Historical changes in China’s population and their causes

Historical changes in China’s population and its causes

1. Changes in China’s total population.

The population data recorded in the middle school history textbook of the People's Education Press include: 20 million in the Qin Dynasty, nearly 60 million in the late Western Han Dynasty, 53 million in the Eastern Han Dynasty during the Emperor He, 46 million in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, 100 million in the Northern Song Dynasty, and 3 in the early Qing Dynasty. 600 million, 400 million in the late Qing Dynasty, and more than 500 million in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China? This set of population data shows that, first, the growth of the total population is the most obvious feature in the history of China's population development; second, the change of the total population is wave-like. increase. It can be said that with social stability and economic development, the total population will increase significantly, such as in the Han Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties, Northern Song Dynasty, and early Qing Dynasty. On the contrary, the total population will decrease when social unrest and economic decline occur, such as the late Qin Dynasty, the Chu-Han War, the turn of the Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty, the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, etc. Therefore, the wave-like changes in China's population show a trajectory of valleys following peaks, and peaks following valleys. Third, population growth is accelerating. From the above data, we can see that it took thousands of years for China's population to reach 100 million, hundreds of years to reach 360 million, and just over a hundred years to reach more than 500 million.

2. Changes in China’s population distribution pattern.

For a long time since ancient times, the Yellow River Basin has become the center of my country's economy and politics, and the population distribution has shown a pattern of emphasis in the north and less in the south. Since the Three Kingdoms, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, the political situation in the north has been turbulent and war-torn for a long time. As a result, the population of the Central Plains has migrated southward on a large scale many times, and the population distribution pattern in which the north is more important than the south is gradually being broken. In particular, the Eight Kings Rebellion of the Western Jin Dynasty lasted for a long time and caused serious damage. It intensified class conflicts and ethnic conflicts, causing a large number of people in the Central Plains to migrate southward, setting off an unprecedented wave of immigration. The number of displaced people in Jerusalem exceeds 900,000. After the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, northerners once again moved southward on a large scale. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, fighting continued in the north, and northerners continued to move south. As a result, the south gradually became an advanced economic region in the country, and its population also exceeded that of the north. A population distribution pattern in which the south was heavier than the north was eventually formed.

3. Important factors affecting the historical changes in China’s population.

1. The natural environment is the basic condition for human survival and development.

The natural environment includes geography, climate, hydrology, soil, etc. Whenever possible, people always seek places with good climate, fertile soil, and abundant water to survive. China's historical population originated from the middle and lower reaches of the two rivers, and the population density in the southeast was higher than that in the northwest. This fully illustrates the important influence of the natural environment on population changes.

2. An agricultural-based economy influences demographic changes.

In the absence of significant improvements in agricultural productivity, expanding farmland area, increasing crop varieties and increasing yield per mu are all important ways to increase food. Although we cannot completely attribute population changes to the rise and fall of food availability and agricultural production, agricultural development and food harvests are certainly conducive to population growth. In the early stages of each dynasty, social stability, agricultural development, and food harvests were all accompanied by population prosperity. The sharp increase in population in the Northern Song Dynasty is not unrelated to the development of agriculture in the south and the increase in rice varieties. The population growth in the early Qing Dynasty was also closely related to the widespread cultivation of high-yielding crops such as sweet potatoes and corn.

3. Social environment and population changes are closely related.

Wars, policies and demographic systems in the social environment have a great impact on population changes. Throughout the history of China, the impact of war on population has been in three aspects. First, it directly caused death and reduction of the total population. During the Three Kingdoms period, "you can't see anything when you go out, but the plains are covered with white bones", which fully illustrates the cruelty of war and the destruction of the population. Second, it directly causes damage to the living environment of the population. Looking through the history books, we often see houses burned down, acres of land left uncultivated and abandoned. Records of people eating each other. The third is to cause a decline in the registered population. Prolonged wars have caused large-scale population migration. Migrant people leave their place of origin, reducing the country's registered population. On the contrary, social stability is conducive to people's recuperation and population expansion. The wave-like changes in population mentioned earlier reflect, to a certain extent, the impact of war and peace environments on the rise and fall of population.

In terms of policy, land policy and tax policy are the most important to farmers. As long as the government integrates farmers with the land, reduces corvee and taxes, and relaxes personal control over farmers, it will be conducive to population growth. For example, the implementation of the land equalization system, the rent-to-rent system, and the allocation of land to acres were of great significance to population growth. On the contrary, when land is annexed, taxes are heavy, and personal dependence is strengthened, the total population will decrease. Some of them will die of hunger, and some will disperse and hide. The wave-like changes in population mentioned earlier reflect, to a certain extent, the impact of changes in political economic policies on the rise and decline of population.

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China has established a population registration and survey system very early. The demographic system has experienced development and continuous improvement through the ages, and has also become an important factor affecting historical population changes. Although the demographic statistics of past dynasties may be incomplete or may be distorted, they have left behind precious historical demographic data for future generations and become an important basis for us to understand the overview of historical changes in China's population.