Chapter 3- Reading documents ( records of the Grand Historian- Sima Qian)

        According to the reading document, the lifestyle of Chinese is pretty much similar to other civilizations. They also strongly depends on Agriculture. “People live in houses and wear hats and sashes. They get their food and clothing by farming, weaving, or hunting, fathers and sons would live side by side, rulers and officials would both be safe, and no one would act violently or rebel.” (144) Unlike to Chinese civilization, the lifestyle of Xiongnu seems very different. Sima Qian might consider them as “uncivilized” based on the description that provided by his records. He said that Xiongnu people have been barbarians, they “living in northern uncivilized areas and wandering around  herding animals.” (143) “They move around looking for water and pasture and have no walled settlements or permanent housing.” (143) From what has been told so far, Xiongnu people seems like still living in a paleolithic era when people have to travel around to obtain food as gather-hunters. They also don't have agriculture but they do have a sense of ownership. They “divide their land into separate holdings under different leaders.” They also have their own social hierarchy, but the standard is different from Chinese people. “ Xiongnu treasure the strong and healthy but place little value on the weak and old.”(143)while Chinese people are using wealth and power as the standards.

        The aspects of Xiongnu culture would likely appear most distasteful to Sima Qian will be their moral standards. The records said that Xiongnu people “are only concerned with self-interest, knowing nothing of proper behavior or justice.” For example, the ruler Maodun seems like a very cruel ruler who does not have a sense of justice. He just beheaded people for an unfair reason. He also murdered his own stepfather and brother to make himself a ruler. Besides this, the marriage custom also can be immoral to Sima Qian. In the societies of Xiongnu,“ When his father dies, a son marries his stepmother, and when brothers die, the surviving brothers marry their widows.” This kind of custom is forbidden and considered immoral in Chinese culture at the time.