Ancient Chinese work had mainly four parts. The four of these occupations were basically based on the social class structure. These were developed by legalist scholars (of the Zhou Dynasty). The base of the structure consisted of traders as well as merchants who were called Shang. The one above them were the craftsmen and also the artisans who were called the gong. The class of peasant along with farmers were also called the nong.
The entry scholar was at the apex of ancient Chinese work and they were called shi. Because of commercialization of the ancient Chinese society which took place during the Ming and Song period, the categories were really real, they were just an idealization.
Ancient Chinese Work
The shi class comprised of the educated people. The cultivators and irrigators of soil comprised the long class. The talented people were classified as the gong. Finally, we have the Shang class which comprised of the traders transporting articles. But then as time passed the definition of the classes changed as well, especially the shi class. This class also included the warrior caste along with bureaucratic scholarly elite and the aristocratic scholarly elite.
The Shi class was privileged as they rode in chariots and commanded battle and also performed civil functions. But then the nong class produced the food which helped in sustaining the entire society. This was the class which was extremely important for the society and they carried out the ancient Chinese work which the country could not function without. Because of this, they had been placed right next to the Shi class. The labor class of the Chinese society was the craftsmen and the artisans.
Since the farmers didn’t own their own lands they couldn’t provide the government with much of revenue. Even people did not own their own lands and hence could not be taxed these people included the government employees or people who worked in private. The members of the Shang class were the ones at the end of the society but then the shi class had viewed them as a very important part of the society. These people helped in the purchase as well as the sale of good and commodities.
Hence ancient Chinese works had been divided into these four main classes. Although the people did not stick to the tier in the society it will still an ideal way of dividing the society into people and their classes.