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Social class or structure
The Ming Dynasty social structure had evolved over hundreds of years and was influenced by Confucian thought. Before the Ming Dynasty, China was divided into four classes: merchants, farmers, artisans, and gentry. In the Ming Dynasty, city life was further established, which led to economic and urban development. There were four occupations in Ming society and they were: Shi, Nong, Gong, and Shang.
The Shi: In Ancient China, the shi class was considered to be as an elite class of people, who had the privileged to ride in command battles. The shi class also became less aristocratic and more bureaucratic due to the highly competitive exams during the Song Dynasty. Moreover, the widespread printing through woodblock enhanced the spread of knowledge among the literate in society, enabled more people to vie for a prestigious degree. The people of shi class was highly respected in the society because they represented wisdom and education.
A painting of a gentry scholar with two courtesans, by Tang Yin, 1500 CE.
The Nong: The Nong were the peasant farmers. They played a highly significant role to the empire, because they were considered the producers of food which sustained the empire. The Nong was also seen as a vital and productive social class in the Ming Dynasty
The Gong: The Gong were artisans and craftsmen. They were much like famers, however, they had the skills to make goods of daily use for the society. Artisans and craftsmen were either government-employed or worked privately. Moreover, since they had skills, which was passed on from generation to generation, they were more respected than merchants.
The Shang: They were the merchants and traders and they only traded and transported the food and goods made by the Nong and the Gong class. Therefore, a lot of the merchants did buy lands to command more respect in the society. However, most of the population believed that the merchants were only motivated by greed and they did not contribute the greater good of the society.
In the time before the Ming dynasty, the Shi was the most respected class in society except emperors and officials. But during the Ming dynasty, the capitalism helped the Shang which was the lowest class rise and more and more common people took part in businesses.
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