What was the population of the Ming Dynasty?

From Zongzhi to (134 1- 1370), there were many large-scale famines, famines and epidemics all over the country, which eventually led to the outbreak of the Red Scarf Army uprising and a large decrease in population. After the Ming Dynasty unified the whole country, Ming Taizu implemented the policy of recuperation, and under the background of great damage caused by the long-term large-scale war in the Yuan Dynasty, the national agricultural production was greatly restored. In addition, during the Hongwu period, the population grew steadily by filling the wasteland north of Huaihe River and reclaiming wasteland in Sichuan. In the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu in Ming Taizu (1393), the national population was 65 million, including 61750,000 civilian households and 3.25 million military households. The population of five northern provinces (Beiping, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and Shaanxi) is17.55 million, accounting for 27% of the whole country, of which Shandong has the largest population of 5,462,850, followed by Shanxi (3,790,760), Henan (2,825,300) and Shanxi. The five central provinces (Shi Jing, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang and Sichuan) have a total population of 33.8 million, accounting for 52% of the country. Among them, Nanzhili 1 1, 29 1, 460 people; The population density of Taihu Lake Basin in southern Jiangsu is the highest, with 6,320,300 people, with an average of 220 people per square kilometer. Followed by Zhejiang Province, 9959270 people; There are 7.26 million people in Jiangxi, 43 18420 people in Huguang and the least in Sichuan, with only 13 14260 people. The total population of the five southern provinces (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou) is 654.38+004 million, accounting for 654.38+06% of the whole country [67].

The peak of Ming hukou appeared in the late Ming Dynasty, but different scholars have different views on the specific time and population. Yi Zhongtian believed that the population at the end of the Ming Dynasty was more than 60 million [68]; Zhao Wenlin and Xie Shujun thought that the population reached its peak in 1626, and the actual population was about 99.873 million [69]. Wang Yumin thought that the population of Ming Dynasty reached its peak in Wanli period, and the actual population was between 1.3 million and 1.5 million [70]. Ge thinks that 1600, the actual population of the Ming Dynasty is about197,000,000, and the peak population of the Ming Dynasty is close to 200 million [7 1]. Cao thought that the population of Ming Dynasty reached its peak in 1630, and the actual population was about 1925 10000, and in 1644, the actual population was about 152470000 [72]. Angus Madison, a British economist, thought that the actual population of the Ming Dynasty in 1600 was about 160000000 [73].

After the introduction of American high-yield crops at the end of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, it began to spread and popularize in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Lingnan areas, which were the most densely populated areas in the Ming Dynasty, especially after the Renaissance of Wanli, and it grew steadily at a relatively fast speed. In the forty-eight years of Wanli in Ming Shenzong (1620), according to the research estimates of contemporary scholars, it has reached an unprecedented number of150,000,000 people, and the distribution pattern has basically remained unchanged. From the 13th year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty (1640) to the 7th year of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty (1650), due to peasant wars, famines, plagues, especially the outbreak of plague and drought in the north, the looting of the Eight Banners and the planned migration of Han people, the death toll in the Central Plains increased, resulting in a large decrease in population, which was less than half of the original population, especially after the plague.