1

Keynote Day 3: Ancient Chinese Social Structure

Name: ______________________ Date: ___________ Period: _____

Social Classes
• In traditional Chinese society, all people were _______ equal
• According to Confucian ideas, a person’s age, sex, education, and
occupation all affected his or her place in society

Gentry
• Wealthy landowners educated in __________________
• Leisure class, looked down on those who did __________________
• Mostly scholars who became government officials collected taxes, kept the
peace, and advised the emperor

• Grow out _______________ to show they did not have to work

• Admired Confucian virtues of respect, obedience, and service to the state
• Had the time and wealth to support art and would paint or compose poems
• Carried out rituals to ___________________

Working Class
Comprised of:
• Peasants who made up the vast ___________ of people
• Small land owners
• ______________ who had to pay part of each harvest to the land owner
• Landless laborers
 2

• Artisans who sold tools, furniture, and cloth

• Few became rich

Peasant Life
• Lived in villages surrounded by ______________
• Village headman and heads of families kept order and resolved disputes
• Most peasants paid taxes and tried to avoid contact
with______________________, fearing its harsh system of justice and
punishment

• Endured hardships but had some leisure

• Celebrated New Year
• Events such as___________________________, and religious activities also
enlivened the country life

Lower Classes
Comprised of:
1. _____________
2. _____________
3. _____________
4. _____________

• Confucian philosophy had a profound influence on Chinese culture and

society
• It emphasized scholarly pursuits and moral cultivation over physical strength
(physical labor) and military prowess (Gentry attitude)
 3

Family Life
• _____________ stressed the importance of family, respect for elders, duty,
and harmony
• These values resonated with Chinese _________________
• Only through __________________could a Chinese family produce what it
needed to survive

• Younger family members had to __________ their elders and women had to
obey men
• While women were viewed as __________ by society, they still received
loyalty and respect from their children

Filial Piety
• From birth, children learned to put the ___________ interests before their
own wishes
• Parents expected complete ___________________
• “The bamboo stick makes a good child”
• Folktale of Koh Ku: “We may yet have another child, but never another
mother.”

Respect for Ancestors

• Part of Filial Piety
• In memorial services, the Chinese paid respect to ______________
• Believed that the extended family included the living, the dead, and all
future generations
• Ancestors lived in another world and depended on their descendants to
provide them with ______________________
 4

• Failing to provide for ancestors made them became ________ and their
decedents would suffer
• Families ritually offered food and clothing to their ancestors, only _______
could carry on these rituals

Marriage
• Parents ___________ marriages for their children
• Gentry used marriage to strengthen their ____________________
• Families consulted their ___________ for approval of their choice

• A boy’s family would examine the resources of a potential bride’s family

• A man looked for a woman who could work hard and bear him many
________________
• Bridegroom would pay a __________ (payment in property or money) to the
bride’s family

Role of Women
• The Chinese believed that women were inferior to men
• Girls were valued for their _________________________ they would bear
• The birth of a ___________ was not celebrated. If she gave birth to a son,
she gained respect

• Young bride must obey her husband and was under the guidance of her
_______________ who taught her the ways of the new home
• Because of _______________ neither a son nor his wife could criticize his
mother’s behavior
• A woman eventually became the ____________ of her own household
 5

Foot binding
• A practice the Chinese adopted in 950 A.D.
• Involved __________ a young girl’s feet and then binding them to keep
them small
• Foot binding caused ______________

• Feet altered by foot binding were known as _______________ and the shoes
made for these feet were called “lotus shoes”
• Chinese society viewed women with bound feet as _______________
• Families feared that they would not be able to find a ______________ for a
daughter who had large feet

Quick Write: What are some ways in the United States that people try to change
their bodies to meet beauty standards and make themselves beautiful?