How did the ancients deal with overpopulation?

Population problem is a big problem in today's world. In modern times, due to the progress of science, the development of productive forces, the increasingly advanced medical technology, the life expectancy of human beings has been prolonged, the survival rate of infants has been greatly improved, and the world population has increased rapidly. The phenomenon of rapid population growth has been concerned by governments and scientists all over the world.

On the one hand, the uneven distribution of natural and social resources caused by the large population increase in developing countries has led to conflicts and even wars. On the other hand, developed countries face the problem of low birth rate or even negative population growth, which seriously affects economic development.

It can be seen that the larger the population, the better, and not the less the better. So, would there be a similar population problem in ancient times? The population problem has existed since ancient times, and it is not a patent now. In China, the sages studied the relationship between population and national development long ago. Let's have a look.

I. Population census

Through the census, we can get the population, age structure, sex ratio, class and occupation of the whole country. As early as the Zhou Dynasty, the idea of census sprouted. Zhou Xuanwang once? Expect Taiyuan people? Although we are only investigating the situation of soldiers, we already have the consciousness of population survey.

And this idea has been promoted, for example, Wu Qi thinks? The king of a powerful country must expect his people? . It can be seen that ancient sages began to pay attention to the population problem very early.

China's real census should have been conducted during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Since the Qing dynasty abolished the tax system for two thousand years, there was another census in the early Qing dynasty? Never add fu? And then what? Walk into mu? This policy lightens the people's corvee and burden.

Coupled with the popularity of high-yield crops such as sweet potato and corn introduced into China in the late Ming Dynasty, the per capita food ration increased, and the population increased rapidly during this period. Even the emperor felt pressure because of overpopulation.

Emperor Qianlong should be the first emperor in the ancient history of China who felt a sense of crisis because of overpopulation. After five years of Qianlong, the Ministry of Housing requested the emperor to check the national population, land and grain output, and the emperor agreed. According to historical records, in the fifty-seven years of Qianlong, the national population exceeded 300 million. The number is 37.46 million. .

This is the first time to count the specific number of people. After that, the Qing government counted the population every few years until191year on the eve of the demise of the Qing Dynasty. Last time, the population was over 400 million. You can often see it on TV now. During the Republic of China, people always said 400 million compatriots, and the basis appeared here.

The main purpose of China's population statistics in past dynasties (except Qing Dynasty) is to count the adult population, because the adult population is the main body of paying taxes, corvees and serving as soldiers, and counting the adult population is also the standard to judge whether a place is rich or not. In ancient times, people often moved from densely populated places to less populated places. For example, from Hongwu to Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, there were ten great migrations.

At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, natural disasters and decades of melee made Henan, Shandong, Hebei and other central plains areas sparsely populated and barren. Is there any record? Roads are blocked and people are cut off? Shanxi, on the other hand, is another scene. At this time, Shanxi was sparsely populated, and there were great social contradictions, as recorded? What are the ancestors of Taiyuan, Pingyang, Ze, Lu, Liao, Fen, Qin and Ding Duo Tian Shao? .

In order to solve these problems, Zhu Yuanzhang used Ming Taizu? Divide its mouth? Ways to transfer the surplus population of Shanxi to Shandong and Henan. Therefore, counting the population can also make policies for the rulers and balance the population everywhere.

Second, the argument that population growth is beneficial

China always wanted himself? Full of children and grandchildren? , all the time? How blessed are children? In ancient times, every family had many children, especially wealthy aristocrats. For example, Liu Sheng, the king of Zhongshan Jing, who has the most controversial children in history, always said that he had 120 children, although in fact there were not so many records? It is better to be drunk than to be happy, and there are more than 20 people/kloc-0. ?

A person is still like this, let alone a country. In ancient times, population has always been the standard to measure a country's national strength. Just go to what Chairman Mao said. Save the lost land, everyone will save the land. Save the land and lose the people, everyone loses their land? .

Therefore, most of the ancient population policies were to encourage childbearing, especially when the imperial Wang Chaogang was established, because the dynasties often experienced wars, resulting in a small population and serious land abandonment. In order to quickly restore national strength, many policies to encourage fertility have been introduced.

Will the date of 15 and 16 be dubbed now? Puppy love? In ancient times, in order to promote population growth, it was normal for society to get married and have children on 15 and 16. Even girls of seventeen or eighteen may be too old to get married.

For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period, the laws of Yue State were recorded: a woman who is seventeen years old does not marry, and her parents are guilty; If the husband refuses to take twenty, his parents are guilty. ? Imperial edict of Emperor Taizong: Zhao Min, male, 20, female 15 or above, with no husband's family, was married by ceremony. ? The laws of the Song Dynasty have similar provisions: in France, men are fifteen, women are thirteen or above, and they are married. ?

It can be seen that in ancient times, puppy love not only had no merit, but also had no merit. Even if it was over age, it was illegal, and the state would force marriage.

Another policy is to encourage widows and widowers to remarry, and the government will force them to get married, just like in the Tang Dynasty? After the bereavement system, the widow's service discipline was cancelled and she had to apply for a matchmaker to get along with her. ? In other words, a woman whose husband died must remarry after the collection system for her husband ends, otherwise the government will force distribution.

This policy has existed since ancient times, and it didn't end until the Southern Song Dynasty began to attach importance to women's chastity. It can be seen that the ancient government spared no effort to increase the population.

Another ancient population policy, although it will not increase the total population, can greatly increase the adult population in a very short time, and that is the liberation of slaves. In ancient times, slaves were not counted, which led to the taxpayer population being much lower than the actual population. In order to increase the adult population, almost every dynasty in ancient times liberated slaves to some extent and made them free.

Take the Ming Dynasty for example, the imperial edict of Ming Taizu? Will those who were enslaved by chaos return to the people? . Slave liberation reduced the hidden population to a large number of adults, increased the revenue of the state treasury, weakened the strength of wealthy families to a certain extent, and was conducive to the stability of the country. At the same time, because slaves were promoted to freemen, their status was improved, and they also won the hearts of the court.

The reason why there was the idea that population growth was beneficial in ancient times was mainly because most of the time in ancient times was in a state of vast territory and abundant resources and sparsely populated. China originally had a lot of land to accommodate the population, so one place was overcrowded, so it simply moved to another place. For example, the Qin dynasty immigrated to Lingnan many times, one for developing Lingnan, and the other for accommodating the redundant population in Guanzhong. There were similar Lingnan development plans in Sui and Tang Dynasties.

Third, the view that population growth is unfavorable.

China has long believed that population growth is not conducive to social development. Some ancient sages believed that rapid population growth would lead to insufficient distribution of resources such as wealth reduction and food shortage, and even lead to war. Han Feizi, a representative figure of Legalists in the Warring States Period, is a representative in this respect.

He wrote in Five Idiots:? There are not many children today, five children. In his view, such a population growth trend was very dangerous under the productivity at that time.

During the Warring States Period, Shang Yang, a famous reformer in China, believed that population and land should be balanced. As Shang Yang wrote, for those who are a hundred miles away, mountains and rivers are in the first place, the number is in the first place, valleys and flowing water are in the first place, cities and roads are in the first place, evil fields are in the second place, and fertile fields are in the fourth place, thus making 50,000 husbands. Its mountains, hills and valleys can all be used as materials, and its cities and roads are sufficient for its people. The former king also made laws to divide the people. ?

This passage can not only explain Shang Yang's thought of the adaptation between man and land, but also explain that he gave guidance to the relationship between population and land according to the productive forces at that time.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, when social productive forces were relatively developed, there were still many people who held the view that population growth was unfavorable to society. For example, Feng Menglong, a famous writer in the Ming Dynasty, wrote: If there are two men and two women, each child will be doubled. How can we raise it without reducing it?

The land area and productivity of the Ming Dynasty increased by more than 100 times compared with that of the Warring States period, but the ancient sages also saw from the law of population growth that the population would increase indefinitely, but the land would not, so that there would be nothing to support people in the end, so they put forward the concept of zero population growth.

The sages who support this view believe that maintaining the status quo is the best state and can develop for a long time, such as? If a man and a woman are born, what will happen if there is no increase or decrease in population? . This concept existed as early as the Tang Dynasty, and it was probably first put forward in the world. Zero population growth? The concept of.

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In fact, whether it is a census, population growth or policies to control population growth, we should not only look at population, but also consider it comprehensively. The amount of land is the key to determine it. When the land is vast and sparsely populated, a lot of land is barren, and at this time, the population will increase.

But when there are too many people and too few land, we can only control the population. In fact, people seek a delicate balance between land and population. Grasping a degree between population and production resources, rather than studying this degree at present, is positive for our population policy.

References:

Mandarin

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Pei Gong to Xianyang

The draft of Qing history? The history of Emperor Gaozong

The draft of Qing history? Food record one "

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"Mandarin? Shang "

New Tang book? Emperor Taizong's history

Ji Shu sentenced Tomb-Sweeping Day.

"Order to persuade Shu Ren to get married and hire in time."

Mingshi

"Shang junshu" Fifteenth is changed to "people"

Tai ping guang Ji Chao