9. The Artisan’s Place: The ‘Four Occupational Groups’ and the Social Position of Craftspeople

Abstract

In imperial and pre-imperial periods, Chinese governments made practical provisions to allocate and supervise skilled labour in the service of the state. A particular perspective of social hierarchy came with this system which expressly included artisans. The concept of the ‘four occupational groups’ originates from the intention of rulers and administrators to divide and settle the population according to occupations and to monitor their numbers and activities. Together with the assessment that scholars and farmers were ‘fundamental’ but artisans and merchants were ‘secondary’ or derived groups, this notion confirmed the dominance of agriculture and Confucian learning and administration.