in ancient china, many children never got a chance to go to school. with the han dynasty (206 b.c.-220 a.d), the emperor paid for free education. only boys were allowed to study. they typically used to start school when they were about six years old, and there was one teacher for the whole school. there weren't any math or science lessons. students learned to read and weite,and they used to memorize pages of the great chinese philoso pher confucius. his teachings stressed the importance of duty,family,and hard work. boy used to work very hard to pass the government tests. students with the highest scores could get a jod in the government.around 500 a.d., girls also began to learn how to read and writie in buddhist temples, which were spreading in china.