Chinese Tang

29 May 2011

Chinese Tang
Were Chinese dynasties (Han, Sung, Tang, etc) generally supported by the people?

If so, was this for religious or political reasons?

I doubt it if the people had much to say in those times. The rulers were fierce and ruthless and total obedience was required from all. I think they supported for fear for their lives.
Here is a sample:
The tradition of ancestral worship has a long history in China. Archaeologists have found it was practiced even in Prehistoric Times (1.7 million years to the 21st century BC). With the emergence of farming, people worshiped the heaven in hope of favorable weather for crops. It actually was a kind of nature worship. Another kind of worship was ancestor worship, also called soul worship. People offered sacrifice to their ancestor, praying for blessings bestowed by their ancestors. From the Xia Dynasty onwards, Kings were endowed with supreme authority. In order to secure his power, the king combined ancestral worship and nature worship to create the God or the Heaven, and proclaimed himself the agent or the worldly descendant of the God.

In the Shang Dynasty, slavery system prevailed. The aristocrats enjoyed all the luxuries while the slaves lived a dog' life. They belonged to their lord. After the slave owner died, the slaves were often buried alive as human sacrifice together with animal offerings.

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/shang/