Ancient Chinese men were often soldiers and labourers. They weresuperior to women and were to look after their household. Men couldbe scholars, merchants, slaves or government officials.The men werein charge of farming.

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There were four different occupation classes in China.

The highest group was made up of scholars, called “shi”. They werethe people like nobles and philosophers.

Most of the population worked as farmers (nong), growing food andtaking care of livestock. They were the poorest of all the groups,but (after the class of the scholars) were the most respectedbecause their work was what kept China fed.

Then there were the craftsmen and artists (gong). Craftsmen jobsincluded metalworkers, carpenters, musicians, potters, leatherworkers, and many others. Most of the craftsmen weren’t rich, butwere more well off than the farmers, though less respected.

And last there were the merchants (shang). They basically were thepeople who bought things from different provinces and sold them inplaces with more demand for more money. It was a job based oncleverness as opposed to skill, and this is why I’m guessing thatthe shang class was least respected. They usually got very rich,especially when the silk routes started to form.

And there are a few more jobs that come to mind just from commonsense: there were probably doctors and scribes, although I do notknow whether they would be considered as scholars or craftsmen. Notto mention there were probably messengers (couriers) andlacquer-workers — both probably craftsmen. On top of all that, allmen of a certain age were required to join the army as a soldierfor two years.

Hope this was helpful.

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