24 Hours in Ancient China: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There (24 Hours in Ancient History Book 4)

Travel back to AD 17, during the fourth year of the reign of Wang Mang of the Han dynasty, a vibrant and innovative era full of conflicts and contradictions. But as different as the Han culture might have been to other great ancient civilizations, the inhabitants of ancient China faced the same problems as people have for time immemorial: earning enough money, coping with workplace dramas and keeping your home in order . . . although the equivalent in this era was more about bribing inspectors, avoiding bullying from abusive watchmen and trying to keep your house from being looted by Huns. In each chapter we meet one of 24 citizens of this ancient culture, from the midwife to the soldier, the priest to the performer and the blacksmith to the tomb looter, and see what an average day in ancient China was really like. Spend 24 hours with the ancient Chinese. The year is AD 17. The Han dynasty is in power and we are in and around Chang'an, the capital and one of the most developed regions of the empire , which is enjoying a prolonged economic and cultural pinnacle. There are extraordinary palaces , military bases and city walls. Households are benefitting from the invention of numerous agricultural technologies and an unprecedented level of craft production , which includes ceramics, bronzes, iron objects and many other elaborate goods. This is an age that is both vibrant and innovative but also riven with conflict and contradictions. For as successful as the empire is, the reality is that life for the ordinary inhabitants is still about the same problems: earning money, work struggles and family dramas. Discover what one day in ancient China is like by spending twenty-four hours with the people who lived there. Every hour we meet a different person - from dancers to doctors , priests to convicts , textile workers to tomb looters - and build a multi-layered picture of the social fabric of ancient China and this fascinating period in history . Spend 24 hours with the ancient Chinese. Travel back to AD 17, during the fourth year of the reign of Wang Mang of the Han dynasty, a vibrant and innovative era full of conflicts and contradictions. But as different as the Han culture might have been to other great ancient civilizations, the inhabitants of ancient China faced the same problems as people have for time immemorial: earning enough money, coping with workplace dramas and keeping your home in order... although the equivalent in this era was more about bribing inspectors, avoiding bullying from abusive watchmen and trying to keep your house from being looted by Huns. In each chapter we meet one of 24 citizens of this ancient culture, from the midwife to the soldier, the priest to the performer and the bronze worker to the tomb looter, and see what an average day in ancient China was really like.