Who was the lower class in ancient China?

The ancient menial occupations refer to: master, servant, scale, matchmaker, pawn, time demon, thief, high platform, blowing, circus, pushing, pool, rubbing back, repairing, matching, prostitute, beating dogs, selling oil, pedicure, shaving head, carrying vegetables, tailoring, excellent, drummer and so on.

Basically, it can be summarized as: first-class actor, second-rate pusher, third-rate tortoise, fourth-rate tortoise, five scraping, six rubbing, seven prostitutes, eight thieves and nine blowing.

There is also a summary as follows: first-class wizards (wizards who use spells to exorcise ghosts in the south), second-class prostitutes (prostitutes in the open and prostitutes in the dark), third-rate immortals (witches possessed by immortals who treat diseases in the form of dancing), fourth-class bangzi (night watchman), fifth-class hairdressers who shave their heads (hairdressers who travel everywhere), and six equal sign players (drummers and trumpeters).

In ancient times, social strata were divided into nine grades according to the level of nobility and inferiority. Later, with the complexity of social division of labor, the saying of "upper nine streams, middle nine streams and lower nine streams" was derived. It should be noted that this method of dividing people is the dregs of feudal thought, even in ancient times, it was only a universal culture and was not respected by the mainstream literati class.

Extended data:

Shangjiuliu: first-class Buddha (Sakyamuni), second-rate immortal (Yuan Dynasty Buddha, Taishang Laojun, Eight Immortals, etc. ), third-rate emperors (real dragon emperors, feudal emperors), fourth-rate officials (big and small officials), fifth-rate cooking pots (wineries, once the largest manufacturers in feudal times), sixth-rate pawns (pawn shops), seventh-rate businessmen (businessmen), and so on. This statement seems to be influenced by the pastoral taste of Taoism.

Secondary nine students: first-rate practitioners (jury), second-rate doctors (doctors, practitioners, doctors and pharmacists), third-rate geomantic omen (Mr. Feng Shui, master of Yin and Yang), fourth-rate batch (batch of horoscope and fortune-telling), fifth-rate painters (calligraphy and painting), sixth-rate fortuneteller (fortune-teller), seven monks (monks), and eight roads.

Ban Gu divided hundred schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period into Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, Legalism, Military, Miscellaneous, Nomenclature, Yin and Yang, and Agriculture. It can also be called Confucianism, Taoism and so on. Later, Confucianism and Taoism became "religion" and Buddhism, and there was a saying of "three religions and nine streams".

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Xiajiuliu