CEVAP:

In ancient Chinese society, the Fengjian social class structure of circa 1046-256 BCE gave rise to Confucian or Legalist scholars’ classification of the Chinese people into four broad categories. From highest to lowest social strata, the categories were:

• the Shi, or Gentry scholars,

• the Nong, or peasant farmers,

  • the Gong, or artisans and craftsmen,

• the Shang, or merchants and traders.