Imagine yourself back in Ancient China around the Shang period, living near the Yellow River, or Yangtze, as they call it.  You may go to the library, which would consist of over 30,000 tablets.  If you didn't have a busy day you could take out your pottery wheel and whip up anything you set your mind to.

In their dishes, they used ingredients such as ginger, sesame seeds, soy beans,chili peppers, mung beans, wheat, and rice.  They also ate bean curd, which they called doufu, but we know it as tofu.  It was steamed, boiled, or fried.  They also ate noodles made from wheat, bean, or flour.

IN IMPERIAL CHINA, religious beliefs were divided into 'The Three Ways' of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.  A pagoda was a sacred Buddhist tower.  They believed that it brought fortune to the surrounding area.  The Chinese believed there was a balance in nature, and the two forces were yin and yang.        Confucius is the westernized name for the teacher Kong Qiu.  He earned the name Kongfusi - "Great Master Kong". He began the religion of Confucianism.

	An Ancient Farmer.

MOST PEOPLE IN ANCIENT China lived in the countryside and worked in the fields.  The people who owned the fields, even though under no lords, had to pay taxes, work a certain number of days in 'public works, like canals and roads, and serve in the army.

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