The most populous dynasty

The Population Development of China in the Twenty Years of Daoguang from Pre-Qin Dynasty to Qing Dynasty (1840).

China is the earliest country with a population record, and it is rich in historical materials. But most of them are the number of households, mouths or people who collected classes and taxes in past dynasties. Some of these figures are close to the actual population, while others need to be estimated to become comparable figures. It is difficult to estimate the ethnic minority population in the border areas, but it accounts for a small proportion of the total population.

The earliest population in the pre-Qin and Han dynasties can be traced back to the Yu Xia era in the 2nd1century BC, with more than130,000 people, but this was traced back by later generations and there is no good record. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China entered the feudal society, especially after the Qin Dynasty unified China, the social economy developed greatly, the territory also expanded, and the population increased rapidly. By the second year of the Western Han Dynasty (AD 2), the registered population was 654.38+022.3 million, with a population of 59.59 million, which can be regarded as the first peak of population development in China. If the Qinling Mountains and Huaihe River are taken as the boundary, the north accounts for 77.5% of the total population and the south accounts for 22.5%. The five States of Henan, Hebei, Yanzhou, Xu and Qing in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River only account for 12.6% of the land area, but the population accounts for more than half of the country. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population in the south increased slightly and the population in the north decreased slightly.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, from the end of the Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, wars continued, social productive forces were destroyed, and the population dropped sharply. But there are only two or three million households in this period, which may have missed a lot; At that time, dock walls and granges prevailed, and there was a so-called "one hundred rooms, one household, and thousands of people registered". The Dingkou was hidden and the number of registered households was insufficient. If the records after the reunification of the Sui Dynasty are included, the registered population in the Southern and Northern Dynasties is about 40 million, which is less than that at the peak of the Han Dynasty 1/3. During the war, the population moved south and the proportion of the population in the south increased.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, China was unified by the Sui Dynasty and its economy recovered rapidly. At the same time, vigorously check accounts and hide accounts. Great cause five years (609), registered population of 46.02 million. Political stability and production development in the early Tang Dynasty. In the 14th year of Tianbao (755), the registered population was 52.92 million, but the number of households was only 9 million, with an average of five or six people per household. This is usually the case in the future. The territory of the Tang Dynasty is larger than that of the Han Dynasty, and the frontier belongs to a vast country, excluding monks and nuns, sergeants and refugees, so the actual population should exceed that of the Han Dynasty. Since the Anshi Rebellion and the war in the late Tang Dynasty, the population in the north has declined again. However, with the economic development in Jiangnan and the development in Lingnan, the overall population loss will not be too great, and the center of gravity will continue to move south.

Song Dynasty Song Dynasty was weak politically, but it developed greatly economically. Production in the south was prosperous, and agriculture, handicrafts and science and technology were at the advanced level in the world at that time. However, there were many recorded households in the Song Dynasty, with an average of only two households per household, which was obviously hidden. In the third year of Yuanfeng in the Northern Song Dynasty (1080), the registered population was 23.83 million, and in the fourth year of Daguan (110), it increased to 467.35 million. There is no population record in Northern Liao country. By the fourth year of the Southern Song Dynasty (1 193), the registered population was 27.84 million, and in the sixth year of the Ming Dynasty (1 195), the population was 48.49 million. Scholars at home and abroad study the population in Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties, and most of them think that it has reached the second peak in history, with an estimated annual growth rate of 0.5%-0.8%. In short, the population of China in the Song Dynasty has reached more than 100 million, and its growth rate is also rare in the medieval history of the world. According to the number of households in Yuanfeng for three years, the north accounts for about 37.3% and the south accounts for 62.7%, and the population center moves to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Lin 'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang) was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. Northerners moved southward continuously, but the total number did not increase much.

In the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, at the end of the Song Dynasty, the Mongols came to power in the Yuan Dynasty, and the population of China dropped sharply again. In the 28th year of Yuan Dynasty (129 1), the recorded population was only 59.85 million, which was more than 40% less than that in the heyday of Song Dynasty. However, Zhiyuan's records are not true, and many accounts have not been compiled. The actual reduction will not be so much.

At the beginning of the Ming dynasty, I paid attention to sorting out my household registration. In the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu (1393), the number of people recorded was 60.55 million, and it increased to 66.6 million in the first year of Yongle (1403), which recovered quickly. However, the records after Xuande gradually decreased, and it was still more than 60 million by Wanli; Probably because there are many hidden loopholes after the yellow book system is destroyed. Land reclamation increased in Ming dynasty, commodity economy developed after the middle period, and capitalism sprouted. Scholars estimate that the population of China in the Wanli period far exceeded 1 100 million, and some people say it reached 65.438+600 million. During the war in the late Ming Dynasty, the number of registered permanent residence decreased, but not much. The population distribution is roughly the same as that of the Song Dynasty.

In the early Qing dynasty, the establishment was implemented, with a fixed population (1male aged 6-60) and a hidden quota. In the 12th year of Shunzhi (1655), only14.03 million tons were recorded. After the announcement in the fifty-first year of Kangxi (17 12), the number of cultured populations has never increased, but the declaration has greatly increased. In the fifty-third year of Kangxi, there were 24.62 million Ding, accounting for 20% of the population, about1230,000. After Qianlong, the population records were recorded by Garbo method, which reached 200 million in the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong (1762). More than 300 million in 55 years; Daoguang reached 4130000 in 20 years. In the past hundred years, the annual growth rate of Ganjia population has been around 0.6%, forming the third historical peak of population development in China. Since then, in modern times, the population tends to stagnate.

Agriculture and industry and commerce generally developed in the Qing Dynasty, and the hilly areas of the Central Plains and Lingnan areas were vigorously developed. Due to the personal freedom of farmers and the increase of population mobility, more immigrants have moved to the southwest. According to the population records of Sichuan, there were only a few million at the beginning of Qianlong and more than 40 million at Daoguang. Actually, it may be more than that. Northeast China was reclaimed late, but there were some immigrants during Guangxu period. The whole population distribution is still concentrated in the Yangtze River basin. According to the records from 10 to 19 years in Daoguang, the northern provinces only accounted for 30.3% of the total population, while the southern provinces accounted for 69.7%. The population density of China is 75.3 people per square kilometer, 45.8 people in northern provinces and 0/04.6 people in southern provinces. Jiangsu and Zhejiang are particularly dense.

Characteristics of Population Development in Past Dynasties Most dynasties in China adopted the policy of rewarding population proliferation, and the people also regarded having children as a symbol of family prosperity. Under the small-scale peasant economy and multi-child inheritance system, every family wants to have a strong labor force, so they tend to marry early and have many children. In ancient times, there was a saying that men got married at the age of 30, but the land was granted at the age of 20 in the Han Dynasty, and at the age of 18 in the Northern Dynasties and Sui and Tang Dynasties, which was roughly the year of marriage. And there is a tendency to move forward. For example, in the Qing Dynasty, he reached maturity at the age of 16 (it was 2 1 in ancient times). In this way, a type of population reproduction with high birth rate and high mortality rate in feudal society was formed. /kloc-After the 20th century, the food problem in China has been well solved, the natural population growth rate has increased, and the long-term population proliferation is earlier than that in Europe. However, the cultivated land area is limited after all. By the time the population of Qianlong grew rapidly, the per capita arable land was only over 3 mu.