1. Society in Ancient China

Emporer

HIs word was law

nobles

Slaves

slaves were not permitted to marry

He owned all the land

Only his closest oficials could talk to him

He was always in fear of being overthrown

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wealthy

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The right to rule was believed to come from heaven

came from a emperors family

it was against the law to murder a slave

if a slave had a baby the baby was born into slavers

privileged

land was given to them by the emperor

some children were sold into the slave industry so the family could have more money.

Heaven approved the rule of the emporer and could take away their rule at any time

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the emperor could have 100's and 1000's of slaves

slaves could wheel a lot of power

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the slaves that worked for wealthy families had better lifestyles

Emporers could come from any social group

They lived a luxury lifestyle

They had many wives: first to have a son became the empress

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Peasants

they have no rights

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They would sell their children to pay off their families debt

All peasants were required to do a months service to helping build the great wall of China

they have to do 1 year military training

Even if they make enough money they will never be-able to get out of their social status because of the expensive taxes

They would never be able to get out of their social status because of how expensive taxes were

The emperor forced peasants to pay him a large tax