Advertising in Ancient China
Ads are almost everywhere in our lives—on smartphone apps，TVs，and big screens in shopping malls.But before there was mass media（大众媒体） did the ancient Chinese make ads for their goods？
The purpose of advertising，after all，is to attract people's attention and improve the（develop） of business.This was also true in ancient times.More than 2，000 years ago，Qu Yuan wrote the poem Heavenly Questions.A man who sold meat in a market（record） in it."He knocked his knife on the table to make a sound. "This was one of the easiest（method） to draw people's attention.
Another simple way to advertise was to shout about the quality of the goods.In the Song Dynasty，sellers used clever rhymes（押韵） to market the goods of own.They even wrote lyrics to make it an art form.
In addition，some sellers considered（ask） famous people for help.Strategies of the Warring States（《战国策》） mentions the story of a horse seller.At first，he brought horses that belonged to him to the market and shouted to the crowd about the good quality of his horses. he shouted loudly，nobody was interested.He tried many ways，but nothing worked.He became（hope）.Later，the man came up with a good idea.He went to Bo Le，a famous local horse expert，"Could you visit my stall（摊位） and look at my horses？I'll pay you it. "Bo Le agreed.He showed up at the seller's stall and expressed his "interest" in the horses.Other people in the market （sudden） gathered around.Soon，every horse in the stall had a buyer.How effective this way of advertising was!
