The art of gentleman scholars tended to idealize retreat into the beauties of nature and contemplation, an idea parallel to the travel literature of Su Shi and Yuan Hongdao; painting by Song Dynasty artist Ma Yuan, c. Travel literature is Travel writing considered to have value as Literature. Su Shi ( 1037–1101 was a writer, poet, Artist, calligrapher, Pharmacologist, and Statesman of the Song Dynasty Yuan Hongdao ( 1568–1610 was Chinese poet of the Ming Dynasty, and one of the Three Yuan Brothers. The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 1200–1230.

In imperial China, gentry were the class of landowners who were retired mandarins or their descendants. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Gentry generally refers to people of high Social class, especially in the past A Mandarin was a Bureaucrat in Imperial China, and also in the monarchist days of Vietnam where the system of Imperial examinations and Their power and influence eclipsed that of the Chinese nobility during the Tang dynasty when the civil service exam replaced the nine-rank system which favored nobles. Wang (King and Huangdi (Emperor The King or Wang (Chinese 王 or 國王 wáng was the title of the Chinese Head of state until the Qin dynasty The Tang Dynasty ( Middle Chinese: dhɑng (June 18 618&ndashJune 4 907 was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by The Imperial examinations ( in Imperial China determined who among the population would be permitted to enter the state's Bureaucracy. The Nine rank system ( Pinyin: jiǔ pǐn zhōng zhèng zhī or jiǔ pǐn guǎn rén fǎ or much less commonly Nine grade controller system, was a Civil service

Under the Confucian class system the scholar-official was at the top with farmers, artisans, and merchants in descending order. Confucianism ( is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the fifth century B Scholar-bureaucrats or scholar-officials were civil servants appointed by the Emperor of China to perform day-to-day governance from the Sui Dynasty to Since the next highest class was agricultural, scholar-officials retired to landed estates. Scholar-bureaucrats or scholar-officials were civil servants appointed by the Emperor of China to perform day-to-day governance from the Sui Dynasty to They did not work the land themselves but hired peasants as tenant farmers. A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground A tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a Landlord. The sons of these mandarins aspired to pass the imperial exams and continue the family legacy. The Imperial examinations ( in Imperial China determined who among the population would be permitted to enter the state's Bureaucracy. Members of the gentry were expected to be an example to their community as Confucian gentlemen. The term gentleman (from Latin gentilis, belonging to a race or "gens" and "man" Cognate with the French word gentilhomme

By late imperial China, sons of merchants used their money to buy an education and enter the civil service. For the Academic journal see Late Imperial China (journal. Late Imperial China refers to the period between the end of See also Bureaucrat The term civil service has two distinct meanings Branch of governmental service in which individuals are hired on the basis Also, financially desperate gentry married into merchant families which led to a breakdown of the old class structure. With the abolition of the exam system and the overthrow of the Qing dynasty came the end of the mandarins. Not to be confused with Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty of Imperial China

19th century Ancestors gallery

Now known simply as landlords, they were criticized for demanding and collecting high rent from their tenants during the republican period. This article discusses history of the state which currently governs Taiwan Area. Many organized violent gangs to enforce their rule. They were frequent targets of the communists who were able to rally much of the peasant population through their promises of agrarian reform and land redistribution. After the People's Republic of China was established, many landlords were executed by class struggle trials and the class as a whole was abolished. Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES Class struggle is the active expression of Class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective Former members were stigmatized and faced persecution which reached its heights during the Cultural Revolution. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China was a struggle for power within the Communist Party of China that manifested into This persecution ended with the advent of Chinese economic reform under Deng Xiaoping. The Chinese economic reform ( refers to the program of economic reforms called " Socialism with Chinese characteristics " in the People's Republic of Deng Xiaoping ( 22 August 1904 19 February 1997) was a prominent Chinese Revolutionary, Politician, Pragmatist and Reformer

Excerpts from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica:

• The only class which at all resembles the territorial magnates of other countries is the class of retired officials. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The wealth of an official is not infrequently invested in land, and consequently there are in most provinces several families with a country seat and the usual insignia of local rank and influence. On the decease of the heads or founders of such families it is considered dignified for the sons to live together, sharing the rents and profits in common. This is sometimes continued for several generations, until the country seat becomes an agglomeration of households and the family a sort of clan. A family of this kind, with literary traditions, and with the means to educate the young men, is constantly sending its scions into the public service. These in turn bring their earnings to swell the common funds, while the rank and dignity which they may earn add to the importance and standing of the group as a whole. The members of this class are usually termed the literati or gentry.

• The peasant class forms the bulk of the population. The majority of Chinese are small landowners; their standard of living is very low in comparison with European standards. This is in part due to the system of land tenure. A parent cannot, even if he wished to do so, leave all his land to one son. There must be substantially an equal division, the will of the father notwithstanding. As early marriages and large families are the rule, this process of continual division and subdivision has brought things down to the irreducible minimum in many places. Small patches of onetenth or even one-twentieth of an acre are to be found as the estate of an individual landowner, and the vast majority of holdings run between one and three acres. With three acres a family is deemed very comfortable, and the possession of ten acres means luxury.

References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone

See also

• Chinese nobility