China Chapter 15-3

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Chapter 15-3
China
By Bill N.
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Social Classes

• All people were not considered equal
• Women were considered inferior to men
• Young had to respect their elders

• The highest class was the Gentry
• Wealthy landowners
• Allowed fingernails to grow very long to show
  they didnt have to work
• Next was the Peasants
• Class most people belonged to
• Some were relativley rich
• Others were tenant farmers

Chinese Gentry
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Social Classes

• Lower than Peasants were artisans and merchants
• You could move up in class
• If you passed examinations you might become a
  govt official and therefore rise in society

Chinese Peasants
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Family Life

• From an early age children learned their needs
  came after the familys
• The idea of Filial Piety was used. This meant the
  eldest family members needs were met before the
  youngest

• Values such as respect for elders, duty and
  harmony were of great importance
• The most desired type of family, was a Joint
  Family
• A Joint Family contained many generations with
  the oldest male having the most authority

Family Elder
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Family Life

• Marriages were always arranged
• The Gentry used marriages to strengthen their
  positions in society
• Peasants looked for wives who could work in the
  fields and bear them many children

• Families consulted ancestors for approval before
  marriages
• Final details were worked out with a go-between

Traditional Chinese Wedding
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Role of Women

• Womens role in the Chinese society was to bear
  children and work
• No family celebrated the birth of a daughter
• When a woman married she then became part of her
  husbands family

Chinese Wife
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Role of Women

• Chinese also adopted the practice of binding
  womens feet to make sure her feet did not grow
• This practice was very painful, but parents
  thought they wouldnt find a husband for a girl
  with big feet

• The young bride had to obey her husbands mother
• It was under her mother-in-law that she learned
  the ways of the household
• Some mother-in-laws could be very cruel

Lady who had bound feet