overthrow the government. 51
Lao Tzu harped upon a doctrine of ‘Inaction’, by virtue of which all things were to be accomplished, a perpetual accommodation of self to one's surroundings, with the minimum of effort; all progress being spontaneous and in the line of least resistance. In the hands of Lao Tzu's more immediate followers, Tao became the absolute, the first cause, and finally one in whose obliterating unity all seemingly opposed conditions of time and space were indistinguishably blended. This one, the source of human life, was placed beyond the limits of our visible universe; and in order for human life to return thither at death and to enjoy immortality, it was only necessary to refine away corporeal grossness according to the doctrines of Lao Tzu. In his saying, ‘the ultimate end is God’. He is manifested in the laws of nature. He is the hidden spring. He is at the beginning and ending of all things. 52
Taoism developed a full range of mythological ideas. It taught that there were many immortals. Some immortals were connected with the world at large. Others were connected with the human body. Taoism had other teachings too: about islands of the immortals in the eastern ocean, where elixirs of immortality may be found; about the five sacred mountains in China, the most sacred of which was T'ai Shan in the eastern province of Shantung; and about the life-giving properties of various substances, such as gold. In addition, Taoism analyzed the human being in detail. For Taoism, the most important life-force was the original breath known as chi. Chi and other life-forces concentrated in three centers: the head, the heart, and the navel. These three fields were where the three ‘holy ones,’ the three most important immortals, dwell. They were also home to three beings known as ‘worms’ that devour the vital energy and bring about death. 53
Other Philosophers
Mozi
Mozi (450-320 B.C.) also known as Mo Di and Mo Ti was one of the Chinese philosophers whose philosophy represented the most logical expression of the utilitarianism written in ancient China. He was the founder of Mohism a separate philosophy quite contradictory to Confucianism. He believed that the first standard for judgment was authority, the second the opinion of common men and the third the benefits the country derives from any given practice. He insisted that anything which could not be executed was merely a group of words. Mozi, in his declaration that only through universal love could the salvation of the world be attained, held no illusions as to the innate tendency of man to love man. Humanity, lacking wisdom to carry out its own interest and happiness, needed be bound by a religious sanction. The spirits who had influence over men and reward the good and bad, needed to be respected. According to him, in order to achieve universal peace, therefore, political foundations were essential. These could be secured by uniting society under the control of a sovereign. 54
Mozi challenged the Confucian thought of Destiny, class contrasts and other ideas. Mozi set forward to advance individuals' triumph, things in the emotional frame of mind to life, urge individuals to strive to change their destiny and disparity on the planet. As Confucius would see it, an individual's life and passing, riches and destitution are related to destiny and personal power of an individual but Mozi rejected it and presented his own view point which got fame in the Chinese philosophy.
Mencius
Mencius (372-289 B.C.) was the philosopher of the Chou dynasty. His name was Meng-Tzu, and in Latin he was known as Mencius. He was extremely democratic. He sought to defend the teachings of Confucius against other influential movements of thought, especially those associated with Mozi and Yang Zhu. 57 He taught that man was good by nature that the evil in society arose from the bad government. He stressed the desirability of the state being administered by kings who were also philosophers. He pointed out that the prime duty of the governments was welfare of the people. He denounced wars abroad and poverty at home and advocated universal education as the finest means of ensuring good government and an intelligent populace. He shocked existing rulers by bravely declaring that the common man needed to be looked on as the nation’s most valuable asset. He also stated that the people had the right to rebel and depose their kings if their welfare was not considered. 56
Like Confucius, Mencius respected the transformative intensity of a developed individual as the perfect reason for government. In addition, he illuminated more explicitly the possibility that order in the public eye depended upon appropriate upbringing inside the family, which thus relied upon developing oneself. Mencius' interpretation of Confucianism had for the most part been viewed as the standard form by consequent Chinese rationalists, particularly by the Neo-Confucians of the Song administration. Mencius' devotees incorporated countless rulers and feudal lords and he is said to have been more persuasive than Confucius had been. 57
Yang Zhu
Yang Zhu (440-360 B.C.), traditionally associated with extreme egoism but better understood as an advocate of naturalism. He may also have been the first Chinese philosopher to discuss human nature and its tendencies.
Yang Zhu’s naturalism was evident in his belief in giving life “its free course” while “neither checking nor obstructing it.” Yang felt that human beings should live pleasurably, which for him implied a life in which both selfish inaction and selfless intervention in human affairs would be contrary extremes; instead, one needed to lead a natural life by cultivating and following one’s innate natural tendencies. Yang’s purported refusal to save the world by sacrificing one hair did not promote the principle of “everyone for himself,” as Mencius believed. Rather, Yang asserted that intentional social actions, regardless of motivation, disrupt and divert the natural course of one’s life and result in more harm than good. 58
The philosophies attributed to Yang Zhu, as presented in Liezi, a Daoist text attributed to Lie Yukou, clash with the primarily Daoist influence of the rest of the work. In comparison with other Chinese philosophical giants, Yang Zhu has recently faded into relative obscurity, but his influence in his own time was so widespread that Mencius described his philosophies along with the antithetical ideas of Mozi as ‘floods and wild animals that ravage the land’. 59
Rituals and Practices
Before Taoism food was set out as a sacrifice to the spirits of the perished or the gods in ancient China. This incorporated slaughtered animals like pigs and ducks, or organic product like fruits. The Taoist Celestial Master, Zhang Daoling banned nourishment and animal sacrifice to the Gods. 60 He destroyed sanctuaries which requested animal sacrifice and headed out its clerics. Another type of sacrifice included the consuming of joss paper or hell money supposing that pictures hence devoured by the flame would return in the soul world, making them accessible for respected predecessors and left friends and family. The joss paper was for the most part utilized while remembering precursors, for example, time of Qingming.
Likewise, on specific occasions, road marches occurred. These were enthusiastic undertakings which constantly included crackers and flower secured drifts broadcasting customary music. They likewise differently incorporated lion moves and mythical serpent moves; human-involved manikins (frequently of the "Seventh Lord" and "Eighth Lord"), Kungfu-rehearsing and palanquins conveying god-pictures. The different members were not viewed as entertainers, but instead controlled by the divine beings and spirits referred to. 61
Fortune-telling—including soothsaying, and different types of divination—had, for some time, been viewed as a customary Taoist interest. Mediumship was likewise generally experienced in certain orders. There was a scholastic and social qualification between military types of mediumship, (for example, tongji) and the soul composing that was normally polished through planchette composing. 62
Ideological and political rivals for centuries, Taoism and Confucianism deeply influenced one another. Buddhism also had its influence in later times. Many scholars believe Taoism arose as a countermovement to Confucianism 63 so negation of one was actually a negation of the other because they had similarities in their values. Both embracing a humanist philosophy emphasizing moral behavior and human perfection like Buddhism but the true concept of God, prophets, angels, hereafter etc. was missing in all of them.
Materialism
Yang Hsiung was a philosopher, poet and politician of Han Dynasty who flourished B.C. 53 to 18 A.D. He taught that the nature of man at birth was neither good nor evil, but a mixture of both, and that development in either direction depended wholly upon environment. To one who asked about God, he replied, ‘What have I to do with God? Watch how without doing anything He does all things.’ To another who said, ‘Surely it is God who fashions and adorns all earthly forms,’ he replied, ‘Not so; if God in an earthly sense were to fashion and adorn all things, His strength would not be adequate to the task.’ He was a close associate of the official and philosopher Huan Tan (d. 28 CE), an Old Texts realist who may have heavily influenced the works of Wang Chong (27–c. 100 CE).
Wang Ch'ung, A.D. 27−97 or 100, 64 was another Chinese meteorologist, astronomer, and philosopher active during the Han Dynasty just after Yang Hsiung. He developed a rational, secular, naturalistic and mechanistic account of the world and of human beings and gave a materialistic explanation of the origin of the universe closely to the teachings of Confucius 65 and denied that men after death would live again as spiritual beings on earth. ‘Animals,’ he argued, ‘do not become spirits after death; why should man alone undergo this change? That which informs man at birth was vitality, and at death this vitality was extinguished. Vitality was produced by the pulsations of the blood; when these ceased, vitality was extinguished, the body decayed, and became dust.’ 66
Buddhism
Buddhism appeared in China in around 3rd century B.C., and within couple of centuries this religion began to take a firm hold of the Chinese people. It was bitterly opposed by the Taoists, and only after the lapse of few centuries, the two doctrines able to exist side by side in peace. Each religion began to borrow from the other. In the words of the philosopher Chu His discussed by Herbert A. Giles, of the 12th century, ‘Buddhism stole the best features of Taoism; Taoism stole the worst features of Buddhism. It is as though one took a jewel from the other, and the loser recouped the loss with a stone.’ 67 Details of Buddhism have already been discussed in Volume. 1 of this Encyclopedia.
Common Religious Rituals
Early Chinese religions consist of individual religious components, on one hand, and the systems uniting those components, on the other, but the systems vanished over time.
Ancestor Worship
The ancient Chinese worshipped many deities, but their religion was primarily a cult of the ancestors concerned with the relationship between the dead and the living kin. The ancient Chinese made artworks for many uses, but the major art forms were always closely associated with ancestral worship. 68 The chief concept was to believe in the unity of all possessing the same surname, through the living and dead males of the family like the rulers of the ancient China associated their chief ancestor or Supreme Ruler (Shang Ti) with Heaven (T’ien) during the state ceremonies. 69
Chinese firstly worshipped their dead ancestors. It signified that the family ties with the dead were by no means broken, and that the dead continued to exercise their authority and protection. They were the natural patron divinities of the Chinese people, their household gods, affording protection against specters, and thus creating felicity. Ancestor worship was the most natural form of soul worship, the fact was also quite natural that it has been mentioned in the ancient classics so often, and in such detail because it was also the core of the ancient faith. 70
Religious Festivals
There were many religious and traditional festivals celebrated in ancient China, the details of the famous ones are given below:
Dongzhì Festival
In the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.), China had determined the point of Winter Solstice by observing movements of the sun with a sundial. It was the earliest of the 24 seasonal division points which occurs on December 21 or 22 according to the Gregorian calendar. 71
This festival signaled the shortest day of the year. It first became a popular day to celebrate during the Han Dynasty. This was an important festival throughout the history of Ancient China. People took the day off and met with friends and relatives. They also offered sacrifices to their ancestors.
Chinese New Year
The most important festival of the year was the festival of Guo Nian or Chinese New Year. The entire celebration lasted for 15 days. It started with the first day of the New Year and ended with the Lantern Festival. The Ancient Chinese celebrated the Spring Festival as far back as the Shang Dynasty over 3000 years ago. According to Chinese mythology the celebration first started when a small village used the noise of firecrackers and drums to scare off the monster Nian.
The Spring Festival was a time for getting together with family, exchanging gifts, and lighting fireworks. The red color was also popular as it was used to help scare off the monster Nian. The creature's role in the celebration of the Chinese New Year was highlighted by the way the Chinese call this holiday as Guo Nian, which meant "pass over Nian" or "overcome Nian." 72
Lantern Festival
The last day of the Spring Festival was a special celebration called the Lantern Festival. This festival first came about during the Han Dynasty. Lanterns were lit in honor of Buddha. Other traditions on this day include guessing riddles (which began during the Song Dynasty), eating rice dumplings, the lion dance, and the dragon dance. 73
Qingming Festival
Qingming or pure brightness was a key festival linked to a specific period in the solar calendar and was a vital date for families. In an earlier era, larger kinship networks used to gather together on this day. This Qingming festival was celebrated on the first day of the fifteen-day solar period that bore its name. On this festival, known in English as the Tomb Sweeping Day, families traditionally gathered to clean the cemeteries and grave plots of their ancestors. This sometimes included cleaning and repackaging the bones of the ancestors after their traditional burial. It was almost always a time for large gatherings with appropriate ceremonial and festive food stuffs. 74
Qixi
The Night of the Sevens Festival fell on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. This festival was first celebrated during the Han Dynasty. The legend behind the festival was a love story that tells of a cowhand who fell in love with a maiden from heaven. However, the lovers were separated by the Queen of heaven. After trying to get back together for a long time, they finally met again on this day. 75 Traditionally this was a day to worship the stars and for young girls to pray for a good husband. Today it has become more of a lovers' day like Valentine's Day.
Chong Yang
This day was celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. The number nine was special to the Ancient Chinese. It was the lucky number of the emperor and the dragon. 76 Originally people would climb to the top of a hill or mountain and drink chrysanthemum tea to ward off evil spirits.
Apart from the mentioned festivals the ancestors were central components of society, to whom offerings had to be made at regular intervals. Secondly, society is shown in these sacrifices, burials and other rituals to have had a visible family structure organized primarily by generation and a political order organized primarily by rank conferred by the king.
The time of the sacrifice was when the harvested crops had filled, the granaries and that the sacrifice was performed to thank the ancestors for their protection and to secure their blessing for the future. The preparation for the sacrifice began with the oxen and sheep, which were purified, killed, cooked, and presented, ready to be consumed by the ancestors who were believed to soon descend. Various meats were grilled and broiled, and the food offerings were laid out. The sacrifice started, proceeding in a cordial atmosphere amid the exchange of toasts and the performance of rituals. After that the speech of blessing that the officiator addressed to the sacrifices on behalf of the ancestors.
With these pronouncements, the rites were accomplished, the officiator announced that the ancestors had their fill of the food and drink, ‘The Spirits were all drunk.’ After that, the spirits of the ancestors were given a farewell amid the music of bells and drums, then, the tables would be cleared and a feast was laid out for the worshipping descendants.
Those who purified the sacrificial victims, did so in due order, treading cautiously. Likewise, those who tended the furnaces treaded softly. In the pledging of cups, every custom and rite was observed and every smile, every word was ensured to be in place. In short, all participants executed their designated tasks and rituals. With precision and reverence, and they no doubt believed that the ancestors would be delighted as much by the prosperity of their descendants as they were by the impeccable presentation of good family order. 77
Sacrifices
As we have discussed above that there were many cultures in ancient China, and each had its own special gods and spirits. 78 Sacrifice specifically to ancestors had been a great offering among them. According to the provisions in the Book of Rituals, the main offering in the ceremony consisted of three domestic animals: a bull, a sheep and a pig. The animals were killed, their flesh was boiled, roasted or broiled, and then offered before the tables of the ancestral spirits. In addition to the meat, vegetable products and crops of the fields were also widely used in the ceremonies. Among them, cooked millet was the main offering in the northern part and rice was the major offering in the south part. Wine, music and dance were the three of most important things the descendants needed to offer to their ancestors during the sacrifice. While wine was present with each course of offerings, the music and dance were the more essential part of the ceremony. Every offering needed to be accomplished by the appropriate music and dance. For the common people, daily offering to their ancestors was the most important duty of the family, which might consist of burning incense and bowing in front of the table or the portraits. More elaborate ceremonies were performed on such occasions as the anniversary of dead, festival days and special events such as wedding or births. 79
Human and Animal Sacrifices
Human sacrifices were common. For instance, in the 400s B.C. a governor of the upper Yellow River discovered that people were still sacrificing girls to be brides of the river in springtime; he tried to stop it, but especially in the areas south of China human sacrifices to fertility goddesses continued up to modern times. 80 Extremely cruel means were used to kill people for rituals. The victims were beheaded, buried alive, and even minced. 81
Animal sacrifices were also common. In 30 B.C. the Yellow River was close to flooding. The local governor walked to the riverbank and offered the sacrifice of a gray horse to the river. The governor used his magical jade ornaments to cast spells to protect his people. By the end of the Zhou Dynasty human sacrifices at the burials of nobles and monarchs were rare, though they still sometimes occurred. The sacrificing of servants was replaced by the burying of ceramic sculptures of people. It is likely that the ceramic figures were magically endowed with spirits that would serve their masters and mistresses after death. 82
Burial Rituals
Beginning in the cemeteries of the Early Neolithic farming communities in China, burials were aligned in a single direction, such as north–south or east–west. A number of communities practiced secondary burials in which the bones were reorganized into kin burial sites. Grave goods included such items as stone mortars and pestles, stone axes, pottery tripods and bowls. The Shang Dynasty saw the creation of royal mausoleums such as the complex near present-day Anyang, in Henan Province. It consisted of numerous large cruciform (in the shape of a cross) tombs originally filled with display bronzes and jades. 83
During the Shang Dynasty and most of the Zhou Dynasty (1045–256 B.C.), servants were sacrificed to be buried with their masters. Their heads were chopped off with special axes and buried separately from their bodies. Why they were buried separately is not known, but the practice was common enough to occur even in the burials of some ordinary peasants and soldiers. The servants were expected to serve their masters in their next life as well. 84
Sacrificial victims of all ages and both genders, some intact, headless or otherwise mutilated, were buried in all areas of the tomb and in thousands of sacrificial pits, along with an array of domestic and exotic animals. It was one of the dark aspects of Chinese society which have been hidden in the beauty of their economic and so called multi-religious growth.
After the Shang the second-level platform and waist pit became less common, but jades, jewelry, weapons, and clothing continued to be buried in or around the inner coffin. The outer coffin (a wooden chamber inside the tomb and outside the ‘inner’ coffin or coffins) came to display, at first, a rich array of bronze cooking, eating, serving, and ritual ablution (or purification) vessels and some ritual jades, and then, by the fourth century B.C., fine painted lacquer vessels and statues. According to their fallacious belief, the statues protected the tomb from demons and aided the journey of the deceased into the afterlife. By this time, too, bamboo texts were placed in the tomb. Some listed mortuary gifts used in the funeral, and some of these gifts were buried with the dead. Other texts, including accounts of healing rituals, almanacs, administrative documents, and philosophical tracts, suggest that the occupant wanted to have these items to maintain some aspect of his mortal identity in the afterlife or perhaps to prove his rank in the world of the ancestors. Wooden, clay, or stone figurines were buried with equipment for hunting, travel, ritual ceremonies, and musical feasts. 85
Ceremonies for the dead started frequently before death occurred. The dying person was taken from the bed to an open place or a hole was made in the roof in order to aid the escape of the struggling spirit. It was not uncommon to have coffins in the bedrooms years before they were needed. The body was not buried at once and often months elapsed before a suitable resting spot was located, with the aid of Taoist priests. Funerals were elaborate affairs, even for the poor, who impoverished themselves further in order to render honor to parents. The mourning period averaged about 27 months. 86
Lifestyle
Chinese culture was one of the oldest in the world today. Around 6000 years ago, this culture started developing in the Yellow River Valley. The ancient Chinese developed a society based on respect for the spirits of the earth, ancestors, the gods, and other people. They believed that the world was controlled by the spirits and gods hence people needed to behave as if they were in the presence of these spirits at all times.
Over time, daily life in ancient China kept evolving. In around 5000 B.C., people lived in small villages where there was a priestly class which was dominated by women who were the religious authorities. The people of those times lived in small round homes which were built into the ground. They wore animal skins and practiced an animistic form of religion. With time, these small villages evolved in to larger communities and then in to cities.
The social class of the people was determined by birth. If the father was a peasant then his son would also become a peasant. The rich and middle class either belonged to nobles, politicians, and merchants whereas the poor class belonged to farmers and laborers. The pubs were popular meeting places but there were separate pubs for the rich and the poor. The poor were not allowed to enter the pubs of the upper class.
Population
In ancient times, China was also among the highly populated countries in the world. The population count for the year 2 B.C. reported 57.7 million registered individuals who lived in 12.4 million households and cultivated an area of 827 million mou or 381,000 square kilometers. The best fiscal data for this period comes from a cache of documents discovered in 1993 in Yinwan that provide detailed information about the administration of Donghai Commandery (in Shandong) around 15 B.C. One of these texts puts the total population of the commandery at around 1.4 million people in 266,000 households. This compares somewhat awkwardly with tallies of 1.56 million and 358,000 households in the census of 2 C.E. However, the discrepancy concerning households seems troubling, the more important population figures were broadly similar. 87
Calendar
The Chinese calendar was supposedly invented by the first legendary ruler of China, Huang Di, who is said to have reigned from 2698 to 2599 B.C. Although various calendars were in use over the centuries, Chinese tradition states that the first year of the first calendar cycle was either 2637 B.C. or 2697 B.C. under the Gregorian calendar system. The Chinese calendar ran in cycles, or epochs, of 60 years. Chinese years were numbered from one to 60; after 60 years, a new epoch began and the count started over. 88
Confucius of Lu used the calendar of the Chou dynasty (1122 B.C.-249 B.C.); whose founder had said: ‘In future we make the eleventh month the beginning of the year instead of the twelfth month.’ The previous dynasty of Shang (1766-1123 B.C.) had similarly said: ‘In future we make the twelfth month begin the year instead of the first.’ The previous dynasty of Hia (2205-1767 B.C.) and the individual emperors before had all said (or taken for granted): ‘The year begins in the first month,’ from which we may naturally conclude that there could not have been an earlier calendar, as no sage could reasonably begin anywhere but at the beginning. At the same time, it must be explained that the astronomical order of the months, counting the first as being that when the sun entered Capricorn, was different from the civil order. Thus, the Hia, Shang, and Chou first civil months were the third, second, and first astronomical months, representing the sun’s entry into Pisces, Aquarius, and Capricorn, respectively. When the First August Emperor conquered the whole of China, and proceeded to unify cart-axles, weights and measures, written characters, and many other discrepant popular arrangements, he said, ‘Let the tenth month be in future the first in the year instead of the eleventh.’ That is to say, he took as civil first month the twelfth astronomical month, or that in which the sun enters Sagittarius. Thus, it is seen that in 2000 years, the calendar had got about 90 days out of gear or, roughly, about an hour a year. 89
It was essential for a farmer to know when to begin planting his crops. One of the most important functions of the emperor was to inform farmers of the proper time to begin planting. During the Shang dynasty, the development of a calendar was already under way. A week consisted of ten days, and each day was measured by ten ‘Heavenly Stems’ and twelve ‘Earthly Branches’ in a recurring cycle of sixty days. By 104 B.C., during the Han dynasty, the four seasons as we now know them were first fixed according to a calendar based on the spring and fall equinoxes and summer and winter solstices. Under Emperor Wang Mang, who ruled from A.D. 8 to 23 after overthrowing the Han dynasty, the year was calculated to consist of just over 365 days. 90
Day
The Chinese in early days possessed standard for measuring time. The day was divided into 12 period of two hour each, starting at 11 p.m. every hour was divided into eighths. Watches took the form of ‘time sticks,’ made from sawdust and clay, wound spirally, and burned. Dials and clepsydrae or water clocks were also in use. 91
Social Classes
The ancient classification of people was into four groups. The scholarly people employed themselves in studying tao and the sciences. The second class was based on the trading people, who dealt in produce from the four quarters; there is evidence that this meant chiefly cattle, grain, silk, horses, leather, and gems. The third class were the cultivators, and in those days, tea and cotton, amongst other important products of today, were totally unknown. The fourth class consisted of handicraftsmen, who naturally made all things they could sell, or knew how to make.
Another classification of men was the following, which was given to the King of Ts‘u by a sage adviser, presumably an importation from orthodox China. He divided people into ten classes, each inferior class owing obedience to its superior, and the highest of all was owing obedience only to the gods or spirits. First, the emperor; secondly, the inner dukes, or grandees of estates within the imperial domain: these grandees were dukes proper, not dukes by posthumous courtesy like the vassal princes after decease, and the Emperor used to send them on service, when required, to the vassal states they were, in fact, like the princes of the Church, or cardinals, who surround the Pope. Thirdly, the marquesses, that is the semi-independent vassal states, no matter whether duke, marquess, earl, viscount, or baron; this term seems also to include the reigning lords of very small states which did not possess even the rank of baron, and which were usually attached to a larger state as clients, under protectorate; in fact, the recognized stereotyped way of saying ‘the vassal rulers’ was ‘the marquesses.’ Then came the middle classes, or bourgeoisie, followed by the artisans and cultivators. It will be noticed that the artisans were given the rank over the cultivators. Lastly came the police, the carriers of burdens, the eunuchs, and the slaves. By police are meant the runners attached to public offices, whose work too often involved squeezing and terrorizing, torturing and flogging, etc. 92
Slavery
Ancient China was a society that owned slaves but it was not a slave society like Greece or Rome. 93 The earliest details for slavery come late in its history, from the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.–220 A.D.). During the Han Dynasty slaves, tradespeople, and merchants were legally non-persons, ranking lower in importance to peasants, government officials, professional warriors, nobility, and royalty. Writers during the Han Dynasty often noted, however, that slaves lived better than peasants. Peasants would sometimes borrow money they could not repay, and the lender could take over their land and require that they work it. Nobles and rich merchants could gather land to themselves this way, and the peasants would work for them with little hope of ever owning land again. Emperors occasionally tried redistribution of land to the peasants, but the nobility would just start re-acquiring the land.
Slaves primarily served in households. Rarely did slaves work on farms. The proportion of slaves to the general population was always small, perhaps less than 1 percent of the people. The proportion may have seemed higher to people living in cities because most slaves lived in cities or towns, where they served in the households of nobles and wealthy people. Relatives of convicted criminals were often enslaved by the government. Government-owned slaves worked to haul barges up and down rivers. They cared for the emperor’s horses and dogs and worked as gamekeepers in government parks, especially those used by royalty. In the emperor’s court they kept track of water clocks and banged drums to mark the hours of the day, they waited on guests and the royal family, and they opened and closed doors for people walking through the palaces. These duties were fulfilled by both men and women. Privately owned slaves were house cleaners, cooks, and kitchen staff. Some were used as bodyguards or to guard ancestral cemeteries. Others waited on their masters or mistresses, helping with hairdressing and other cosmetic tasks. Skilled slaves made ceramics and fabrics for sale. Owners used slaves to form gangs to batter or even kill their enemies, terrorizing a town or city. Both government-owned and privately-owned slaves were sometimes given confidential tasks such as bookkeeping and carrying messages. 94
Family Life
Family life under in ancient China was portrayed as harmonious and happy which was against the reality. Since ancient times, the Chinese have thought that the idyllic division of gender roles at home was so-called ‘men plough the fields and women weave’ and ‘the husband sings and the wife follows.’ From Confucianism to the feudal ethical codes developed in the following dynasties, Chinese ideology and ethics were built on patriarchy and man’s domination and on the oppression and subordination of woman, characterized by the rules of ‘three obedience’s and four virtues’ i.e. obedience to father before marriage, to husband after marriage, and to son after husband’s death; morality, proper speech, modest manner, and diligent work. 95 It indicates that women used to live the life according to the male masters and did not have any right to live according to her will. The wife was depicted as frugal and industrious, loving the husband, rejoicing in her family but in reality, she was completely bound to do so and were fully deprived from the basic rights which are considered quite important in the modern age.
The wives of this period, shared in the ambition of their husbands, spurred them on noble enterprise, had great sympathy with them in failure and poverty, helping them to conserve and augment their means. 96 On the other hand, they were often physically ill-treated, socially segregated, and forced to compete for their husband's affections with concubines, which made their place as an unenviable one. Still, despite the harsh realities of living in a male-dominated society and being forever under the weight of philosophical and religious norms which were created by men to work for men, some women did break through these barriers. The practical realities of daily life meant many women could and did circumvent conventions, and some rose to live extraordinary lives producing literature, scholarship, and even ruling the Chinese empire itself. 97
Status of Children
Lives for children in China, at least, began to change significantly for the better in 415 B.C., when one Confucian Chinese governor introduced a moral code to govern social behavior. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty in 202 B.C. Confucianism became the official state policy, and in 145 B.C. Governor Wen Weng of Shu, set up schools for boys throughout the province; so effective were his graduates that the Han government established an educational system that encouraged the most able boys to attend school and better their lives by competing for government jobs. 98
The father and mother received identical consideration and obedience from their children and under no circumstances the parents could ill-treat the child as well. Children, contemplating marriage, had first to announce the fact to their parents. Neither a son nor a daughter could own separate property, nor had they right to give away any of the family possessions without the consent of their parents. On the other hand, Parents had no right to dispose of any property, by will or otherwise, to any person other than their own children, or, if these were deceased, to their children’s children. Upon the death of their parents, children were required to wear mourning for three years and to honor their memory by regularly prescribed sacrifices. 99
Status of Women
In ancient China every lady used to wish to be born male, and even female characters in conventional writing expressed that they had been a man in a past life however had returned as a lady in this one as a chastisement for past deeds. Another basic prologue to a female character in such stories was the line "tragically she was brought into the world a lady". Interestingly, a lady couldn't procure cash and because one day would leave the family and join her husband's family so many infant young girls were deserted and left all alone soon after their birth. Women were expected to excel in four areas: fidelity, cautious speech, industriousness, and graceful manners. A woman’s virtue was a particularly valued attribute in Chinese society. Women deemed especially virtuous such as chaste widows were sometimes given the honor of a shrine, monument, or commemorative tablet after death or had their names published in honorific obituaries. This practice was especially popular following the work of the Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi in the 12th century C.E. 100 Fu Hsuan, one of the Chinese officials, scholars and poets who lived in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period and later under the Jin dynasty in 3rd century presented his view point about the worst condition of a Chinese woman as:
How sad it is to be a woman!
Nothing on earth is held so cheap.
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No one is glad when a girl is born
By her the family sets no store.
Then she grows up, she hides in her room
Afraid to look a man in the face.
No one cries when she leaves her home--
Sudden as clouds when the rain stops.
She bows her head and composes her face,
Her teeth are pressed on her red lips
She bows and kneels countless times.
She must humble herself even to the servants.
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Her face will follow the years' changes
Her lord will find new pleasures. 101
Additionally, as women did not have any social status, she had to obey and rely on her husband; even if her husband was dead, she was still not allowed to remarry. While the man could have many wives and many concubines, the emperor had imperial harems. The general dignitaries also had many wives and concubines. A man could marry many women and was not held accountable but a woman was deprived even from her basic rights.
Marriage
In ancient days, marriage had little to do with love; since its purpose was to bring healthy mates together for the rearing of child. It was considered immoral for a man not to marry; celibacy was considered a crime against the ancestors, the state and the race and was never quite condoned even in the case of the clergy. In ancient days a special official was appointed to see that if every man was married by the age of thirty and every woman by twenty or not. 102
Marriage in the days of Yaou and Shun, 2357-2208 B.C., was performed with little ceremony or ritual. The dowry given was usually large. There appears to have no restriction on marriage between a man and women descended from the same ancestor. During the Chow dynasty the marriage institution developed the complex structures which were handed down without much alteration to the last days of the Manchu regime. Indeed, the marriage rules and customs of this early period were closely copied for generation and ultimately became the formally enacted marriage laws of China. 103
First among the marriage requirements of that period was the parental consent. The second requirement for marriage was a go-between. Whenever two families wished to form a matrimonial alliance, the negotiations had to be carried on by a third party or parties, who might either be man or women or both, and who made the marriage proposals to the two households. Prohibition of marriage between persons of the same surname also originated in this period. The ages were fixed by custom not by statute. Confucius, commenting in these marriage customs, says: ‘it was these rules that the ancient kings sought to follow the ways of heaven and to regulate the feelings of men. Therefore, he who neglects or violates them may be spoken of as dead, and he who observes them, as alive.’ 104
The girl was kept in strict seclusion until the wedding. Her husband was not allowed to see her expect by stratagem, in many cases the husband saw his bride for the first time when he removed the veil in the wedding ceremony. After the marriage, the bride lived with her husband in or near the house of his father; there she labored in servitude to her mate and his mother, until such time as the normal course of life and death liberated her from this slavery and left her ready to impose it upon the wives of her sons. 105
Marriage was solemnized by the worship of heaven and earth and the groom’s ancestor. Before their shrines, the couple plighted their troth and drank fermented liquor form a melon split in halves, a custom indicating that they had thus sealed their sacred vows. The wife was the mistress of the household and worshiped the ancestral sprits along with her husband. It was the rule that the eldest son would be the heir of the family. 106
Divorce
In the ancient China, the woman could be divorced for almost any cause, from barrenness to loquacity; she herself could never divorce her husband, but she could leave him and return to her parents, although this was a matter of last resort. 107 Many historical records mention that there were many illegal relationships between the married men and unmarried girls which lead to the divorce of first wives.
Chastity
In ancient China chastity was exalted and enforced in daughter. It was inculcated with great success in the society that the Chinese girls have been known to kill themselves because they believed that they had been dishonored by the accidental touch of a man. But for the unmarried man there were no restrictions for the chastity. It was considered normal and legtimate that he should visit brothels; sex in the male was like an appetite and needed to be indulged in without any other disgrace. 108 Girls who were involved with these males used to hide their illegal relationships to avoid any punishment but used to enjoy the company of males to satisfy their carnal desires.
Sexuality
In the Chinese Daoist philosophy of the first millennium B.C., the sexes were characterized as yin and yang. Yin, the feminine principle, was said to be soft, yielding, dark, and passive and was symbolized by water. Yang, the male principle, was considered rigid, active, and bright and was represented by fire or wind. Women were believed to possess large amounts of yin, while men were filled with yang. Chinese people thought that it was important for men and women to exchange energy types by engaging in extended sexual play with multiple female orgasms. It was believed to be especially unhealthy for men to exhaust their yang essence by ejaculating too quickly, before they absorbed the necessary yin from women. During the later Zhou Dynasty (770–256 B.C.) men were encouraged to visit prostitutes for the purpose of increasing their yin. From 220 B.C. to 25 A.D. when Confucianism became the prevailing philosophy in China, it taught that sex was somewhat sinful and needed to be confined to the bedroom; husbands and wives were not to touch each other outside the marriage bed. Sexual acts between spouses were restricted to procreation and meant for the maintenance of family stability.
Men were allowed to have concubines, but Confucianism regulated the practice with numerous rules, such as those concerning how frequently men should have sex with concubines and whether concubines could remain in the bed after the sex act was completed. During the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 A.D.), Daoism once more became the prevailing philosophy, and sex was again encouraged. Scholars published sex manuals that described breathing techniques that could prolong male performance and increase female response, in an effort to transfer yin and yang energy between the man and the woman. Sex between men and women was thought to be a way to improve health and achieve a longer life. During this time the color red became associated with women and white with men. 109
Polygamy
Under the Western Zhou dynasty in ancient China, the emperor had access to one queen, 3 consorts, 9 wives of second rank, 27 wives of third rank, and 81 concubines. The sexual purpose of this arrangement is thrown into sharp relief by the fact that the court-ladies recorded the menstrual cycle of these women and scheduled their congress with the emperor. In the upper classes, men had only a single principal wife (without the option of remarriage), but the bride would introduce her maids into her husband’s household as his future secondary wives or concubines. More power invariably translated into bigger harems. According to the Ta-lo-fu, a sex manual of the T’ang period, the recent restoration and expansion of imperial might had increased the scale of sexual exploitation at the top: ‘Nine ordinary consorts every night, and the Empress two nights at full moon, this was the ancient rule, and the Ladies-in-waiting kept a careful record of this with their vermilion brushes. But the women in the seraglio of the Nan-mei Palace, three thousand in number, all together approached the Emperor displaying their charms.
Commercial prostitution is traced back to either the seventh or the third centuries B.C., coinciding in any event with imperial expansion and the increasing prosperity of a middle class insufficiently wealthy to keep additional women on a permanent basis. The trickle-down effect of imperial wealth and its impact on sexual behavior is readily discernible behind this development. 110
Daily life
Most people in imperial china lived in the countryside and worked in the fields. The hard work of the rural population formed the foundation of the great Chinese empire. The majority of peasant farmers lived on carefully tended family-owned plots of land. Although they were not tied to any lord, they had to pay taxes, serve in the army, and work for a certain number of days each year on public works such as roads and canals. After the great peasant rebellion that toppled the Qin dynasty in 207 B.C., most emperors were careful not to overburden their rural subjects. Over all, the life of a peasant farmer was a hard one. Most farm jobs were carried out by hand, from hoeing the ground to spreading manure. One of the main tasks of a farmer and his family was to maintain and regulate the supply of water to the crops. They transported water by bucket or used irrigation machines that were manually operated. In the hills of northern China, crops were planted on narrow terraces carved into the hillsides. Water was raised to the terraces from wells and canals by human-powered irrigation machines. In the rice-growing regions of southern China, the well-organized irrigation systems created a patchwork. 111
Food
Food preparation as an art began in China more than three thousand years ago. The foods eaten and prepared by the people of ancient China were as varied as the regions themselves. Chinese cuisine was, and remains, an important part of Chinese culture, and in ancient times, cooking was considered an activity that distinguished civilizations. That food and cooking were important to the ancient Chinese can be seen in a legend about Tang, an emperor of the Shang dynasty, who chose a famous chef, Yi Yen, to be his prime minister. Records also show that more than two thousand people who were on the staff of the imperial palace during the Western Zhou dynasty were kept busy preparing food for the emperor and his wife. Chinese cuisine is believed to have originated in the Shang period, and it was during this time that historians believe the Chinese mastered the techniques of steaming, stir-frying, and deep-frying that are still used to prepare Chinese food. Rice and wheat were staples, but a balanced diet, considered important for both physical and spiritual well-being, contained vegetables and fruits as well as meat and fish. 112
Feasts formed an important part of Chinese life, and wealthy people often enjoyed elaborate banquets. In contrast, for most of the year ordinary people lived on a simple diet of beans, grains, and vegetables, with little meat. Though rice was always the favorite staple food in China, people in the Northern provinces ate mainly millet and some wheat. Both rich and poor Chinese flavored their food with a wide variety of herbs and spices. To save fuel, food was chopped into small pieces and cooked quickly in an iron frying pan, or wok, for a few minutes only. 113
Food was served in dishes which were made of bamboo, bronze, or earthenware and was eaten with chopsticks sometimes fashioned of ivory. The food itself differed radically according to the difference of palate or purse. The peasants raised swine and poultry and lived largely on millet in the north and rice in the south. The rich had sumptuous banquets involving the ‘five flavor’, the sweet, sour, salty, and spicy and the bitter. Liquor in China as elsewhere, was always popular among all classes and moralists of the day lamented the over-indulgence of the population 114 because it used to lead them astray and after being drunk the people used to indulge in immoral acts such as rapes, vulgarity, stealing and brawling etc. The upper classes were able to enjoy a wide variety of meat, including horse, cow, chicken, pig, sheep, and deer, while fish was often the best that commoners could get. Yet everyone feasted on some important holidays. There were also feast for weddings and other major events. Special dishes were served at these banquets. However, the banquets of the rich were the most special. At these, there were many different foods to choose from. Besides the variety of different kinds of vegetables, roasted duck, pheasant, and wild boar, might be served. Sometimes an unusual dish such as bear’s paws was brought out. 115
Weird Foods
The practice of dog eating in China can be traced back to around 1700 B.C., starting in the north of the country. In ancient China, dogs could have different functions within a household: they could guard the farmhouse, they could be hunting dogs, but also, they could be slaughtered to eat. Furthermore, dogs and dog meat were considered both important offerings to ancestors and sacrificial food to gods. 116 In Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in south-eastern China, some—especially older—people considered cat flesh a good warming food during winter months. It is estimated that in southern China's Guangdong province people eat 10,000 cats per day even today. 117
Seafood dishes included fish lips and eyeballs and drunken shrimp, a delicacy in which live shrimp were dipped in alcohol, and their head is pinched off and eaten. Sweet-and-sour Yellow River fish was cooked and served while it was still alive while it was still breathing. This practice is still continued and enjoyed by Chinese today.
Thousand-year-old eggs, a Guangdong delicacy, were made from duck eggs coated with lime, ashes and mud and soaked in a briny liquid for 100 days until the yolks turned green and the whites become gelatinous and dark brown. Some say that they were soaked in horse urine. 118
Traditional Festivals and Games
The Chinese calendar was punctuated by several national festivals. The largest was the New Year, marking the beginning of spring. During this 15-days holiday, family members gathered to share an elaborate meal and exchange gifts. Another important family festival was the Qingming, when people swept clean the graves of their family ancestors and left offerings of food for the ancestral spirits. 119 There was a spring festival in which the people of Zheng came to the two rivers that flow through the area and conducted rituals that had two purposes. One was to summon and appease the souls of the dead, and the other was to dispel the evil influences that were likely to be disturbed as the earth awoke with the advent of spring. 120
Mozi mentions the immense popularity enjoyed by the well-known festivals in four Chinese states: Yan (north), Qi (east), Song (central), and Chu (south). According to the philosopher’s one-sentence characterization of these celebrations, they all attracted men and women to follow upon one another to the spectacle. Throughout ancient China, women participated in many festivals that took place in open spaces and involved the whole community. The timing of these festivals was often in keeping with the agrarian cycle. Ensuring the fertility of humans and of the land occupied a prominent role in the rituals, but communication with the divine also addressed other important concerns about life and death. The favorite venues for the gatherings appear to have been riverbanks, groves, and places that feature both hills and water. Men and women, old and young, all took part and enjoyed themselves, but marriageable young men and women probably experienced the greatest excitement. 121 Here are some local festivals of ancient China:
New Year
The most important national festival was New Year's Day, which was observed between the 1st and the 15th days of the first lunar month. Firecrackers and fireworks were set off to welcome the New Year and to speed Zao Shen on his journey to the heavens. These fireworks also served to drive away evil spirits. The firecrackers were dried bamboo, which were thrown into fires early in the morning and popped loudly when they burned. Every home would set off firecrackers and, if they could afford them, fireworks but each municipality had some kind of public fireworks display.
New Year's Day allowed for people to slaughter pigs, chickens, and sheep on a large scale to ensure fertility of the land for the coming year. The ritual involving the Shen Dzu (Holy Pig) was observed at New Year's in which pigs that had been fattened as much as possible were entered into a contest for the greatest weight; the winner was sacrificed to the local deity and the others followed suit afterwards. 122
Spring Festival of Cheng
In the state of Cheng, the youths and girls gathered in large numbers at the junction of the Chen and Wei rivers. They came there in companies to gather the orchis, 123 they challenged one another in antiphonal songs and then, with skirts tucked up, cross the Wei. When the couples were united the new lovers presented each other at parting with a flower as love-token and symbol of betrothal. The festival was held when Chen and Wei were full during the first month of spring. Another tradition refers the festivals to the period when the peach tree blossomed and the first rain fell, two events of the agriculture year, which is in second month of the calendar. In Cheng, propitiations, various purifications, flower-gathering, crossing the water, singing contests, sexual rites, betrothals, were all combined in the spring festival of rivers and mountains.
Spring Festival of Lu
This festival is described as: One day while talking to the four of his disciples, Confucius questioned them as their ambition: how would they use their ability if, perchance, some prince should recognize it and employ their services? One of them replied that for his part, would like, in the third month of spring, dressed in every particular in the costume proper to the season, and in ceremony with five or six grown men and six or seven young lads, to go and bathe in the river, enjoy the breeze at the foot of the alter of rain, and having sung to return home and Confucius approved. Wang Chung in his Lun Heng, believes it to be a description of the spring rain-festivals as they were conducted in Lu, the native state of Confucius. Those who took part were dancers and musicians, to whom were entrusted the ceremonies, one comprising six or seven youths and the other equal number of the men. They forded the river in a band and sang upon the hillock consecrated to the dances and songs which were employed to attract rain. 124
Festival of Chen
The festival of Chen took place at the time when the work of weaving was finished. Ancient instruments and the fans and egret feathers were waved in time to the singing. Up and down the rising ground of Yuan the companies of dancers moved praying for rain. Singers and dancers were of both sexes. As in Cheng on the banks of Wri, so, on the hill of Yuan, boys anf girls hailed each other in song, offering flowers and declaring their love. Sexual rites had their place in the festival. Festivasl of rain, of birth, of bethrotal, with singing and dancing contests, flower-gathering and sexual rites, such were the festivals held on the hill Yuan.
Spring Festival
In the southern suburb of the capital, on the day of the spring equinox (the offical day of return of swallows) an ox, a sheep and a pig were sacrified to the Kao Mai. The ruler attended in person and the queen met the nine wives of the second rank and all the other royal ladies. A ceremonial gift (a cup of wine) was presented to those who had share of the King’s couch. And cases of bows were brought, and bows and arrow were presented (to these women) before Kao Mei. A spring festival of river and mountains, with purifications, bathings, and contests, a festival conductive to pregnancy, was the original form of the festivals of the return of the swallows, which in the classical ritual, was reduced to a simple festival of fucundity. 125
The little spare time people had, was often spent playing dice, card games, or games of skill such as chess. Wealthy people spent their leisure hours practicing calligraphy, composing poetry, or listening to music. 126
Sports
There were many sports and amusements in ancient China. Records show that falcons were used about 2000 B.C. at the court. 127 As to sports, hunting, and especially fowling, seem to have been the most popular pastimes. In 660 B.C., a prince of Wei (orthodox) is said to have had a passion for egret fights. In 539, four-horsed chariots are mentioned as being used in a great Ts‘u hunt south of the modern Teh-an in northern Hu Peh province. These hunts were used as a sort of training for war as well as for sport. In 534 B.C., a great hunt in Lu is described with much detail; here also chariots were used, and their shafts were reared in opposite rows with their tips meeting above, so as to form a ‘shaft gate’, on which, besides, a flag was kept flying. In 517 B.C., two prominent Lu functionaries had a quarrel because one had put metal spurs on his bird, whilst the other had scattered mustard in the feathers of his fighting cock: owing to the ambiguity or double meaning of one of the pictographs employed, it is not quite certain that “mustard in the wings” may not mean “a metal helmet on the head.’ Lifting weights was a favorite exercise in 307 B.C. A Ts’in prince died from the effects of a strain produced in trying to lift a heavy metal tripod. A ball game similar to football was also played. As a rule, however, it is to be feared that the wealthy Chinese classes found their chief recreation in feasting, literary bouts, and female society. 128
During the Chou dynasty, chess, archery, lute playing, fencing, cock fighting and throwing of arrows into jars were prevalent sports among the idle and the wealthy. The more strenuous recreations included fencing, horsemanship and hunting of pheasants, hares, wild boar, deer and tigers. 129
Clothing
China had the earliest remains of clothing in Asia and the Pacific, where shoes made of straw from about 5000 B.C. have been found. By 2000 B.C. the many ethnic groups in the region were making shoes from animal hide. Before 1550 B.C. the Chinese developed the san and the ku. The san was a jacket; it could be padded with straw to provide warmth in cold weather. The ku were trousers. Until the first century B.C. most clothing of poor Chinese, which included almost everyone, was made from hemp, a plant with tough fibers. Linen, made from flax, slowly overtook hemp as the preferred fabric. By 200 B.C. the emperor of China was expected to wear robes of different colors for different seasons, to encourage the gods to change the seasons in a reliable order. During the Han Dynasty of 202 B.C. to 220 A.D., the ju became standard wear which was known in the West later on as the mandarin shirt, it had a stiff collar. 130
Plant fibers such as hemp were used to make cloth. Wool came into use under the Zhou dynasty. Silk was already an important product under the Shang dynasty. Silk was expensive and only used for robes worn in official ceremonies. 131 The costume during the Chou dynasty was not unlike those wore in the Manchu dynasty later on. The general costume was a long gown and over it a short coat was worn and the gown was buttoned on the right side. The Material used for clothing were linen and silk and the poor protected themselves against winter by bundling themselves in quilted clothes, while the rich use furs. 132
Houses
In China, around 4000 B.C. the Yellow River culture-built homes that were circular, with timber walls shored up on the outside by mounds of dirt and conical thatched roofs that peaked in the middle. This basic structure spread too much of eastern Asia, and circular houses were still built on the island of Honshu in 200 B.C. 133
In the capital city, houses were made of stone and mud bricks. The homes of the wealthy were built of wood with roofs supported by pillars resting on stone or bronze bases. Many of these homes, except for those of wealthy people, were a place of both family life and work. In some areas of the countryside, homes were carved out of the sides of mountains or dug deep into the thick compact loess, deposits of silt or clay, for insulation against the cold in the winter and the heat of the summer. Rectangular or oval homes had roofs that were thatched with reeds or straw, with their lower levels set deep in the ground. Housing above the ground appeared to have become commonplace around the period of the Warring States, from 475 to 221 B.C., which preceded the Qin dynasty. 134
In most Chinese homes, three generations of the same family lived under one roof. Families followed strict codes of conduct, which were reflected in the layout of their houses. Rooms along the sides of the outer courtyard were used for housing guests, and they often contained a library as well. An inner courtyard was reserved for the family. The head of the household, usually the grandfather, lived with his wife and children in the main building, with side rooms allocated to close relatives. Behind the main building were the kitchens and rooms for servants. Some houses were surrounded by gardens, which were enclosed within an outer wall. 135
Architecture
The construction of a building in ancient China began with the principles of feng shui, a term that meant ‘wind’ (feng) and ‘water’ (shui). Three specific principles therefore dominated the form of ancient Chinese architecture. The first was that a building was to be symmetrical and balanced, in the same way that chi represented symmetry and balance in nature and in the human body. This meant that if a building were divided in half along a central axis, the two parts would be mirror images of each other. The second principle was that roofs were to be held in place by columns rather than walls. This allowed builders to incorporate a greater view of the landscape; the view from inside was not blocked by solid walls that enclosed the space and separated it from nature, and a more natural flow of energy from outside to inside could be maintained. Finally, the roofs themselves were to be curved rather than straight. This principle reflected the ancient Chinese belief that curves repelled evil spirits, while flat roofs allowed evil spirits to enter the building. 136
The pavilion was a prominent part of the Chinese architecture. It was made of bamboo, basketwork, stone or wood and is usually placed at a spot of historic interest or on a hill. The pavilion was more typical example of Chinese architecture then larger structure. The p’at lou was erected to honor a famous man or commemorate an event. It had some of the most characteristic elements of Chinese architecture, such as supporting posts, craved or painted friezes, and saddle-shaped roofs supported by brackets. The most notable architectural object in China was the Great Wall, 137 constructed in the third century B.C. Walls are the basis of every village and city. There were no Chinese cities without them and their importance can be appreciated by the fact that the same word was used for a city or wall. Temples and houses are constructed within the walls and closed compounds. Most of early structure were wood. 138
Even though the Great Wall is justifiably renowned, the great genius of Chinese architecture came not in the building of the wall but rather in creating techniques of construction that could be applied to monumental structures and to tiny homes and that were versatile enough to be adapted to different building materials according to availability. Thus, in northern China, golden loess from desert areas was used for bricks, which were combined with wood to build structures; in central China stone would be combined with wood; and in southern China stone would be combined with bamboo as well as wood. All builders followed basic practices developed by the time of the emperor Shi Huangdi. Foundations would be excavated and filled with unhewn stone, bamboo or timber frameworks would be created for workers to climb, posts would be set in the foundation to bear most of the weight of the structure, and walls would bear little or no weight. 139
During the Chou period, there was little evidence of several arts among which one is architecture. One type of building, characterized by an overhanging, steep-pitched roof and upturned corners, was made to serve secular and religions, public and private purposes 140 because the building material was principally wood, no examples remain from the earliest period.
Political System
Ancient China consisted of seven primary dynasties. A dynasty consisted of numerous leaders who belonged to the same ruling family. These seven dynasties were known as the Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. These dynasties lasted for a total of one thousand six hundred eighty-one years and within these ancient Chinese dynasties, rulers were called emperors.
Emperors belonged to the upper class of Ancient China. They used to wear the finest clothes which were made of silk and had a great deal of power. Some of the emperors like Shi Huangdi abused their power and demanded that everyone needed to believe what he believed. He also burned the books which did not agree with his religion.
Political History
Multiple Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures interacted for millennia in the basins of the Yellow River, the Yangzi, and beyond, none of them were superior to the others. The first Royal dynasty, the Shang (1600-1046 B.C.) enjoyed only a relative cultural, military and political superiority over its neighbors, but no means ruled the territories beyond its immediate sphere of influence in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The overthrow of the Shang by Zhou (1046-256 B.C.) became an important turning point. The victorious Zhou leaders utilized their success to rapidly expand the territory under their direct and indirect control, establishing a military and civilian presence beyond their original Wei River locus to the middle and low Yellow River basin, and further to the south to the Huai and Han River area. From the very beginning, the success of Zhou rule derived not only from the dynasty’s administrative and military powers, but also from its peculiar legitimating devices. The Zhou kings succeeded in positioning themselves as exclusive mediators between the supreme deity, Heaven, and the people below. In their capacity as ‘Sons of Heaven’, they continued to enjoy obvious superiority over their allies and subordinates the regional Lords (Zhuhou). The position of the Kings at the apex of the ritual and sociopolitical pyramid allowed the battered dynasty to endure for centuries, becoming the longest royal dynasty in Chinese history. The persistent symbolic superiority of the Zhou house might have inspired the quest of the political unification during the generations of turmoil, which followed the collapse of the effective Zhou rule. 141
By the end of the 6th century B.C., the multistate springs and autumns era was on the verge of collapse. On its ruins, the war of all against all ensued, giving the period of following the breakup of the state of Jin 453 B.C. In an age of escalating warfare, of endless bloodshed and inherit lack of stability, in an age when rival states routinely tried to undermine domestic order in the neighbor polities, it was all too clear that the internal problems of an individual state would never be resolved unless oikoumene 142 was settled. The diplomatic means of stabilizing all under Heaven were inadequate, political unification became the only feasible way out of unending disorder. Therefore, the quest for unity became a peculiar intellectual consensus of the thinker of the Warring States period, legitimating the universal empire long before it came into being. Having been associated with turmoil, bloodshed and general disorder, these states were doomed intellectually long before they were destroyed militarily. The zer-sum game of the Warring states ended, amid tremendous bloodshed in 221 B.C., when the most powerful of the regional states, Qin, wiped out enimies in series of brilliant military compaigns. The proud king of Qin proclaimed himself the First Emproper (221-210 B.C.), ushering in a new era in China’s history. Qin sought to convey to its subjects the feeling of stability and uniform orderly rule through a variety of practical and symbolic means. For example, they imposed unified system of measurments, weight, coinage, orthgraphy, laws and clendar, establishing thereby a standard repertoire of unification measure for the subsequent dynasties. They also incorporated the members of the conqered states elites into the imperial regime. 143
Public Administration
Chinese civil service, the administrative system of the traditional Chinese government, the members of which were selected by a competitive examination, gave the Chinese empire stability for more than 2,000 years and provided one of the major outlets for social mobility in Chinese society. 144
In the ancient period, the Zhou (1046 to 256 B.C.) appears to have begun its rule under a feudal system. The King of Zhou at this time, with the assistance of the Duke of Zhou, invoked the concept of the Mandate of Heaven (Tian Ming) to legitimate his rule, a concept which influenced almost every successive dynasty. This made it clear that the Emperor was no longer a ‘God’, but, still, was someone permitted to rule through the Mandate of Heaven. The political institution established by the Zhou was a feudal, patriarchal clan system, which was centered on the heir-apparent. The lineage served as a differentiating standard to determine whether the relationship between the King and a man was close or distant, and whether the man was noble or base. This formed a feudal hierarchy. The noble class was ranked from the top, the King, to his vassals, the Duke, to the Duke’s vassals, and to the intellectuals, who were the lowest aristocrats. The bottom of this hierarchy was ‘the governed’, consisting of the ordinary farmers, a great number of serfs, and any tribes when they were conquered. The last two were the lowest rank of society. The governed had no rights in politics.
The feudal system just described was eventually abolished by the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221 – 206 B.C.), who established the Chinese imperial system. This system was basically an administrative system that divided the country into 36 administrative commanderies, which operated under a tightly centralized Legalist government with the support of a professional bureaucracy. It laid the basis of China’s provincial and prefectural system (Jun Xian), which has endured as similar provinces to this day (for over two millennia). The Emperor tried to enforce a detailed criminal code, emphasizing legalism in place of the essentially feudal customary morality. The politically sophisticated but harsh Chinese doctrine of legalism stressed strict adherence to a legal code and the absolute power of the emperor. The harsh Qin rules were soon replaced by the Han’s more moderate political governance. The Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.) was the first dynasty to embrace the philosophy of Confucianism that provided the ideological underpinning of all dynasties until the end of Imperial China. 145
Economy
The first significant civilizations of Asia and the Pacific had agricultural economies. An agricultural economy was one in which the wealth of the nation depended on the productivity of farming. In China, government officials kept track of the use of barter, using its frequency as a sign of the health of the national and local economy, the more bartering, the less healthy the economy. Agriculture began in eastern Asia around 6500 B.C. In the Yellow River region people began growing millet. The center of the early Chinese economy was the Yellow River, where the Shang Dynasty was founded. The people of the Yellow River were farmers. Those people sometimes grew surpluses that they could trade for goods, thus raising their standard of living through being able to own more goods than could hunter-gatherers. In this way, some people gained more wealth than others and contributed to the development of upper and lower classes in society. Exactly when the ability to trade surpluses for wealth resulted in a shift to a full cash economy is not as yet known, but archaeological evidence from Chinese Shang Dynasty (1500–1045 B.C.) sites indicates that it had developed a strong cash economy. It was possible for people to build factories for manufacturing metal goods and pottery, to pay workers with coins, and to sell products for coins. This development gave the Shang a more efficient economy than one based entirely on barter, which was an advantage in its competition for power with its neighbors. 146
Revenue
The best fiscal data for this period comes from a cache of documents discovered in 1993 in Yinwan that provide detailed information about the administration of Donghai Commandery (in Shandong) around 15 B.C. Government revenue for the year stood at 266.6 million cash and 506,600 shi of grain, of which 145.8 million cash and 412,600 shi had already been spent. Assuming that these numbers represent total state revenue and given that Donghai Commandery accounted for approximately one-fortieth of the imperial population and that (apart from its unusual size) it might be considered a reasonably ‘average’ province in the sense that it was located neither in the metropolitan region nor in the highly developed old core of the Great Plain nor peripherally, and therefore was arguably not entirely unrepresentative in terms of its overall economic development, extrapolation the reported tallies implies an annual imperial revenue of about 10.7 billion cash and 20.3 million shi of grain. Priced at 50–75 cash/shi = hu, this would yield a grand total of approximately 12 billion cash. 147 While this is undoubtedly an exceedingly crude extrapolation, it happens to match a total of 12.3 billion cash in state revenue reported in a fragment of the Xinlun. According to this source, from the late Western Han period onward more than 4 billion cash was annually collected in taxes, half of which was spent on the salaries of civil servants and half of which was set aside for emergencies. In addition, the Lesser Treasury is said to have generated an income of 8.3 billion cash to be used for the maintenance of the court and the emperors’ gifts and rewards. 148
During the Chou dynasty, there was a state monopoly for the fishing and the mining of the slat. State revenues came out not only from the control of monopolies but also from the exacting of one tenth of the land’s produce, form the renting of ships, for which rolls of cloths were paid by the merchants, and from the taxing of market sales, imports and exports. 149
Agriculture
The Cannon of History, a collection of documents edited by Confucius, contain history that date back to 24th century B.C. Even back then Chinese were engaged in agriculture. According to a tradition they were engaged in agriculture in 28th century B.C. and had a minister of agriculture in the 23rd century B.C. 150 However, agriculture in China developed independently in two very different locations. Farmers domesticated rice along the Yangtze River in southern China between 6500 and 4500 B.C. During approximately the same time period, farmers in northern China concentrated on the cultivation of millet on the banks of the Yellow River. The first farmers had to work with plants that already grew in the area. Wild rice existed throughout southern China and Southeast Asia before it was cultivated. The oldest-known site of rice cultivation was Pengtoushan on the Liying Plain; scientists believe its inhabitants were growing rice around 6400 B.C. Hangzhou Bay, just south of the mouth of the Yangtze, was the site of a large society that grew up around rice cultivation about 4500 B.C. People grew rice and other aquatic crops in the while southern Chinese farmers were domesticating rice, their counterparts in northern China were conducting their own experiments with millet. Two species of millet, broomcorn and foxtail, both of which need little water to survive, were chosen for cultivation in northern China. The earliest evidence of millet agriculture is that of the Peiligang culture in northern China. These people lived near the Yellow River starting about 7000 B.C. By around 4500 B.C. 151
Industry
In Shang dynasty, China was at the beginnings of industry focused on the mass production of household goods and tools. Industry flourished during Chou times. Merchants sold beautiful linen and silks newly off the river boat from down-stream. Tailors in their shops made brocaded gowns for the rich. Furriers worked over costume and lamb skin. Leather-workers fashioned gaiters, and jewelers carefully cut exquisite jades and made ear pins for the coiffures of noble ladies. Furniture played an important role in making abodes of the rich comfortable and luxurious. Tile-worker were needed to make the floors, wood carvers to design beautiful panels for the lower portions of home partitions, and carpenters to smooth and polish the great beams and rafters. Other craftsmanship devoted their talents to the making of chopsticks and bamboo or earthenware dishes. Kitchen utensils of pottery and iron occupied the efforts of still more skilled laborers, while one guild of workers devoted its attention to the creation of bronze vessels. 152
Trade
In early days there was active trade in silk, lacquer, furs, grass cloth, salt, gems, gold, silver and ivory. These were few restrictions placed upon commercial intercourse, although later many tariffs hindered development. 153
The Han Dynasty (202 B.C. to 220 A.D.) was aggressive in building up trade within its borders, and it continued the practice of invading nations that had goods it wanted, such as horses from the west. More than previous dynasties, the Han Dynasty looked outward for trading opportunities. Most of its efforts focused on overland trade. At the cost of the lives of hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers, the Han pushed nomadic raiders out of the northwest and extended the Great Wall westward to protect the Silk Road—a network of routes that led to Persia and through Persia to the Mediterranean world. China exported silks, ceramics, and metals to Rome, which paid in gold. Further, the Chinese pioneered trade routes into India. Some of the Chinese explorers left written records of their travels through India. Silk made its way from China to India in exchange for gems such as diamonds as well as fragrant woods. Not until roughly the 300s A.D. did China began trading in earnest by sea. Before then it had traded mostly with Japan, which exported its own high grade of silk and probably animal skins and ceramics to China in exchange for Chinese metals— especially copper coins, which became Japan’s medium of exchange. 154
Silk became the chief export under the Han dynasty, both as gifts to foreign rulers and in trade. Silk in the Han dynasty was exported throughout central Asia, to northern India, and farther west throughout the Roman Empire. The trade route used to transport silk became known as the Silk Road. 155
Taxation
In the year 594 B.C. the model state of Lu for the first time imposed a tax of ten per cent, upon each Chinese acre of land. Each cultivator under the old system had an allotment of 100 such acres for himself, his parents, his wife, and his children; and in the center of this allotment were 10 acres of ‘public land’, the produce of which, being the result of his labor, went to the State. 156
The elders were the chief link in the contacts between the people and the government. The land or grain tax was collected by them and also the reed tax, a small fee for those using the reeds from the land along the river and lake shores; the salt tax; liquor and tobacco taxes; and the likin, a tax on goods in transit. The funds collected were turned over to the provincial and imperial treasuries. 157
In the year 548 B.C., the kingdom of Ts‘u ordered a cadastral survey, and also a general stock-taking of arms, chariots, and records were made of the extent and value of the land in each parish, the extent of the mountains and forests, and the resources they might furnish. In order to fix the taxes at a just figure, stock was taken of the salt-flats, the unproductive lands, and the tracts liable to periodical inundation. Areas rescued from the waters were protected by dykes, and subdivided for allotment by sloping banks, but without introducing the rigid nine-square system. Taxes, direct and indirect, were fixed with exactitude, and also the number of war-chariots that each parish had to furnish; the number of horses; their value, and age.
Money
Prior to the minting of coins in China, cowrie shells, bronze knives, and bronze shovels were used as money. Some of the first money used in China was made from tin, lead and iron. Baked earth, stamped with characters, also was a medium of exchange. Other articles constituted money at different periods. Cowry shells, adzes, billhooks, spades, knives, hoes, all were in circulation by the 7th century B.C. In the 12th century B.C. knives and other objects in common use were made into coins. The form of a knife to be used for exchange purposes was cumbersome. Thus, the blade was shortened until only the end of the handle remained, with a hole left for stringing several together. This money (cash) carried the mark of a new moon upon it, according to the legend that a wax model held in the hand of an empress was imprinted with her fingernail. 158
Minted coins made of metal appeared in China before 450 B.C. Early ones were made of bronze and resembled in their shapes the knives and shovels that had been previously used for money. By about 250 B.C. coins were generally accepted throughout China, though a barter economy continued among peasants, especially in the outer provinces. Early Chinese coins were bulky and heavy, primarily useful for making large purchases. Military officers were paid in goods, even after the end of the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.–220 A.D.). Rolls of silk, rather than coins, were often used to pay people for their services. The government of the Qin Dynasty (221–207 B.C.) tried to standardize China’s coins. In 112 B.C. it introduced a five shu coin. This coin was circular, with a square punched in its middle, which allowed it to be strung with other coins. Typically, five shu coins would be strung together in units of 100. The coins were 80 percent copper and 20 percent other metals, usually lead. 159 About 140 B.C., paper or parchment money, made of white stag skin, ‘skin notes’, was used as money. 160
In 9 A.D. the Chinese government introduced 28 new denominations of coins, made of gold, silver, copper, tin, iron, lead, cowrie shells, and tortoiseshell. They came in many patterns, including circular, spoon-shaped, and shaped like a person standing. 161
Education
In the days when the written character was cumbrous, there would be no great encouragement to use it for daily household purposes. It is a striking fact, not only that writings upon soft clay, afterwards baked, were not only non-existent in China, but have never once been mentioned or conceived of as being a possibility. This fact effectually disposes off the allegation that Persian and Babylonian literary civilization made its way to China, for it is unreasonable to suppose that an invention so well suited to the clayey soil (of loess mud with cementing properties) in which the Chinese princes dwelt could have been ignored by them, if ever the slightest inkling of it had been obtained. 162 There was no definite information regarding early Chinese education until the Chou period (1122-256 B.C.) when the highest branches of learning consisted of rituals, music, archery, horsemanship, literature and mathematics. In the days of Confucius and Mencius there were many private schools. Mencius speaks of technical education in which the master worker, in teaching others, uses the compass and square and his pupil do the same.
A provincial official, Wen Weng, about 140 B.C. was credited with being the funder of government schools. He encouraged education by selecting some of the best among the minor officials, supervising for a time their formal training and then sending them to the capital to complete their education. Upon returning to the provinces they were given responsible positions. 163
In ancient China, many farmers taught their sons farming, mothers taught their daughters household skills, and artisans taught their children and their apprentices their crafts, but roles within families were not always so tied to gender. Formal education was limited to those in wealthy families who could afford tutors. It was not until the age of Confucius, 551 to 479 B.C. that mass education began in ancient China. Poor people were completely deprived from knowledge and their children were not allowed to leave the professions of their parents for acquiring education. By 165 B.C. written examinations were being conducted to select government officials. In 124 B.C. an imperial academy was created for the study of Confucian texts which was only developed to propagate Confucius teachings and to condemn others. Fifty students attended the academy. This system of government-sponsored academies was expanded later under the Han dynasty. In these academies, students memorized the texts of books that were written on wooden tablets, thin sheets of bamboo, or lengths of silk. These books were texts on medicine and warfare and collections of poetry and philosophy. Students were not permitted to give their own interpretation of the texts. They were bound to follow whatever they were taught with closed minds.
There were no gym classes or recess which never allowed the students to have a healthy mind, hence the students had no capability to question their teachers. Students would study from early morning to late afternoon Discipline was strict and included harsh treatment towards those who disagreed with the teachings of the tutor. The schools were mainly for the education of government workers and reflected the thinking that the government wanted to promote. Successful students were then enrolled in government service 164 as they had closed minds and were ready to obey every command of the government without thinking that it was right or wrong.
Military System
Warfare was merely a tool for one region to gain ascendancy over the other, expand its territories, and replace existing dynasty of rulers for usurpers in ancient China. Initially the armies consisted of tens of thousands of soldiers but in the first millennium A.D., it increased to hundreds of thousands. With time, warfare became more technologically advanced and more destructive. Chariots gave way to cavalry, bows to crossbows and, eventually, artillery stones to gunpowder bombs. Sometimes, warfare was frowned upon but as in most other ancient societies, for ordinary people it was difficult to escape the insatiable demands of war: either fight or die, be conscripted or enslaved, win somebody else’s possessions or lose all of one’s own.
Chinese Art of War
Three centuries of brutal warfare marked the decline of the Zhou dynasty. The Zhou became unable to control disputes among the feudal lords, and by 481 B.C., China had separated into seven warring states. Battles became large in scale, with crossbowmen, cavalry, armored infantry, and chariots. Thousands of men were killed or wounded. At the battle of Chang Ping in 260 B.C., over a half million men are known to have fallen. During this period Sun Zi wrote The Art of War, the world’s oldest military handbook, which gave advice to nobles on the practice of warfare. Eventually the northwestern state of Qin was victorious and, in 221 B.C., united the feuding lords under a single empire. The military began to decline in status and the civil service grew in importance. The gentler ideas of Confucianism prevailed. 165
Strength of Army
The Emperor had around six brigades, a Shi or regiment consisted of 2,500 men, and a Kun or brigade consisted of 12,500 men. The Chinese federal princes, only occupied the main the flat country on the right bank of the Yellow River, war chariots were invariably used, which was the more remarkable in that after the Conquest in 220 B.C. of China by the First August Emperor of Tsin, and down to this day. The Emperor alone in true feudal times possessed a force of 10,000 chariots. No vassal was entitled to more than 1000 war-chariots. In the year 632 B.C., when Tsin inflicted a great defeat upon its chief rival Ts‘u, the former power had 700 chariots in the field. In 589 B.C. the same country, with 800 chariots included in its forces, marched across the Yellow River and defeated the state of Ts‘i, its rival to the east. Again in 632 B.C., Tsin offered to the Emperor 100 chariots just captured from Ts‘u, and in 613 B.C., sent 800 chariots to the assistance of a dethroned Emperor. One of the features in many of the vassal states was the growth of great families, whose private power was very apt to constrain the wishes of the reigning duke, count, or baron. Thus in the year 537 B.C., when the King of Ts‘u was meditating a treacherous attack upon Tsin, he was warned that there were many magnates at the behest of the ruler of Tsin, each of whom was equal to placing 100 war-chariots in the field. So much a matter of course was it to use chariots in war, that in the year 572 B.C., when the rival great powers of Ts‘u and Tsin were contesting for suzerainty over one of the purely Chinese principalities in the modern Ho Nan province, it was considered quite a remarkable fact that this principality in taking the side of Ts‘u brought no chariots with the forces led against Tsin. In 541 B.C., a refugee prince of Ts‘u, seeking asylum in Tsin, only brought five chariots with him, on which the ruler, ashamed as host of such a poor display, at once assigned him revenue sufficient for the maintenance of 100 individuals. 166
Soldiers
Chinese soldiers were funded by state. Arms were supplied to them upon conscription into the mass infantry armies. For the Chinese states, this was certainly a much more efficient way of managing the mass infantry armies of the conscripted peasants. It was easy for the state monarchies to arm the people, because they had power to do so. Since the states dispersed arms to the peasant soldiers of the standing armies, armor was standardized so that every one of the same ranks and role had the same equipment. Elaborate rank and reward system were established and ranks and rewards could be seen clearly on the armored uniforms of the soldiers. There was a socio-political system in the China, so they were able to train men to use complex equipment and weapons. They were able to coordinate combined-arms campaign. So, instead of just a single integrated weapon system like the Greek phalanx, the Chinese states employed missiles, cavalry, chariots, tanks, siege craft and other system in concert with shock weapons of the infantry. Sometimes these systems played supporting role for the infantry and sometimes they played more central role. 167
Armor
Ancient Chinese body armor consisted of rectangular leather strips tied together to form a tunic. Charioteers, who remained stationary on the chariot, wore long and cumbersome leather body armor. Infantrymen, who relied on mobility, wore lightweight leather armor to increase maneuver and combat speed. Bronze helmets, similar to hoplite helmets, were worn by infantrymen. Wooden shields, covered with bronze and later with iron, were used by infantrymen, solely for defense. The light armored infantry, which was highly mobile and maneuverable, used these shields during close-in, one-on-one combat, they had no offensive or command and control benefits. During the Zhanguo period, some infantrymen donned iron armor, which consisted of several iron plates sown together to form an iron tunic. However, leather body armor remained the dominant form of armor well into the Han dynasty. This shows that the Chinese were more concerned with maneuverability, and therefore utilized light armored forces. 168
The staple of Chinese infantry fighting, from the late Shang, through the western Zhou, and well into the Chinqiu and Zhanguo periods, was the halberd. It consists of a combination of a spear for thrusting and a hook for slicing, cast together in a single piece out of bronze, and later out of iron. It was most useful in the earlier Chunqiu infantry armies, where maneuver was not as prevalent.
Sword
The sword was used for the close combat. The early Chinese infantrymen used the sword made up of bronze. The length of the blade of sword had a length slightly greater than double the length of the haft. The style and length of the sword varied greatly, but the blade length was around two or three feet. Chinese infantry sword could be used for thrusting and chopping. Two changes to the Bronze infantry sword occurred in the early Zhanguo period. First, iron metallurgy techniques, which were widely applied to the making of iron weapon, especially swords. Second, ‘short swords’ were made in the greater quantity. These shorter swords, with the blade length not much longer than the haft, were probably reserved for cavalry. 169
Cavalry and Chariots
Cavalry became a common feature of the Chinese warfare late in the Zhanguo period. The T’ai Kung in the Six Secret Teachings remarks on the power of the cavalry compared to other military forces: ‘ten cavalrymen can drive off hundred men, and a hundred cavalrymen can run off a thousand men.’
In the Shang and early Zhou dynasties, the chariot was a symbol of nobility, wealth and power. By the Chunqiu period, the chariot had become more functional and various chariot battles are mentioned in the historical accounts of this time. While certainly, more powerful, more agile and stronger than the “sport–chariots” of Greece, Chinese chariots never became the major war fighting components of Chinese armies. They were quicker than foot soldiers, but their awkward maneuverability and dependence on flat, easy terrain made them better suited for supporting roles or for command platforms. The expense of the equipment and the training required to drive a chariot could not compete with the efficiency of employing peasant-infantrymen in massive armies. 170
Famous Battles
In ancient times, China was involved in several internal and external conflicts. The details of the major conflicts are as follows:
Battle of Mu-Yueh (1027 B.C.)
The battlefield of Mu or Mu-yueh is generally identified as being in modern Henan Province, south of the Yellow River and not far south-west of the Shang capital at Anyang, which would obviously make sense if a Shang army was confronting an invader coming from the west. The site is described in the Chou sources as a ‘wilderness’, meaning that it was uncultivated and so perhaps partly wooded – or, being near the river, marshy. Duke Wu’s army is said to have included 3,000 Chou noblemen and 800 Shang defectors, although his total force, including the lower-class foot soldiers, would presumably have been much larger. The Shang forces, commanded by Shou Hsin in person, were far stronger in numbers: half a million men were traditionally quoted, but this vast number must surely be an exaggeration. Shou’s army included many slaves who had been hastily armed for the defense of the capital, and admittedly the pro-Chou sources repeatedly emphasize the unpopularity of the Shang king and the low state of morale of his army.
In the Chou camp the mood was very different. Their lack of numbers seems only to have strengthened their resolve. The troop first took a mass oath of loyalty to their leader, immortalized in later accounts as the ‘Pledge of Mu’. Then Wu issued his orders for the coming fight. His troops needed to concentrate on mutual support in order to counter the enemy’s numerical advantage, and so, according to the account in the Shu Ching, they were instructed to advance at a steady pace, maintaining close formation rather than fighting as individuals. ‘Do not exceed four or five strokes, six or seven thrusts’ they were told, ‘then halt and line up.’ Wu’s battle plan depended mainly on his infantry, possibly because the ground was unsuited to vehicles. Another reason for insisting on maintaining a solid formation may of course have been to prevent the more numerous Shang chariots from breaking through, and if the Chou vehicles were indeed heavier and better armed, they may have fought in close co-operation with the infantry in order to counter their opponents’ greater mobility. There is a hint in the Shu Ching that further defections from the Shang may have taken place during the battle itself. It is said that when the lines clashed the Shang front rank turned around and threw those behind it into disorder, although it is unknown whether this was deliberate treachery, or simply a result of their inability to make headway against the close-packed Chou columns. At any rate the rest of Shou Hsin’s army must have continued to stand its ground, for the battle was long and hard fought, and the less well-organized Shang troops suffered terrible losses. Enough blood was spilled, the Shu Ching says rather imprecisely, ‘to float a log’. Eventually the Shang line broke, and Shou Hsin fled back to his palace, where in his rage and despair he burned himself to death. 171
Battle of Yen-Ling (575 B.C.)
The last of the three great battles between Tsin and Ch’u occurred twenty years later at Yen-ling, also in the state of Cheng. By this time King Chuang’s reforms appear to have been forgotten, and Ch’u had reverted to its usual reliance on numbers rather than cohesion. The Tso Chuan tells us that the Tsin commander realized that he was outnumbered and so adopted a defensive posture behind a marsh, with the exposed sections of his front protected from attacking chariots by a ditch. The Ch’u army possessed a vehicle of a type known as a ‘ch’ao-ch’e’ or ‘crow’s nest chariot’, consisting of a chariot body on large wheels and carrying a tall structure on top which could be used as a one-man observation post. The king occupied this post himself, and had to shout to an officer standing below, reporting what he saw and asking for an interpretation. But despite this ingenious device, the intelligence battle was won by a Tsin officer named Meao Fun-huang. Observing the enemy line of battle, he noticed that, as was the usual practice, the more reliable Ch’u regulars were in the center where the boggy ground to their front would hamper their maneuvers – while the wings extending beyond the marsh were held by allied units of doubtful fighting ability, contemptuously described by their opponents as ‘wild tribes of the south’.
Furthermore, it was known that the officers in command of the two Ch’u wings hated each other, and so were unlikely to co-operate effectively. Therefore, Meao persuaded his commander to adopt a new plan. He quickly strengthened both flanks, leaving only a small holding force in the center. Then the Tsin chariots charged on the left and right simultaneously, crushing both enemy wings and enveloping the Ch’u center before it had time to redeploy. The king of Ch’u was wounded by an arrow but was allowed to make his escape unmolested, just as had happened to King Huan of Chou nearly two centuries earlier. Ch’u’s ambitions in the north had been thwarted for the time being, but new threats, originating in the remote frontier regions of the Chinese cultural area, were soon to preoccupy both of the contending powers. 172
Battle of Kai-Hsia (202 B.C.)
In the spring of 205 B.C. Hsiang Yu was forced to take his army north-east to Ch’i, where a warlord named T’ien Jung, who had not been allocated any territory under the settlement, had expelled Hsiang Yu’s nominees and set himself up as king. Ssu-ma Ch’ien suggests that this whole war was a diversion planned by Liu Pang, who had allowed Hsiang to acquire documents – perhaps forged deliberately for the purpose – implying that T’ien Jung was intending to attack Ch’u. T’ien was defeated and killed, but the Ch’u invaders behaved so badly in Ch’i that they provoked a popular uprising which kept Hsiang Yu busy for the rest of the campaigning season. With the Ch’u forces occupied in the north, Liu Pang struck unexpectedly and captured the city of P’eng-ch’eng, north of the Huai River, which Hsiang was using as his capital and supply base. The Ch’u commander reacted decisively, however, and leaving his main body behind in Ch’i he brought back 30,000 picked troops by forced marches to surprise his enemy. The enormous Han army deployed to meet him, but in a series of engagements the superiority of Hsiang Yu’s Ch’u fighters proved decisive. Despite their numerical advantage, the Han were driven back in a dawn attack, and Hsiang reoccupied P’eng-ch’eng. Ssu-ma Ch’ien says that 100,000 Han soldiers were killed when they were driven into two rivers which lay across their rear. They fled south into the mountains, but rallied on the banks of the Sui River near Ling-p’i.
Here the chroniclers state that another 100,000 Han troops were drowned in the water, blocking the flow of the river with their corpses, but it seems unlikely that they would have allowed the same disaster to happen twice, and Ssu-ma Ch’ien had presumably confused reports of two separate engagements. But whatever happened, the Han were unable to hold the repeated Ch’u charges, and Liu Pang’s own battlefield skills were clearly not up to the challenge of rallying them again. By the beginning of 204 B.C. a strongly fortified camp had been completed at Jung-yang, on the south bank of the Yellow River near a former Ch’in supply depot known as the Ao Granary. A road protected by walls on both sides was also built from the granary to the camp, as the Ch’in had done at Chu-lu, to safeguard food supplies. In his first engagement in Chao, he employed Sun Pin’s technique of pretending that he did not know how to fight. He encountered the army of King Hsieh occupying a fortified position in the Ching-Hsing Pass, but he halted his own force several miles short of the mouth of the pass, sending out cavalry of 2,000 on a night march to outflank the enemy position. The next morning Han Hsin led infantry of 10,000, comprising the main body of his army, out of camp before breakfast, announcing nonchalantly that the meal would be served once the enemy had been destroyed. He then deployed these troops in leisurely fashion in full view of the enemy, apparently unsupported and with their backs to the River Ti, so that they would be unable to retreat if attacked. King Hsieh had great difficulty in preventing his troops from abandoning their defenses and descending on this easy target, but he did not take the bait himself until Han Hsin, with his flags flying and drums beating, went forward and stationed himself well ahead of his front line. The campaign did not end there, however, because Hsiang Yu’s armies in Ch’i had finally succeeded in suppressing the revolt, and marched east to intervene. 173
War of the Eight Princes (291–306 A.D)
The War of the Eight Princes is a vastly understudied conflict in Chinese history. It was a series of civil wars among kings/princes of the Chinese Jin dynasty from A.D. 291 to 306. The pivotal concepts about this period included the moral power of the Mandate of Heaven, the economic stagnation of war, the decentralization of power, the political and military art of the period, and the duration, intensity, and casualties of the conflict.
The civil war among the Sima clan that ruled the Jin dynasty in the early 4th century had raged for years. The head of Zhang Fang urged an attack and told his prince that their territory was rich and their troops were strong and they were poised to once again descend on the capital. The original leaders who fought the war held military commands in key territories that led to the capital. During the war, and particularly in this phase of it, those military leaders often returned to their centers of strength, but they could easily swoop down to harass those trying to rule the capital. In fall 304 A.D., Zhang had to march against another contender advancing on the city. Zhang faced a food shortage as well and seized over ten thousand slave women. After his victory and more machinations, he again sped back to the capital with crack troops and again seized and executed the next usurper, Sima Tan. A rival force then tried to smuggle the next figurehead emperor back into the capital, which would grant him legitimacy. In response, Zhang Fang sped from his protected valley to the west of the capital and captured them at their crossing of the Yellow River. This time Zhang’s army returned to the capital and plundered it for months. They smashed cultural buildings, raped women, and seized whatever wealth they could for themselves. After several years of fighting Zhang’s prince, Sima Yong still had not obtained sole control of the country. By 307 A.D., Sima Yong arrived at a pivotal decision point between fighting on with his effective general or killing Zhang and sending his severed head as the opening gesture of peace talks with his distant cousin Sima Yue. Sima Yong chose the latter, and Sima Yue accepted the head—but he kept fighting. The war raged for several more years, but the damage to Luoyang was already massive. Contemporary and later Chinese historians recorded that the bones had been picked from the dynasty. Famine, slavery, cannibalism, and desolation reduced what was once a city that rivaled Rome in size and glory to no more than a few hundred shacks housing dying refugees. 174
Legal System
The third earliest legal system of the world in origin was the Chinese, beginning before 2500 B.C. It was the only legal system that has survived continuously to date, a period of more than four thousand years. Although the Chinese legal codes appeared quite ruthless in written form with heinous punishments being prescribed for capital as well as other offenses, the application of the law was riddled with mitigating forces and humanitarian currents. 175
In ancient China all governments were based on the natural laws of the universe, of which universal law or order of things, the Emperor, as ‘Son of Heaven,’ was (subject to his own obedience to it) the supreme mouthpiece or expression, there lay upon him no duty to define that manifest law; when it was broken, it was for him to say that it was broken, and to punish the breach. Nature’s bounty was the spring, and therefore rewards were conferred in spring; nature’s fall was in the autumn, hence it was the time for decreeing punishments; these were carried out in winter, when death stole over nature. 176
Prior to the Han dynasty and its short-lived predecessor, the Chin dynasty (221-207 B.C.), no centralized empire existed in China. At that time there were only a number of independent and mutually warring principalities. This pre-imperial age, often called the age of Chinese feudalism, is also the age that saw the formative beginnings of Chinese written law. Although there exists no counterpart in the history of Ancient China comparable to the Twelve Tables of Ancient Rome, Ancient China produced her law from her own soil and, at a very early age had her law written and codified. As early as 1100 B.C. a code of laws is said to have been composed by Tan, Duke of Chow. In 536 B.C. certain ‘books of punishment’ were promulgated in a certain Chinese principality. In 400 B.C. a code of six chapters was drawn up by a statesman called Li Kwei. This code, otherwise known as the ‘law bible’ has always been deemed a pioneer work in China's history of codification. Fifty years after Li Kwei's six-chapter code, a new code appeared from the hand of Lord Shang of the powerful state of Chin.
This state, which ultimately absorbed the whole empire, founded the Chin dynasty under the ruler known as the First Emperor. By 221 B.C. the First Emperor of the Chin dynasty had overthrown the reigning house of Chou, conquered the other feudal states, abolished feudal political institutions and formed the first universal Chinese Empire. It was the dynamic and ruthlessly efficient program of the legalists that helped the state of Chin triumph successfully over its rivals in forming the new regime. The Legalist Law of Chin thus became the law of the Empire. However, its triumph was brief. The radical social and political changes which the First Emperor enforced after his conquest caused considerable derangement and unrest. Widespread rebellions followed the death of the First Emperor in 210 B.C. and his dynasty was overthrown in 207 B.C. With the overthrow of the Chin dynasty the Legalism of the First Empire was replaced with Confucianism in the Han dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.). Nevertheless, Legalism did leave its lasting mark on the law. Its influence probably explains the continuing penal emphasis found in all imperial codes; and the resulting fact that Chinese treatment even of administrative and other noncriminal matters usually follows a standard formula. 177
A generous table accompanied the dispensing of rewards, and a frugal table accompanied the allotment of punishments; hence the imperial feasts and fasts. Thus, punishment rather than command was what was first understood by Law, and ‘making war’ and ‘putting to death’ headed the list of imperial chastisements, war being thus regarded as the Emperor’s rod in the shape of a posse of punditry police, rather than as an expression of statecraft, ambitious greed, or vainglorious self-assertion. Then followed, in order of severity, castration, cutting off the feet or the knee-cap, branding, and flogging. The Emperor, or his vassals, or the executive officers of each in the ruler’s name, declared the law, i.e. they declared the punishment in each case of breach as it occurred. Thus, from the very beginning the legislative judicial, and executive functions were never separated in the Chinese system of thought. Mercantile Law, Family Law, Fishery Laws in a word, no more concerned the Government, so far as individual rights were concerned, than agricultural custom, banker’s custom, butcher’s weights, and such like petty matters. 178
Shortly, the civilization of ancient China was one of the better (materialistically) civilizations of ancient times, but still it lacked the intellectual, religious, and other vital resources which could have made it one of the superior and more sustainable civilization.
The greed of the rulers, their self-serving ambitions, and lust for power and other worldly pleasures led the ancient Chinese rulers astray since they were not guided by any revealed scripture. It made them more corrupt, un-just, and cruel. To satisfy their needs, they raised the taxation which caused more harm than good. Secondly, the attacks from other regions and territories made ancient China weaker and that is why in around 2000 years, around 7 different dynasties ruled over ancient China and none of them were able to sustain their dynasty and each dynasty met its end through invasions, betrayals, disloyalty and treachery of their own people who were not satisfied due to unjust supremacy of their leading class and lack of understanding of the purpose of life which was only known through divine teaching of Allah’s apostles and prophets.
- 1 T. Walter Wallbank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 89-96.1
- 2 Herbert A. Giles (1906), Religions of Ancient China, Constable and Company Ltd., London, U.K. (Online): https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2330/2330-h/2330-h.htm#link2HCH0001: Retrieved: 11-04-2019
- 3 T. Walter Wallbank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 89.
- 4 Encyclopedia Britannica (Online Version): https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zhou-dynasty Retrieved: 03-04-19
- 5 Ancient History Encyclopedia (Online): https://www.ancient.eu/china/ Retrieved: 03-04-19
- 6 T. Walter Wallbank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott Foresman Company, New York, USA, Pg. 86.
- 7 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Facts on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 249.
- 8 T. Walter Wall bank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 89-96.
- 9 Paul Monroe (1917), A Brief Course in the History of Education, The Macmillan Company, London, U.K., Pg. 12.
- 10 T. Walter Wall bank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 96.
- 11 Lü Daji & Gong Xuezeng (2014), Marxism and Religion. Religious Studies in Contemporary China (Translated by Chi Zhen), Leiden, Netherland, Pg. 71.
- 12 C. M. Stevans (1894), The World's Congress of Religions, Laird & Lee Publishers, Chicago, USA, Pg. 75.
- 13 Tudi Gong, in Chinese religion, was a god whose deification and functions were determined by local residents. The chief characteristic of a Tudi Gong was the limitation of his jurisdiction to a single place—e.g., a bridge, a street, a temple, a public building, a private home, or a field. In the case of private homes, the Tudi Gong was often identified with the god of riches (Cai Shen). In all cases, a Tudi Gong was subservient to the Cheng Huang, the City God or spiritual magistrate. (Encyclopedia Britannica (Online Version): https://www.britannica.com/top ic/Tudi-Gong: Retrieved: 31-03-2019)
- 14 Traditionally, Kuei-shen meant either simply spirits of ancestors or spiritual beings. In the latter case, it may mean either good or evil spirits or the positive and negative aspects of the soul, respectively. Later in Neo-Confucianism, it is understood to be purely as the spontaneous activity of yin and yang. (Wing-Tsit Chan (1963), A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy, Princeton University Press, New Jersey, USA, Pg. 266.)
- 15 Ancient History Encyclopedia (Online Version): https://www.ancient.eu/article/894/most-popular-gods-goddesses-of-ancient-china/ Retrieved: 22-03-2019.
- 16 T. Walter Wallbank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Scott, Civilization Past and Present, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 90.
- 17 Rodney Leon Taylor (2004), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Confucianism, the Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. New York, USA, Pg. 503-504.
- 18 Jean Holm & John Bowker (1998), Worship, Printer Publication, London, U.K., Pg. 169.
- 19 Ibid.
- 20 Manfred Lurker (2004), The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons, Routledge, London, U.K., Pg. 205.
- 21 Jean Holm & John Bowker (1998), Worship, Printer Publication, London, U.K., Pg. 170.
- 22 Trenton Campbell (2015), Gods & Goddesses of Ancient China, Britannica Educational Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 81-82.
- 23 Ancient History Encyclopedia (Online Version); https://www.ancient.eu/article/894/most-popular-gods--goddesses-of-ancient-china/ Retrieved 25-03-2019.
- 24 Trenton Campbell (2015), Gods & Goddesses of Ancient China, Britannica Educational Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 88.
- 25 Jean Holm & John Bowker (1998), Worship, Printer Publication, London, U.K., Pg. 164.
- 26 Neil D. Bramwell (2014), Discover Ancient China, Enslow Publisher Inc., New Jersey, USA, Pg. 46.
- 27 Arthur Cotterell (2005), Eyewitness Ancient China, DK Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 26.
- 28 Neil D. Bramwell (2014), Discover Ancient China, Enslow Publisher Inc., New Jersey, USA, Pg. 46-47.
- 29 Grant Hardy and Anne Behnke Kinney (2005), The Establishment of the Han Empire and Imperial China, Greenwood Press, Connecticut, USA, Pg. 7.
- 30 Grant Hardy and Anne Behnke Kinney (2005), The Establishment of the Han Empire and Imperial China, Greenwood Press, Connecticut, USA, Pg. 7.
- 31 Ibid, Pg. 5.
- 32 Robert S. Ellwood (1998), The Encyclopedia of World Religions, Facts on File Inc. New York, USA, Pg. 69.
- 33 Grant Hardy and Anne Behnke Kinney (2005), The Establishment of the Han Empire and Imperial China, Greenwood Press, Connecticut, USA, Pg. 5.
- 34 Herbert A. Giles (1906), Religions of Ancient China, Archibald Constable & Co., London, U.K., Pg. 34.
- 35 Arthur Cotterell (2005), Eyewitness Ancient China, DK Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 12.
- 36 Herbert A. Giles (1906), Religions of Ancient China, Archibald Constable & Co., London, U.K., Pg. 36.
- 37 Robert S. Ellwood (1998), The Encyclopedia of World Religions, Facts on File Inc. New York, USA, Pg. 81-82.
- 38 C. M. Stevens (1894), The World's Congress of Religions, Laird & Lee Publishers, Chicago, USA, Pg. 75-76.
- 39 Neil D. Bramwell (2014), Discover Ancient China, Enslow Publisher Inc., New Jersey, USA, Pg. 48-49.
- 40 Arthur Cotterell (2005), Eyewitness Ancient China, DK Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 12.
- 41 Lee Dian Rainey (2010), Confucius & Confucianism: The Essentials, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., West Sussex, U.K., Pg. 36.
- 42 The Rites of Zhou, initially known as ‘Officers of Zhou’ was really a work on administration and organizational theory. It was renamed by Liu Xin to separate it from a part in the Book of History by a similar name. To substitute a lost work, it was incorporated alongside the Book of Rites and the Etiquette and Ceremonial – getting to be one of three old ceremonial messages (the Three Rites) recorded among the works of classics of Confucianism.
- 43 Richard J. Smith (2013), Mapping China and Managing the World: Culture, Cartography and Cosmology in late Imperial Time, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, London & New York, U.K. & USA, Pg. 100.
- 44 Xinzhong Yao (2000), An Introduction to Confucianism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K., Pg. 191-192.
- 45 Encyclopedia of Britannica (Online): https://www.britannica.com/biography/Han-Feizi Retrieved: 18-04-2019
- 46 The Korean Herald (Online): http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170822000239: Retrieved: 18-04-2018.
- 47 Arthur Cotterell (2005), Eyewitness Ancient China, DK Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 46-47.
- 48 Neil D. Bramwell (2014), Discover Ancient China, Enslow Publisher Inc., New Jersey, USA, Pg. 52.
- 49 T. Walter Wallbank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 98.
- 50 Robert S. Ellwood (1998), The Encyclopedia of World Religions, Facts on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 337.
- 51 Ibid, Pg. 69.
- 52 Arthur Cotterell (2005), Eyewitness Ancient China, DK Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 46-51.
- 53 Robert S. Ellwood (1998), The Encyclopedia of World Religions, Facts on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 338.
- 54 Thomas E. Ennis (1948), Eastern Asia, J.B. Lippincott Company, New York, USA, Pg. 30-31.
- 56 T. Walter Wallbank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 101.
- 57 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Online): https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2010/ entries /mencius/ Retrieved: 29-04-2019
- 57 Charles O. Hucker (1978), China to 1850: A Short History, Stanford University Press, California, USA, Pg. 45.
- 58 Encyclopedia Britannica (Online): https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yang-Zhu Retrieved: 29-04-2019.
- 59 Liu Wu-Chi (1967), Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Macmillan Inc., London, U.K., Vol. 8, Pg. 358.
- 60 David Race (Dilley) Bannon (1996), Chinese Medicine: From Temples to Taoism, T’ai Chi, China, Vol. 20, No. 3, Pg. 28–33.
- 61 Kristopher Schipper (1993), The Taoist Body, University of California Press, California, USA, Pg. 28-29.
- 62 Brock Silvers (2005), The Taoist Manual, Sacred Mountain Press, Hawaii, USA, Pg. 129-132.
- 63 Mary Pat Fisher (1997), Living Religions: An Encyclopedia of the World's Faiths, I.B. Taurus, London & New York, U.K. & USA, Pg. 167.
- 64 Richard Rafe Champion de Crespigny (2007), A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220 A.D.), Brill, Leiden, Netherland.
- 65 Michael Martin (Editor, 2006), The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K., Pg. 228.
- 66 Herbert A. Giles (1906), Religions of Ancient China, Archibald Constable & Co., London, U.K., Pg. 51-53.
- 67 Ibid, Pg. 63.
- 68 Wu Hung (1988), From Temple to Tomb: Ancient Chinese Art and Religion in Transition, Society for the Study of Early China, New Hampshire, USA, Vol. 13, Pg. 79.
- 69 Thomas E. Ennis (1948), Eastern Asia, J.B. Lippincott Company, New York, USA, Pg. 23.
- 70 Arthur Evans Moule (1914), The Chinese People, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, U.K., Pg. 168-169.
- 71 Traditional Chinese Festival (Online): http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Festivals/78308.htm Retrieved: 03-05-2019.
- 72 The Story of Chinese New Year (Online): https://www.chinesenewyearfestival.org/culture/19-the-story-of-chinese-new-year- Retrieved: 03-05-2019.
- 73 Liming Wei (2011), Chinese Festivals, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K., Pg. 25-28.
- 74 Michael Dillon (2017), Encyclopedia of Chinese History, Routledge, London, U.K., Pg. 551.
- 75 Ju Brown & John Brown (2006), China, Japan, Korea: Culture and Customs, Book Surge, South Carolina, USA, Pg. 72.
- 76 Christian Roy (2005), Traditional Festivals: A Multicultural Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, California, USA, Pg. 116.
- 77 Yiqun Zhou (2010), Festivals, Feasts, and Gender Relations in Ancient China and Greece, Cambridge University Press, New York, USA, Pg. 104-106.
- 78 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 848.
- 79 Jean Holm & John Bowker (1998), Worship, Printer Publication, London, U.K., Pg. 165.
- 80 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File, New York, USA, Pg. 848.
- 81 Wang Wei, Lia Hua Yuan & Et Al (N.D), A Study of Ancient Rituals in China, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China, Pg. 8.
- 82 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File, New York, USA, Pg. 848.
- 83 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File, New York, USA, Pg. 317.
- 84 Ibid, Pg. 848.
- 85 Ibid, Pg. 317.
- 86 Thomas E. Ennis (1948), Eastern Asia, J. B. Lippincott Company, New York, USA, Pg. 24.
- 87 Walter Scheidel (2015), State Power in Ancient China and Rome, Oxford University Press, New York, USA, Pg. 151.
- 88 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 168.
- 89 Edward Harper Parker (1908), Ancient China Simplified, Champan and Hall Ltd., London, U.K., Pg. 197-198.
- 90 Neil D. Bramwell (2014), Discover Ancient China, Enslow Publisher Inc., New Jersey, USA, Pg. 57-58.
- 91 Thomas E. Ennis (1948), Eastern Asia, J. B. Lippincott Company, New York, USA, Pg. 20.
- 92 Edward Harper Parker (1908), Ancient China Simplified, Champan and Hall Ltd., London, U.K., Pg. 84-85.
- 93 Junius P. Rodriguez (1997), The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery, ABC-Clio, California, USA, Vol. 1, Pg. 145.
- 94 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 989.
- 95 G. Liu & S. Zhao (1994), Shilun lijiao zhong nüxing de diwei weti (Issues about women’s position in feudal ethnic codes), Jiangxi Social Science, 9, Pg. 63–65.
- 96 Sing Ging Su (1922), The Chinese Family System, International Press, New York, USA, Pg. 26-29.
- 97 Ancient History Encyclopedia (Online): https://www.ancient.eu/article/1136/women-in-ancient-china Retrieved: 23-04-2019
- 98 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 193.
- 99 Sing Ging Su (1922), The Chinese Family System, International Press, New York, USA, Pg. 31-32.
- 100 Ancient History Encyclopedia (Online): https://www.ancient.eu/article/1136/women-in-ancient-china Retrieved: 23-04-2019.
- 101 Arthur Waley (1919), A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems, A. A. Knopf, New York, USA, Pg. 94.
- 102 Will Durant (1942), The Story of Civilization, Simon and Schuster Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 790-791.
- 103 Sing Ging Su (1922), The Chinese Family System, International Press, New York, USA, Pg. 33.
- 104 Sing Ging Su (1922), The Chinese Family System, International Press, New York, USA, Pg. 34.
- 105 Will Durant (1942), The Story of Civilization, Simon and Schuster Inc. New York, USA, Pg. 791.
- 106 T. Walter Wallbank & Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 93.
- 107 Will Durant (1942), The Story of Civilization, Simon and Schuster Inc., New York, USA, Part 1, Pg. 792.
- 108 Will Durant (1942), The Story of Civilization, Simon and Schuster Inc., New York, USA, Part 1, Pg. 790.
- 109 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 497-498.
- 110 Walter Scheidel (2006), Sex and Empire: A Darwinian Perspective, Stanford University, Stanford, USA, Pg. 15-16.
- 111 Arthur Cotterell (2005), Eyewitness Ancient China, DK Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 34.
- 112 Neil D. Bramwell (2014), Discover Ancient China, Enslow Publisher Inc., New Jersey, USA, Pg. 61-64.
- 113 Arthur Cotterell (2005), Eyewitness Ancient China, DK Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 44.
- 114 T. Walter Wallbank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 93.
- 115 Neil D. Bramwell (2014), Discover Ancient China, Enslow Publisher, Inc., New Jersey, USA, Pg. 64.
- 116 LTL Mandarin School (Online): https://ltl-school.com/chinese-eat-dog/ Retrieved: 02-05-2019.
- 117 "China Protesters: Stop 'Cooking Cats Alive' – Fury After Newspaper Says 10, 000 Felines Are Eaten Daily in Single Province". MSNBC. Associated Press. 18 December 2008.
- 118 Facts and Details: http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat11/sub73/item146.html Retrieved: 03-05-2019.
- 119 Arthur Cotterell (2005), Eyewitness Ancient China, DK Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 50.
- 120 Yiqun Zhou (2010), Festivals, Feasts, and Gender Relations in Ancient China and Greece, Cambridge University Press, New York, USA, Pg. 187.
- 121 Ibid, Pg. 187.
- 122 Ancient History Encyclopedia (Online Version): https://www.ancient.eu/article/890/daily-life-in-ancient-china/ Retrieved: 03-04-2019
- 123 Orchis species are characterized by a pair of egg-shaped underground tubers. Each plant bears a single flower spike with many purple, pink, or white flowers, and most species have several narrow leaves at the base. The petals and sepals often form a helmet like structure, and the flower lip usually has several lobes. (Encyclopedia Britannica (Online Version): https://www.britannica.com/plant/Orchis: Retrieved: 04-01-2019)
- 124 Marcel Granet (1932), Festivals and Songs of Ancient China, Gorge Routledge & Sons Ltd. London, U.K., Pg. 147-157.
- 125 Marcel Granet (1932), Festivals and Songs of Ancient China, Gorge Routledge & Sons Ltd. London, U.K., Pg. 147-157.
- 126 Arthur Cotterell (2005), Eyewitness Ancient China, DK Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 50.
- 127 Thomas E. Ennis (1948), Eastern Asia, J.B. Lippincott Company, New York, USA, Pg. 17.
- 128 Edward Harper Parker (1908), Ancient China Simplified, Champan and Hall Ltd., London, U.K., Pg. 274-275.
- 129 Thomas E. Ennis (1948), Eastern Asia, J.B. Lippincott Company, New York, USA, Pg. 17.
- 130 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 277.
- 131 Neil D. Bramwell (2014), Discover Ancient China, Enslow Publisher Inc., New Jersey, USA, Pg. 59.
- 132 T. Walter Wallbank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 93-94.
- 133 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 156.
- 134 Neil D. Bramwell (2014), Discover Ancient China, Enslow Publisher Inc., New Jersey, USA, Pg. 59-60.
- 135 Arthur Cotterell (2005), Eyewitness Ancient China, DK Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 42.
- 136 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 65-66.
- 137 The Great Wall of China alludes to a progression of fortifications generally built across the historical northern borders of China to secure and unite domains of Chinese states and realms against different nomadic groups of the steppe and their countries. Several walls were being built from as early as the 7th century B.C. (The New York Times with introduction by Sam Tanenhaus (2011), The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind, Macmillan Publishers, New York, USA, Pg. 1131.) which were later combined and made greater by Qin Shi Huang (220– 206 B.C.), the foremost Emperor of China. Later on, numerous progressive lines have fixed, kept up, and recently manufactured various stretches of border walls. The most outstanding of the walls were built in the Ming dynasty (1368– 1644). (Patricia Buckley Ebrey (1999), The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Cambridge, U.K. Pg. 208.)
- 138 The Great Wall of China alludes to a progression of fortifications generally built across the historical northern borders of China to secure and unite domains of Chinese states and realms against different nomadic groups of the steppe and their countries. Several walls were being built from as early as the 7th century B.C. [The New York Times with introduction by Sam Tanenhaus (2011), The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind, Macmillan Publishers, New York, USA, Pg. 1131.) which were later combined and made greater by Qin Shi Huang (220– 206 B.C.), the foremost Emperor of China. Later on, numerous progressive lines have fixed, kept up, and recently manufactured various stretches of border walls. The most outstanding of the walls were built in the Ming dynasty (1368– 1644). (Patricia Buckley Ebrey (1999), The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Cambridge, U.K. Pg. 208.)
- 139 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 156.
- 140 T. Walter Wallbank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 96.
- 141 Yuri Pines (2012), The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA, Pg. 12-13.
- 142 It was an old Greek expression for the known, the inhabited, or the comfortable world. Under the Roman Empire, it came to allude to civilization just as the mainstream and religious supreme organization. In present utilization, it is regularly utilized with regards to ‘ecumenical’ and depicts the Christian Church as a unified whole, or the brought together current world civilization. It is additionally used in cartography to portray a sort of world guide utilized in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
- 143 Yuri Pines (2012), The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA, Pg. 14-17.
- 144 Encyclopedia Britannica (Online Version): https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chinese-civil-service Retrieved: 03-04-2019
- 145 Xu Yan (2009), Hong Kong Law Journal: No Taxation without Representation, China's Taxation History and its Political-Legal Development, Hong Kong Scholar’s Hub, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong, Pg. 518-520.
- 146 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File, New York, USA, Pg. 355.
- 147 Walter Scheidel (2015), State Power in Ancient China and Rome, Oxford University Press, New York, USA, Pg. 152.
- 148 Ibid, Pg. 153.
- 149 T. Walter Wallbank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 91.
- 150 Ibid, Pg. 90.
- 151 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 30.
- 152 T. Walter Wallbank and Alastair M. Taylor (1942), Civilization Past and Present, Scott, Foresman and Company, New York, USA, Pg. 92.
- 153 Thomas E. Ennis (1948), Eastern Asia, J.B. Lippincott Company, New York, USA, Pg. 15.
- 154 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 1100.
- 155 Neil D. Bramwell (2014), Discover Ancient China, Enslow Publisher, Inc., New Jersey, USA, Pg. 59.
- 156 Edward Harper Parker (1908), Ancient China Simplified, Champan and Hall Ltd., London, U.K., Pg. 83.
- 157 Thomas E. Ennis (1948), Eastern Asia, J.B. Lippincott Company, New York, USA, Pg. 13.
- 158 Ibid, Pg. 16.
- 159 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 758.
- 160 Thomas E. Ennis (1948), Eastern Asia, J.B. Lippincott Company, New York, USA, Pg. 16.
- 161 Peter Bogucki (2008), Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in Ancient World, Fact on File Inc., New York, USA, Pg. 758.
- 162 Edward Harper Parker (1908), Ancient China Simplified, Chapman and Hall Ltd., London, U.K., Pg. 89.
- 163 Thomas E. Ennis (1948), Eastern Asia, J. B. Lippincott Company, New York, USA, Pg. 36.
- 164 Neil D. Bramwell (2014), Discover Ancient China, Enslow Publisher Inc., New Jersey, USA, Pg. 65-68.
- 165 Arthur Cotterell (2005), Eyewitness Ancient China, DK Publishing, New York, USA, Pg. 14.
- 166 Edward Harper Parker (1908), Ancient China Simplified, Chapman and Hall Ltd., London, U.K., Pg. 28-31.
- 167 Michael C. Allers (2000), Classical Greek and Classical Chinese Warfare: A Comparative Analysis, Naval Post Graduate School, California, USA, Pg. 94-95.
- 168 Michael C. Allers (2000), Classical Greek and Classical Chinese Warfare: A Comparative Analysis, Naval Post Graduate School, California, USA, Pg. 97.
- 169 Ibid, Pg. 97-98.
- 170 Michael C. Allers (2000), Classical Greek and Classical Chinese Warfare: A Comparative Analysis, Naval Post Graduate School, California, USA, Pg. 100-101.
- 171 Chris Peers (2013), Battles of Ancient China, Pen & Sword Military, Yorkshire, U.K., Pg. 10-11.
- 172 Chris Peers (2013), Battles of Ancient China, Pen & Sword Military, Yorkshire, U.K., Pg. 25-26.
- 173 Chris Peers (2013), Battles of Ancient China, Pen & Sword Military, Yorkshire, U.K., Pg. 55-57.
- 174 Morgan Deane (2018), Decisive Battles in Chinese History, Westholme Publishing, Pennsylvania, USA, Pg. 27-29.
- 175 Chin Kim & Theodore R. Leblang (1975), The Death Penalty in Traditional China, University of Georgia School of Law Research, Virginia, USA, Vol. 5, Pg. 76.
- 176 Edward Harper Parker (1908), Ancient China Simplified, Chapman and Hall Ltd., London, U.K., Pg. 108-109.
- 177 Chin Kim & Theodore R. Leblang (1975), The Death Penalty in Traditional China, University of Georgia School of Law Research, Virginia, USA, Vol. 5, Pg. 79-81.
- 178 Edward Harper Parker (1908), Ancient China Simplified, Chapman and Hall Ltd., London, U.K., Pg. 108-109.