The number of
private household slave
servants during the Western Han dynasty was greater than any other period in Chinese history. The number of servants, however, was largely dependent on the relationship between the political, economic, legal system and government policy and the capability of each to adapt to production level. Moreover, such number was also influenced by the social heritage and the exact situation, which does not necessarily reflect the extent of the social productivity, the evolution of the Chinese civilization as well as the actual social
status of such servants. Evidence from Han bamboo slips of the Zhangjiashan area indicates that servants were registered as individual people. Their life was secure, having the basic rights as in the daughters in paternal family and the change in their social status into good citizens was in exemption of government policy. Under circumstances, they had the right to become the master of the family in case the head of the household passed away. Therefore, the legal status of household servants was greatly improved when
compared to same people during Yin and Zhou dynasties and they were not the same thing when compared to slaves in ancient Greece and Rome.