Doctors only treated people who were from the ruling and noble classes.

During the Tang Dynasty, women were not allowed to be doctors.

Men were the only ones who were intelligent enough to be doctors.

Women learned about herbs by reading about them.

They thought that one's hair came from one's ancestors and it was disrespectful to cut it.

Both men and women of the upper classes grew their fingernails long to show that they did not have to work.

Foot binding made working in the rice fields or doing any kind of manual labor very difficult.

Girls were expected to stay home and learn how to be housewives and mothers.

Daily life in ancient China changed through the centuries but the Chinese maintained a belief in the gods and one's ancestors during almost every time period.

Men and women of all classes wore their hair long because it was thought that one's hair came from one's ancestors and it was disrespectful to cut it.

Just like the hair, the body was thought to be a gift from one's ancestors and should not be abused. For this reason, most people looked down on those with tattoos.

Everyone was expected to know the Five Virtues of Confucius by heart. The Li, or manners, considered the most important were Ren (kindness), Xin (loyalty), Yi (honesty) and Zhi (knowing the difference between right and wrong).

In one of these early villages, called Banpo, archaeological evidence shows that women ruled and were in charge of religious life.

A person's social class was determined, more or less, by birth. If one's father was a peasant, one would also be a peasant.

From the Shang Dynasty on, though, a person could improve their station in life by passing the Imperial Examinations, a very difficult test which let them work for the government and move up to a higher class.

Doctors were also all males by the time of the Tang Dynasty, although herbalists in rural areas could be women.

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