Like India, ancient china was a land of farmers. Every year a very important ceremony was held in the temple of heaven on New Year’s Day. Even the rulers took part in this. He thought it was one of his most important duties.

The Chinese were clever enough to learn how to write even in very early times. It started as simple picture writing and slowly changed to the writing of today. At first they made simple picture by typing knots in rope of string.

The Chinese must have also found this very difficult and so they learnt to cut pictures on bamboo strips. This is why the Chinese write from top to bottom. Later the Chinese wrote important records on silk with brushes made of camel hair.

The Chinese were the earliest people to make paper out of mulberry wood shavings or linen rags. These were crushed and soaked to make a paste, then spread out and beaten to thin sheets when these dried they became paper. The Chinese had many firsts. They were also the first to invent printing. Books were printed in china long before the rest of the world learnt how.

All things made of clay are called pottery. China or porcelain is a special kind of pottery. It is glossy and light can shine through it. The Chinese first found out how to make fine porcelain and they guarded the secret for years. Useful things like cups and saucers are made of china. Beautiful things like vases and figurines are also made of china. Of course, some things can be both useful and beautiful.

Imagine a wall broad enough for a lorry to ride on, and stretching for thousands and thousands of families over ills and valleys and plains. The Great Wall of China is one of the wonders of the world like the pyramids. To the west of China roamed the fierce Tartars. There were wild horsemen who loved hunting and fighting and it was nearly impossible to defeat or capture them. In fact was said that fighting the tartars was like fighting the wind. The Great Wall of China was built by Shi Huang Ti to keep out the Tartars.

It took thousands and thousands of workers, and many, many years to build this great Wall. It was one of the greatest fears of the Chinese that they would capture and sent to work on the wall!

A word about Confucius, one of the noblest men of the ancient world, he lived about the same time as Buddha and was a great thinker. He was born into a noble family but when he was a boy, is father died and left him penniless. He had to do all sorts of humble jobs to keep in self alive. But he wanted to become a scholar and a teacher. In time wish was fulfilled and he was known far and wide as a great teacher.

But the last of his wife were sad. He was exiled by his ruler and for thirteen years he wandered the length and breadth of the country. At last, tired and weary, he returned to his hometown when he was nearly eighty-nine, only to die. But he followed his own teaching. `Do not do to others what you would not wish to be one to yourself’. He bore no man any grudge.

Here again we have to be grateful the ancient Chinese. They were the first people to make gunpowder and the first people to make fire crackers. In fact, the great space rocket of today is only an improvement on the fire arrow that the Chinese made nearly nine hundred years ago!