Shahad Alsulaiti
March 6th 2011
Humanities
Ancient China
Ancient Chinese people had many different characteristics, three important ones
were: education, art and architecture, and religion. The people had very different
education in China and it was not that easy to go to school. Chinese people used art
in unique ways. Their houses were made in a clever way. Religion had many
different parts, and ancestors were strongly worshiped. Another part of religion
that was important was a book called “Art of War”. China had many traditions and
has a lot of interesting history.
The writing in Ancient China was different than the writing in other places. They
used logograms as letters; it was a different writing system. Logograms are symbols
that represent a meaning or word. Each of the logograms had strokes and lines
inside a square that was imaginary. Chinese basic writing has not been changed for
over thousand of years, but they had five hundred letters in the alphabet. Even
though Chinese letters were unique and interesting, it was not that easy to get
educated.
It was rare for women and men to get educated. The people never got a chance to
go to school; they usually had to work on the fields. They would plant rice or millet,
but if you were a boy and your father could lend you some money, then he could
send you to school. Schools were basically made for sons of nobility. It was rare to
find educated women; only scholars’ daughters were educated. The women that do
not get educated had to get married and went to live in their husband is house. The
bad news was that not everyone was educated, but the good side was that they lived
in great houses.
The houses in Ancient China were very unique. Most Chinese houses were built
from wood and had a timber frame to hold the roof up. The walls outside were
made from something light if not brick; the walls inside were sometimes painted
and plastered. Chinese people liked wood more than stone because they thought it
was unnatural. Their houses were built in a way that it looked like many roofs on
top of each other. Their houses also showed their wealth, for example: a rich person
is house would be bigger than a one-floored farmer is house. In addition to the
amazing architecture, they also had a unique way of doing art.
Chinese people used art in many different ways. They made nice vessels from clay,
painted fish, insects, birds, and portraits of people, also the made pictures on silk,
they did calligraphy (handwriting with a tipped brush and ink, it was an important
art), they made claypots, and they made the first porcelain in the world that became
knows as “China”. The neothelic culture used clay from “The Yellow River” for block
pottery. Later, they painted on paper, which was a Chinese invention. They were
popular for their landscape paintings that usually showed harmony between people
and nature. Since they had really nice and creative art, they also had beautiful music.
The people used music differently than Americans. They used a five-toned scale
instead of an eight-toned scale. They usually played high notes. They places where
they played music in were usually at court and city streets. Their most common
instruments were: drums, gongs, and pipes. Music was interesting in China, just as
interesting as religion was.
“Jade and Bronze” were important creatures. They were a very important part of
religion and were “prized” materials. Jade was a magical creature and preserved the
dead. Bronze made pots, bells, mirrors, and weapons. “Jade and Bronze” were
strongly worshiped creatures, but in China silk was admired.
Silk was a very important part of religion. The Chinese kept the production of silk a
secret for over hundreds of years, but then the Chinese silk became very popular
around the whole world. Even though silk was very important, the rich only wore it.
Also, another part of religion was a book called “Art of War”.
Art of War was a mediation that was really important to religion. The author who
wrote the book was named Tzu or Sunzi, but many people think that there was no
such thing as Sunzi. People were arguing on weather the book is like a teacher for
Military Strategy or Generations of Chinese theories, but everyone is sure that
whoever wrote the book was a wise person because it was a matter of life and death.
Since Art of War was a book of life and death people had to get their tombs ready for
after death.
It was important to take care of their tombs so that they can have a good after life.
Chinese people believed that life still carried on after they died, and that the things
they did in life, they will continue to do after they die. Their tombs were arranged
with what they would need after they die (weapons, ritiual vessels, food, wine).
They believed that there was an important “link” between dead and living. Even
when tombs were interesting, it was even more interesting how they used the
animals in the calendar.
Every animal in the calendar symbolized something. They used animals to
symbolize “The Twelve Early Branches”. The animals of “The Twelve Early
Branches” were: Rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster,
dog, and pig. The animal signs came from Folklore and legend. The calendar was
only one part of religion another big part was ancestors.
Ancestors were very worshiped before. One of the beliefs in Ancient China was
Ancestor Worship; they worshiped ancestors and spirits from home and
countryside. The dead ancestors lived in spirit world with the gods. They had the
ability to influence the gods to bring good or bad luck to the Chinese people. The
people on earth can make ceremonies to get them good luck. People worship
ancestors in all Chinese religions.
Chinese people had many different religions. Their religions were: Confucius,
Taoism, Yin and Yang, and Buddhism. They basically had two beliefs: Ancestor
Worship and The Animism. The ancestor worship is part of Chinese culture until
now. Animism was a belief where they believed in invisible spirits. All Chinese
people prayed to spirits for guidance, and they all believed that emperor was a god.
Also, they were rulers called “Xia Rulers”, they were farmers and also made pottery,
they were the ones who guided people’s religious beliefs. The first dynasty that
ruled China was “The Shang”, who believed that their kings talked to ancestors. All
the religions were very important to history.
Ancient China was a very religious, artistic, and educated place. In ancient china, it
was very important to prepare their tombs the right way so that they could live a
good after life. The people also used art in creative ways like, they made claypots,
painted fish and insects, and they also made vessels from clay. They write
differently than other places, they have five hundred letters in the alphabet and used
logograms. Ancient china had a lot of history and was different than other
civilizations.