There were many different jobs in china but the popular and most common was farming. Many people in ancient chine were peasant farmers that lived in a village of around 100 families.Some
evidence show that Chinese people started farms around the yellow river around
3500 BC.
Although they were peasants they were respected for the food they produced to the community.
For one month each year farmers had to work for the government and pay tax by giving them some of their crops.
Silk making
We are told that the wife of the Yellow Emperor was sitting under a tree having a cup of tea when a cocoon fell into her tea and unraveled, which was silk. Working making silk was another job in ancient china that was mostly a job for women. The Chinese people valued the silk they made from silk worms. With the silk they made they used it to make quilts and was used for embroidery. Wearing silk was a very important status symbol.
Women stretching and making silk
Merchants
Merchants were people that traded items, bred animals and lent money to people. They were usually very wealthy but were not respected as they did nothing for the community, they were also considered the lowest class in ancient china. Some merchants were so wealthy they had restriction placed on them.
Craftsman
Craftsman was another job available in ancient china, artists sculptured many items such as pottery and daily utensils. Sculptors made these out of clay and jade, a hard green stone consisting of the minerals jadeite or nephrite.
A detailed vase made in ancient China
Questions How was silk invented? What materials did sculptors use?