How much house could you afford?
There were really two kinds of houses in ancient China. There were poor people’s houses (which is most of them).
And there were rich people’s houses (there were not very many of these).
Rich and poor in ancient China
More articles about ancient China
Poor people’s houses
Poor people’s houses were small and made out of cheap materials. They generally had just one room, made of rammed earth (like mudbrick). Builders mixed sand, clay, and gravel and then pounded it until it was hard to make rammed earth. Rammed earth walls could last for many years. The floor was often pounded dirt too, but it might have clay tiles on it. The roof was usually made of thatch.
What is mudbrick?
Why did people thatch their roofs?
These houses were a lot like poor people’s houses in West Asia or Egypt or Greece, India, or Africa. As in those places, poor people didn’t have bathrooms in their houses. They went outside, in the fields or in the woods, or they used a chamber pot inside.
Read more about the history of houses
Rich people’s houses
Rich people’s houses were much bigger. They had a high wall made of rammed earth all the way around them, with no windows and just one door, to keep the family safe.
As soon as you went through this door, you would see another short wall in front of you. This was the screen wall. The screen wall kept people from seeing into your courtyard as they walked by, for privacy.
Families in ancient China
All around the courtyard there were rooms. In a very fancy house there were two stories, and there was a balcony on the inside of the upper story overlooking the courtyard.
Bathrooms in Chinese houses
A lot of people had no bathroom at all in their house. They just went outside, or they used a clay chamber pot inside the house. Someone would carry the chamber pot outside to empty it later.
Read more about chamber pots
But some Chinese houses had a pig sty – a place to keep pigs – built in the corner of the courtyard. Over the top of the pig sty, they built a latrine with a hole in it.
More about Chinese bathrooms
Where do pigs come from?
So if you went to the bathroom in the latrine, the poop would fall down through the hole to the pigs. In China, pigs ate people’s poop to get fat. That kept food from being wasted, but sometimes it spread dysentery and cholera and typhoid.
This info really helped me for my project!
NICE INFO XD
These informations are good
no infromtion
Sorry you didn’t find what you were looking for, Noah! If you ask your questions here, I’ll try to answer them.
I got scammed from the ad lost all of my money
If you want to help us out, we’d love to have you as a supporter on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/quatr_us – we’re trying to get all the ads off the site, to make it easier for students to use.
It was an amazing expereince to look through through the facts for our project!
Wonderful! I’m glad you enjoyed it. If you want to help us out, we’d love to have you as a Patron on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/quatr_us
stumped not enough info need more 4 essay thingamabobber
What more info are you looking for? Try clicking on some of the links?
How big were the houses (either in measurements or in comparison to something) . Also what things were in an ancient Chinese commoner’s home.
Hi Zoe, I answered your first question in the comments already. In answer to your second question, check out this article: https://quatr.us/china/inside-ancient-chinese-houses-chinese-architecture.htm
how big were the poorer houses in measurements. if you dont have measurements, can you give a comparison to something? thank you
Houses come in all different sizes, of course. But a lot of people lived in very small houses, like pioneer log cabins. Maybe about 15 feet on each side? If the house was this small, people didn’t really spend much time inside – just to sleep, or if it was very cold, and then most of the time they were in the courtyards. Like when you are camping you don’t hang out in your tent. Other houses were bigger, though.
great website I found this really helpful for my Assignment on Ancient Chinese culture and lifestyle. Keep up the good work!
Wow, that’s great, Will! Thanks for letting us know. We will keep writing articles!
What was Chinese houses like before and after the opium trades with Britain
Hi Jake! If the Opium Wars had an effect on what kind of houses people in China lived in, I don’t know about it. You can read more about the Opium Wars here (trade isn’t what I would call it, exactly): https://quatr.us/china/opium-wars-history-china-1800s.htm
not helpful needs more informaton
What information were you looking for? I’d be happy to answer your questions, Dan.