Another opportunity for social advancement was
through education. Schools open to boys from many walks
of life began in 145 b.c.e. in the province of Shu, where mod-
ern Sichuan is, when Governor Wen Weng (ca. 1231–ca. 1135
b.c.e.) opened schools to boys from throughout the province
because he needed a pool of educated people from which to
hire government offi cials. Th e schools of China were Confu-
cian, and students were expected to learn the principles of the
philosopher Confucius (551–479 b.c.e.) and become skilled
in the sciences and the law. If a student passed tests given
by the government, he could gain a government job and rise
through the ranks of government, acquiring higher social
rank as he did.
Girls could become educated, too, but they had to be
educated in private, usually by other women. Th is practice
limited the opportunities for education to daughters of the
wealthy, nobles, and government offi cials. Some women were
marvelously gift ed and even became infl uential advisers to
emperors. Even so, they complained about restrictions placed
on them because of their gender. Th e women of ancient China
were notable for their industriousness and contributed greatly
to the economy, but they were expected to submit to the au-
thority of men. When they rose in rank, they did so usually
because their husbands rose in rank. Th ey may have found
their greatest opportunities in trades and craft s because
tradespeople and craft speople were outside offi cial recogni-tion, but even a woman who made herself wealthy might fi nd
that her money was not her own if she married.JAPAN
In Japan people did not begin building an agricultural econ-
omy until about 300 b.c.e. Even in the third century c.e. they
had not yet learned to irrigate their farms; they did not plant
rice as seedlings and, in fact, just scattered rice seed in wet
areas, such as marshes. When they fi rst formed governments
is not known, but the earliest ruler for whom there are writ-
ten records, mostly Chinese, is Queen Himiko (fl. third cen-
tury c.e.), who ruled a nation called Yamatai, whose people
the Chinese called Wa. Th is culture existed in the late second
century and third century c.e. Th e Wa lived in more than
50 small chiefdoms. It is possible that Himiko ruled by the
consent of the chiefs. Th at she was a sorceress suggests that
women held high rank in religion. Although her being the
monarch implies a matriarchal society, the eff ort to replace
her with a man aft er her death suggests that male chiefs
wanted a male leader.
Ceramic sculptures left by the Wa indicate that they
had a society with many craft s because the sculptures por-
tray ma ny people in ever yday work. It is easy to suppose t hat
ceramics makers were highly respected because the people
of Japan had produced magnifi cent pottery for thousands
of years.Jōmon Period pottery, Japan (about 13,000–300 b.c.e.); the development of production techniques and decoration of this style of pottery over such
a long period suggests that the country was stable and enjoyed a continuity of social organization. (© Th e Trustees of the British Museum)1026 social organization: Asia and the Pacific0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1026 1026 10/10/07 2:30:48 PM