Why did the population surge during the Ming and Qing dynasties?

S Shi Haixunzhen The growth of population was an important sign of economic development in ancient times. On the contrary, the decrease of population was a sign of economic decline. The general rule of population growth and decrease in ancient times is that after the establishment of a unified dynasty, a series of measures were taken to stabilize social order and develop the economy, so the population grew rapidly. In the later period of a dynasty, political corruption, repeated wars, and a sharp decline in population were common. For example, in the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, the population reached more than 50 million. Due to the wars during the two Han Dynasties, the population dropped to 20 million by the early Eastern Han Dynasty. By the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Emperor, the population increased to more than 50 million. However, after the warlords fought in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, During the Three Kingdoms period, the total population of Wei, Shu, and Wu was less than 8 million. The population in ancient times always increased and decreased. By the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the population was only over 60 million. However, by the twenty-eighth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1600), the population exceeded 100 million. By the end of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, China's population exceeded 300 million. mark. ? There are three main reasons: First, the long-term peaceful and stable social environment of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Strictly speaking, China did not achieve great unification until Qin. From the unification of Qin in 221 BC to the Yellow Turban Uprising in 184 at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the unification of Qin and Han lasted for 400 years. After 400 years of division and war in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, in 589 BC, the Sui Dynasty unified the world, and the Sui and Tang Dynasties unified the world for only 300 years. From the Five Dynasties to the long-term confrontation between the Song, Liao, Xia and Jin until the reunification of the Yuan Dynasty in 1279, the war lasted for nearly 400 years. The peaceful unification of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties lasted for nearly 600 years, which was the longest period of peaceful unification in history. The long-term peaceful unification of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties provided the best political environment for the surge in population in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Second, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, corn and sweet potatoes from America were introduced to China. The introduction of corn and sweet potatoes had a significant impact on immigration development and population growth during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The introduction of corn and sweet potatoes promoted the development of large areas of hilly and mountainous areas in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Many previously uninhabited mountainous areas were gradually reclaimed by new immigrants and turned into new settlements. It can be said that the large-scale domestic immigration wave in the Ming and Qing Dynasties not only promoted the planting scope of corn and sweet potatoes, but also the new crops of corn and sweet potatoes became new driving forces for immigration development. The two promoted each other. The combination of high-yielding corn and sweet potatoes imported into China and China's traditional family-based agricultural production methods of intensive farming greatly promoted China's grain production capacity. The steady increase in grain output provided the material basis for the population surge in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Thirdly, the "One Whip Method" of the Ming Dynasty and the "Standing into the Land" system of the Qing Dynasty also greatly promoted population growth. Zhang Juzheng, an outstanding reformer in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, was hit by a series of peasant uprisings. In order to save the rule of the Ming Dynasty, he implemented a series of reforms, of which the "one whip method" was an important part of the reform. The tax reform of the "One Whip Law" shifted the focus from Ding Shi and Ding Tax to land as the emphasis. It played a certain role in economic development and population growth. Especially in the fifty-fifth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1716), "the land was officially spread into acres." The land allocation system spread the population tax into the acres, so that the land was unified, and farmers paid regular taxes to the state. Taxes are all based on acres of land. This is the further development and improvement of the "one whip method". The system of "stalling people into the land" greatly stimulated the growth of population. Things must go to extremes, and now population growth has become a disaster.

●Li Zhiwen