Population economy in 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.

Control over the people has also been strengthened. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, based on the census of household registration and land property, various books were compiled and the Garbo Law and the Customs Law were formulated, which firmly bound the people to the land.

In the early Ming Dynasty, a large number of slaves were liberated, and the tenant farmers in Sichuan and Jiangnan also improved their status by cracking down on the landlord forces. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the autocratic and centralized central government once cracked down on powerful landlords and purged bureaucrats, which was conducive to restraining mergers and easing class contradictions. At this time, the status of handicraft workers has also improved. All these are helpful to the development and progress of society, so "the rule of Hongwu" and "the rule of Xuande" appeared in the early Ming Dynasty.

In the 26th 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) is104,000, accounting for 16% of the whole country.

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; Zhao Wenlin and Xie Shujun thought that the population reached its peak in 1626, and the actual population was about 99.873 million. Wang Yumin believed 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. Ge believes that the actual population of the Ming Dynasty in 1600 is about1970,000, and the peak population of the Ming Dynasty is close to 200 million. 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. Angus Madison, a British economist, believes that the actual population of the Ming Dynasty in 1600 is about 16000000.

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.

After the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty divided households into civilian households, military households and craftsmen households. A craftsman is a craftsman. The status of craftsmen and the army is lower than that of ordinary civilian households, and they are not allowed to take exams. They must be passed down from generation to generation. It is extremely difficult to get rid of the original household registration, which requires the approval of the emperor's special decree. The work of shift workers is unpaid. From the forty-first year of Jiajing (1562), all shift craftsmen were required to levy silver, and silver was used instead of labor, while the government hired silver. Personal bondage is greatly weakened. In the Qing dynasty, the army implemented the Eight Banners system and abolished the craftsman system that had been implemented for 400 years. The number of registered permanent residence in Ming Dynasty was Hongwu 138 1 year in Ming Taizu, Hongwu 10654362 in Ming Taizu, Hongwu 26 years (1393) and Yongle first year 10652870 households (10). Ming Yongle 2 years 4 15829 households (1404) Ming Xiaozong Hongzhi 4 years 9685020 households (149 1 year) Ming Xiaozong Hongzhi 9 years1kloc-0/3446 households. There were 788 households (1504) in the seventeenth year of Hongzhi, 508,935 households (1578) in the sixth year of Ming Shenzong Wanli, 62 households (1436 households) in the first year of Taichang.