THE HAN DYNASTY-Merchants
Merchants during The Han DynastyMerchants weren't highly respected during the Han dynasty, and most scholars looked down on them. Even farmers and peasant outranked them, since they were of the 4th rank of the Han dynasty social hierarchy, while farmers and peasants were on the second. Registered merchants were required to wear white clothing to signify their low status. They also weren't allowed to hold office. To trade and sell goods these merchants traveled in big caravans with camels on the Silk Road, selling their goods throughout China. They sold items such as tea, rice, fabrics, watermelon, melons, peaches, sheep, hunting dogs, Chinese porcelains, ceramic lusterware, iron items, bronze weapons, vases, bowls, glasses, dishes, gold embroidery, wool, mirrors, and many other things. |
These treks usually took years and had a slow turnover of goods. The higher ranks could easily see merchants as nomadic vagabonds who sold and traded things they carried with them. The only way to become wealthy as a merchant was to own land and estates.
Now, let's travel along the four-thousand-mile long Silk Road, a trade route servicing many countries and empires.
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