Why were artisans and merchants considered to be lower in social rank than peasants in Shang society?

Why were artisans and merchants considered to be lower in social rank than peasants in Shang society?

Artisans, merchants and workers Despite the workers’ lower status, they often earned more than peasants. Artisans and workers often worked directly for the state or gentry. Merchants were ranked lower because they were seen as unproductive leeches by the Confucians.

What did merchants and artisans do in ancient China?

The artisans of the Han empire included painters, jewelers, weavers, potters, carpenters, and metal workers. Many worked in government-owned factories and workshops under strict supervision. Others worked in private workshops that produced goods for the wealthy.

Why were the artisans bronze workers among some of the most respected from that social class?

Bronze workers were especially valued. They made the weapons used by Shang warriors. They also made and decorated containers for the king and nobles to use in religious ceremonies or simply as symbols of their wealth.

How were peasants treated in the Shang Dynasty?

Archaeological findings have shown that masses of peasants were buried with aristocrats, leading some scholars to believe that they were the equivalent of slaves. However, other scholars have countered that they may have been similar to serfs. Peasants were governed directly by local aristocrats.

Why did merchants have such a low status in the Chinese social system?

Why did merchants have such a low status in the Chinese social system? Merchants had such a low status because their riches came from the labor of others. However, most Chinese welcomed the Ming dynasty, which ended foreign rule and restored Chinese traditions.

Why were merchants important in ancient China?

In Ancient pre-Imperial China, merchants were highly regarded as necessary for the circulation of essential goods.

Which group of artisans were especially valued in Shang society?

Bronze workers were especially valued. They made the weapons used by Shang warriors. They also made and decorated containers for the king and nobles to use in religious cere- monies or simply as symbols of their wealth. ; Traders Like craftspeople, traders ranked below nobles but above farmers in Shang society.

What was the lowest level of Shang society?

The poorest class in Shang society were the peasants, who were mostly farmers. Some scholars believe they functioned as slaves; others believe they were more like serfs.

What did artisans do in the Shang Dynasty?

Shang Dynasty artisans created sophisticated bronze works, ceramics and trinkets made from jade. Unlike their Bronze Age counterparts, artisans during the Shang Dynasty used piece-mold casting as opposed to the lost-wax method.

Why were merchants looked down upon in China?

Near the bottom of the ladder was the merchant class. Many people in this class were rich, such as traders and shopkeepers. But they were looked down upon. That’s because they made money by trading goods that others had made.

Why were merchants at the bottom of Chinese society?

In Imperial China, the merchants, traders, and peddlers of goods were viewed by the scholarly elite as essential members of society, yet were esteemed least of the four occupations in society, due to the view that they were a threat to social harmony from acquiring disproportionally large incomes, market manipulation …

What did artisans do in the Shang dynasty?

Why are farmers superior to artisans and merchants?

According to Confucian ideals, farmers were superior to artisans and merchants because they produced the food that all the other classes depended upon. Although technically they were considered an honored class, the farmers lived under a crushing tax burden for much of the feudal era.

Why was the merchant the lowest class in Japan?

Unlike European feudal society, in which the peasants (or serfs) were at the bottom, the Japanese feudal class structure placed merchants on the lowest rung. Confucian ideals emphasized the importance of productive members of society, so farmers and fishermen had higher status than shop-keepers in Japan.

What was the artisan class like in feudal Japan?

The artisan class lived in its own section of the major cities, segregated from the samurai (who usually lived in the daimyos’ castles), and from the lower merchant class. The bottom rung of feudal Japanese society was occupied by merchants, both traveling traders and shop-keepers.

What was the social hierarchy in ancient China?

The social classes of Ancient China Hierarchy can beclassified into four major categories. These were shi, nong, gong and shang. The shi were also called as scholars, nong as farmers, gong as artisans and shang as merchants.