The Merchants Comes Last On The Social-Hierarchy: An Analysis

Firstly, the reason why I believe the “merchants” came last on the social-hierarchy is because they were a greedy group of people and were always concerned about themselves, rather than the rest of the society. However, they still bought land for the farmers, so that food could be produced for the community. The merchants weren’t as significant because they were not the ones who actually produced the food, but were the ones that made a slight contribution to food being produced for the community. In addition, I believe the artisans and craftsmen (gong) came next because they had the artistic ability to create the people’s weapons, buildings, jewellery, etc. The weapons would have been useful, as in Ancient times, the people would have been constantly battling to own a particular piece of land, or just simply because they didn’t have a great relationship the other culture attacking. The artisans and craftsmen creating these weapons would have ensured that the Chinese were properly prepared for battle, so that the land that the Chinese owned was protected, allowing them to maintain a high wealth status. Despite all of these positives, the artisans and craftsmen were still positioned behind the …show more content…
The reason why it might have been more fair to have the farmers above the scholars is because the farmers would have been out constantly looking for new land to possess, which would have taken a lot of time. In comparison to the scholars, they wouldn’t have done as much work; they probably would have spent most of their time in palaces and other facilities, making big decisions that influence society. The point that is commonly overlooked is that the farmers are actually providing people with food, allowing them to survive; whereas the scholars aren’t making decisions that could potentially lead to someone’s