Morgan's+completed+work

Most children in ancient China didn’t go to school. They had to work in the fields to provide for their families. If you were a boy and your father could afford it, you were sent to school. If there were no schools near your home, you would have to live with relatives, or stay with strangers in another city. Children usually started school when they were six years old. Schools were small with only one teacher for the whole school. Math, science, and other subjects were rarely taught. Reading and writing was the most important. Boys had to work especially hard in school because when they were 16 or 17 years old they took a government test. If they scored one of the highest marks, then they were accepted to go and work for the government. A person's job depended on what class they were. It was easy to tell who was rich and who was poor. The rich had an easy life because most were high ranked officials. The poor had to work very hard. Some were farmers, but most were working as slaves for rich landowners. Farmers kept little of their crops. Their work had to feed most of society. Sometimes families would sell their daughters as servants because they had debt that they could not pay. Have you looked at or seen in person the Great Wall of China and asked yourself, ‘why was this wall built?’ Well the answer is simple: War. The Great Wall of China was built in 221 BC as a defense because they were surrounded by potential enemies. It was nomads that caused the most problems. These nomads were to the west and north of China. Because China has such vast territories, great armies were needed to defend it. The armies were made up of peasants in their twenties through fifties. The first armies were armed with bows, spears, and stone maces. The Chinese were the first in the far east to use chariots and copper weapons. However, the ancient Chinese armies were poorly equipped and couldn’t handle long military operations. Iron became widespread and replaced bronze in a lot of the weapons. During the Qin dynasty, which only lasted for around fifteen years, the first professional army was created, replacing peasants with real soldiers and generals. Sun Tzu, a Chinese general, wrote ‘The Art of War’ in 500 BC. Some of these tactics are still in use today. Though the Xia Dynasty is said to be mythical, its date is placed from 2070 - 1600 BC. Archaeologists have uncovered sites and tombs that support the existence of the Xia. The Golden Age of China is considered the time of the Tang and Song Dynasties. Paper money began being used during the Song Dynasty. Also, tea was introduced, and gunpowder, the compass, and printing were invented. The Song Dynasty lasted from 960 - 1279. The Mongols invaded China in 1279 and overthrew the Song Dynasty, forming the Yuan Dynasty. It lasted for less than a hundred years. In conclusion, China is obviously a country that is full of interesting traditions and history. It is obvious why we chose this civilization, and we are certainly glad we did. We all learned a lot about China's history and culture.