Oh, I didn’t mean to imply you did. I was just trying to explain a common misconception between the western and eastern understanding of what the peasant class was. In the Qing dynasty a peasant was far from the lowest rung of society, and relatively had a lot of potential for upward mobility.
By eastern standards mao was in the peasant class, but you could still be a relatively wealthy land owner and be part of the peasant class.
In the Qing dynasty there were 5 distinct classes and the order of them is pretty different from Western traditions.
The first class is occupied by the emperor and his immediate family.
The second class was for high government bureaucrats.
The third were agriculturalists, landlords, farmers and peasants.
The fourth was reserved for artisans and merchants.
Lastly the final class and lowest in society was for criminals, slaves, prostitutes, entertainers, low government employees, and the military.
Oh, I didn’t mean to imply you did. I was just trying to explain a common misconception between the western and eastern understanding of what the peasant class was. In the Qing dynasty a peasant was far from the lowest rung of society, and relatively had a lot of potential for upward mobility.
By eastern standards mao was in the peasant class, but you could still be a relatively wealthy land owner and be part of the peasant class.
In the Qing dynasty there were 5 distinct classes and the order of them is pretty different from Western traditions.
The first class is occupied by the emperor and his immediate family.
The second class was for high government bureaucrats.
The third were agriculturalists, landlords, farmers and peasants.
The fourth was reserved for artisans and merchants.
Lastly the final class and lowest in society was for criminals, slaves, prostitutes, entertainers, low government employees, and the military.