Ancient China

Ancient China

According to the archaeological evidence, complex societies emerged at several places across the globe separated by distance and time. It was proceeded by adoption of agriculture, which developed independently in at least six separate areas: China, Egypt, Mexico, etc. In the Near East, we can see first cultivated crops, animal domestication, permanent villages and settlements. First proto cities emerged 7000 BC and were abandoned in the face of environmental decay. The development of irrigation in Mesopotamia was a huge technological breakdown and led to the appearance of the first true cities with a urban environment, social hierarchy and specialized labor. But the origins of human societies lay at the height of the last ice age. During that period temperatures on land were lower than 20 degrees Celsius. The easing of the glacial conditions 18.000 BC saw temperatures and sea levels slowly rise. Human societies came directly as a result of these environmental changes: they forced hunter-gatherers in the Near East to intervene more actively with their environment in order to acquire food. This led to the adoption of farming.

The ancient Chinese lived primarily as farmers and paid taxes to the government with their harvests. They lived in small villages. Rice had already become the main grain crop in most of China. They also ate the meat of domestic animals. Large cities, in which thousands of people lived, were surrounded by high walls made of compressed mud. Those who lived there worked as merchants, craftsmen, officials and scholars. The father was the head of the family was father and all other family members had to obey him (partially this tradition has been preserved to this day). Women were of less value than men, so newborn girls were sometimes left outside to die (the attitude is still almost the same, but now they are killed in the womb by abortion). There was huge respect for elders. The Chinese prayed to their ancestors and made sacrifices to them. Only boys attended the school. They studied calligraphy, poetry and the philosophy of Confucius.