What was life like in China 3,500 years ago? Was it very different to life now? What did people do? How did they live? Let's find out!
◎The KingsFrom 1700 until 1100 BC, the area of China around the Yellow River was ruled by a family of kings called the Shang. They were rich and very powerful. The king and his family lived in large palaces, decorated with beautiful objects. They had many servants who made them food and did all the work in the palace. When a king passed away, they buried him in an underground tomb and filled it with expensive objects—jewellery (珠宝), works of art and weapons.
◎The PeopleThe richest people of ancient China were priests (僧侣) and warriors. They lived in cities with very high walls. The houses were large and made of wood or brick. They wore beautiful clothes.
Other people lived outside the walls, in houses made of mud. They were businessmen and craftsmen, so they worked for their living.
Most of the people during this time were farmers. They lived in villages in the countryside. They worked in the fields with tools made of stone, grew rice, and kept animals. The best place for farming was by the Yellow River. Here the warm, wet conditions were perfect for growing rice. Farmers lived in small houses made of mud or bamboo. Inside, there wasn't any furniture, and they slept on the mud floor. They were very poor and lived a very hard life.
◎▲
During the time of Shang, there were some interesting inventions. The Chinese discovered how to make bronze, by mixing other metals together. Bronze is an important metal because it is strong and lasts for a very long time.
But perhaps the most important development was writing. Once a civilization can write, people can pass on information about themselves, their lives and what they believe. Although the Chinese started writing at this time, they didn't have paper yet, so people wrote on animal bones, on stones, on bamboo, and even on turtle shells!
So far, life for people in ancient China was quite different from our lives today.
