Four occupations

The traditional Chinese categories of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, arranged in a conventional hierarchy that placed scholars above producers and traders.

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Shi (scholar-officials): The educated elite who pursued classical learning and government service in imperial China. They occupied the highest rank as custodians of learning and potential officials.
Zhou dynasty: A Chinese dynasty conventionally dated from 1046 to 256 BCE, associated with early institutions and political ideals. Later accounts connected occupational order to ideals attributed to early Zhou society.
Four occupations in Japan: A Tokugawa-era status classification placing samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants in an ordered hierarchy. Its categories resemble the Chinese scheme but substitute warrior rulers for scholars at the top.
Agriculture in imperial China: The farming systems and institutions that sustained China’s imperial states and populations. Farmers’ high rank reflected agriculture’s role in food supply and state revenue.
Nong (farmers): Agricultural producers who cultivated land and supplied food in traditional Chinese society. Their productive role placed them below scholars but above artisans and merchants.
Guan Zhong: A statesman traditionally associated with the state of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period. Texts attributed to him describe differentiated occupations as a basis of social order.
Shang Yang: A fourth-century BCE Qin statesman associated with Legalist reforms and state centralization. His policies privileged agriculture and military service more directly than the scholar-centered hierarchy.
Chinese artisan: A craft worker in China who makes goods through specialized manual skill. Artisans’ position shows how valued production could remain socially subordinate to scholarship.
Gong (artisans): Skilled makers who produced tools, goods, and craftwork in traditional Chinese society. Their manual expertise was valued, though convention ranked it below farming.
Guanzi: A collection of writings on statecraft, economy, and philosophy assembled over several centuries in ancient China. Its discussions of occupational specialization helped articulate the four-part scheme.