The nóng (农/農)/ Peasant Farmers

 

The third class in ancient China is the nóng (农/農) who were the peasant farmers who cultivated the land which provided the essential food for the people and tributes to the king.

 

Farmers were landholders like gentry scholars, and agriculture long played a key role in the rise of Chinese civilization. Not only did the farmers produce the food to sustain the society, they paid land tax, which was a source of state revenue for the ruling dynasties. Farmers were therefore valuable members of society even though they weren’t Shì. However, Shì families were still landholders who also produced crops and food themselves.