2. The civilization of ancient China existed between 750
B.C and 1279 AD. It was located in the place China is
now, part of Asia and next to the Pacific Ocean. People
all around the world are still studying the structure of
society ,food, housing and legacies of Ancient China.

3. Food
In ancient China, what a person ate depended on their
wealth. Poor people hardly ever ate meat. They only
ate chickens when they stopped laying eggs and drank
rice wine on special occasions. Rich people ate many
kinds of meat such as pork , chicken , lamb and goose.
On special occasions, they even ate things like snakes,
dogs, snails and even small birds. Everyone ate
different kinds of vegetables and fruits. In the south,
people ate rice and made their own rice wine. So you
can see that the diets of people in ancient China
depended on their level in society.

4. Structure of Society
In ancient China, people’s lives depended on their
wealth and role in society. The most wealthy was the
emperor. He was the most important person and
everyone obeyed him. Merchants were richer than
nobles and nobles borrowed money from merchants
like banks. Scholars were the people who wrote the
books and studied. Rich people educated their sons to
be in government. Poor people worked as farmers or
servants for rich people. There were different levels in
society it is clear that people led very different lives.

5. Structure of Society
In ancient China, people’s lives depended on their
wealth and role in society. The most wealthy was the
emperor. He was the most important person and
everyone obeyed him. Merchants were richer than
nobles and nobles borrowed money from merchants
like banks. Scholars were the people who wrote the
books and studied. Rich people educated their sons to
be in government. Poor people worked as farmers or
servants for rich people. There were different levels in
society it is clear that people led very different lives.

6. Housing
In Ancient China, housing also depended on your level in society
and wealth. Rich people lived in a large, peaceful houses with
many living rooms. Poor people lived in small huts made out of
mud and were normally crowded. Everyone, even rich people,
slept on cushions on their floor! In northern China people had
heaters (stoves that provided heat for cold winters). The outer
walls of house were made of brick. A rich person’s house
sometimes even had a small pond. A rich person’s house was
clearly a bigger than a poor person’s house and so they had
more comfortable lives.

7. Legacies
China is famous for giving the world four great inventions.
The inventions were printing paper, gunpowder, the
compass and sprinting. The ancient Chinese even invented
the wheelbarrow! Everyone knows about the great wall
because it is so famous and it is still an amazing piece of
ancient architecture. The Chinese also invented the first
earth quake detector. And did you know that toilet paper
was first invented in ancient China? There were lots
civilizations that used umbrellas but ancient China was one
of the first. Therefore, the inventions of ancient China are
very important because they are still used all around the
world today.

8. In summary, this report includes information about the
food, housing, structure of society housing and
legacies of ancient China. It is clear that ancient China
was an important civilization because there were so
many inventions that changed the world.

9. Reference List
Author Date Title
Jane Shuter 1998
Briam Williams 1996
Jane O’Connor 2002
Online resources
18.10.11 www.kidepedia.com
20.10.11 www.brainpop.com