The correct answer to this open question is the following.
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The group that was part of the rising middle class of the Sung period was Shopkeepers.
The gentry and the peasants were the two big divisions of the social classes during the Song period in ancient China.
The Emperor of China was at the very top of the pyramid. He was the most powerful man in the empire and the absolute ruler of the lands.
In the second place were the families who owned big portions of land or better known as the gentry. Then, the peasants. They were the ones that farmed the agriculture fields and worked for the landowners.
The merchants were at the bottom of the pyramid. They were able to earn some good money in trade transactions but an old belief system of the time said that the merchants took advantage of other people's work and made a profit selling the products.
However, these merchants or shopkeepers flourished during the Song period.
