Life in 16th Century China and Japan

European explores who came to China and Japan in the 16th century found the lifestyles there to be incomprehensible to them. Attitudes and behaviors were different from anything they had experienced before.

Social Structure and Family

The structure of 16th century Chinese and Japanese society was hierarchical, with power concentrated at the top and flowing downward.

The teachings of Confucius, who lived from 551 to 479 BC (BCE), directed life in China.

By the 15th century, followers of Confucius had formalized his teachings in writing.

Confucian thought focused on ancestor worship and honoring parents.

The emperor of China was the Son of Heaven and the father of the people of China.

The ideal Chinese family consisted of a husband and wife, their sons and their sons' families - all living in a single home.

Fathers had absolute power. A father could beat his son, but striking one's father was punishable by death.

In China, marriages were arranged by parents. A girl would leave her own family for her husband's and begin to worship her husband's ancestors.

A Chinese woman spent her life being subordinate to a man - first to her father, then to her husband, and finally, after her husband died, to her eldest son.

Homes

Homes in Japan and China were tidy and clean.

Each room or area had a separate function. Some were for eating, some for sleeping and some for maintaining family shrines.

Folding screens were used to partition single rooms or halls in Japan. The screens had pictures on them and opened and shut like fans.

Rice

In many areas of Japan and China, rice made up nine tenths of the diet of nine tenths of the population.

Only rice could support the large, highly concentrated populations of Asia.

Rice was difficult to cultivate. Paddy fields provided two or three crops a year.

In southern China, sowing might begin in January. The crop was harvested in June. The process was then repeated for a second crop, to be harvested in November. Immediately afterward, preparations made for more rice to be planted in January. Another crop, such as wheat, might be grown between the two rice crops.

Tea

Tea drinking ceremonies were important parts of Japanese and Chinese culture. Learning to drink tea properly required a teacher. Furnishing, cutlery, the confections that were served with the tea and the manners that were displayed by the participants were all important parts of the ceremony.