A short history of the population in Ancient China

China has historically been a country with a huge population and a large geographical area. The population of China has traditionally been a large proportion of the total population in the world. The total population of China was normally one fifth of the total population in the world throughout history. It was in the early 19th century under the Qing dynasty that China’s total population became one third of the total population in the world.

China’s total population during the Warring States Period was around 25 to 30 million people. The Warring States period was considered by many scholars to as the time when agriculture experienced a rapid pace of development. This historical period laid a good foundation for the agrarian economy in China for the next 2000 years to come. China was a country that was built on the agrarian economy and therefore a rapid development in agriculture contributed to the rise in population. The development of agriculture has always been considered as a major factor to explain China’s vast population throughout history. If we compare the population of China in the 5th and 4th century BC, which is 25 million, with the rest of the world, Achaemenid Persia around the same time had a population of 18.7 million and the total population of the world was 162 million. This has demonstrated that China was a country with advanced agriculture at the time that could feed over 25 million people.

China was united for the first time in history by the Qin Kingdom in 221 BC. By the end of the Qin Dynasty, China’s population reached 36 million to 45 million. However, following the collapse of the rule of Qin, China soon turned into military anarchy and civil wars. After the battles between the Han and Chu Kingdoms, the Western Han Dynasty was established, and China’s population was only 15 million to 18 million around this time. Many of the major population decrease in Chinese history could be explained by military anarchy and civil wars. China’s population remained the same during the Three Kingdoms period following the chaotic rebellions in the later part of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Scholars estimated that the population of China in this period was around 16 million to 20 million. After the reunification of China by the Jin Dynasty, China’s population crossed the 20 million people benchmark by becoming 22.62 million. However, soon the Jin Dynasty will be disintegrated into many kingdoms established by the ethnic minorities in Northern China. This period was known as ‘Sixteen Kingdoms’. It was a period of great political instability and military turmoil. However, it was also considered to be the period of cultural and ethnic integration between the Han Chinese and the other nomadic ethnic minorities. The total population in the early 4th Century AD was around 12.4 million.

China was divided into the Northern and Southern Dynasty following the end of the ‘Sixteen Kingdoms’ and the Eastern Jin Dynasty. During the peak of the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasty and the Wei Dynasty of the Northern Dynasty, China’s total population was around 42 million. This figure was certainly much higher than that of a century ago. A decrease in the number of military conflicts could be the major reason to explain this rise in population. The Great Master Confucius himself had a famous quote to explain this phenomenon, “In governing a state of a thousand chariots, deal reverently with business and acquire good faith in people, reduce expenditure and love people, employ people at the proper seasons.” Confucius scholars believed all people aspire to live a peaceful life without the disturbance of war. A good ruler should always use his citizens at the most appropriate time and his order should not disturb the normal working time of his citizens in agriculture. Otherwise, this will cause great disturbance on agricultural production and ultimately lead to famine and a decrease in population.

Sui and Tang Dynasty were the two unified dynasty following the Northern and Southern dynasties period. Once the country was unified and all wars ceased, there was an increase in agricultural production and therefore an increase in population. In AD 598 under the reign of the Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, China’s total population reached 44.5 million, which was the highest in history. Tang Dynasty succeeded Sui and overtook its predecessor in terms of prosperity and wealth. Under the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty in AD 755, China’s total population passed 80 million. This was the peak of the population boom in the Tang Dynasty. If we look at China’s population then, we could see that China’s standard of living was much higher and more advanced than that of many other parts of the world. At the height of the Arabian Empire in AD 750, its total population was around 34 million. The Franc Kingdom in Europe by AD 814 had a total population of 12.50 million. Following the decline in the power of the Tang central government, China marched into the ‘Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period’. This was probably one of the most chaotic periods in Chinese history with warlords battling with each other in Central and Northern China. The military anarchy and civil wars caused a significant decrease in population. By the end of the ‘Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms’ in AD 960, China’s total population was around 20 million, a decrease by 60 million as a result of war and famine.

Interestingly during the time of the Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty in AD 1110, China total population bounced back dramatically and for the first time in history crossed the 100 million benchmark. There were around 20.88 million registered households by the state and the total population was around 112.75 million. 30 years later China’s total population reached 140 million people and this was the total population of the Jin, Southern Song, Xixia and Dali dynasties. By that time China’s total population accounted for roughly 33.3% of the world’s population. Following the fall of the Song and Jin Dynasty to the Mongols, military anarchy resumed, and China’s total population dropped back to the 80 million people level. Throughout the 100 years of Yuan rule, China’s total population was relatively stable around the 80 million people level. The population level bounced back during the Ming Dynasty and by the time of the Late Ming Dynasty, China’s total population was around 197 million people to 200 million people. This was mainly because of the development in traditional Chinese medicine on curing many diseases and also the introduction of plants and vegetables from the American continent. These plants were much easier to cultivate and they could also harvest more. And therefore, great famine in China was less frequent. The main transportation system in the Ming Dynasty was the canal connecting Northern and Eastern China. Resources could also be transported easily between different provinces when the canal system was improved. The peasant’s rebellion in the Late Ming Dynasty and military anarchy as a result of it pushed the number of the total population back to the Yuan level. When the Qing Dynasty officially replaced the Ming Dynasty in 1644, China’s total population was around 88.49 million people.

The peak of modern Chinese population came under the reign of the Daoguang Emperor in AD 1834. For the first time in Chinese history, China’s total population reached the 400 million, which remained stable for the next century to come. If we study the essays and speeches by the Chinese intellectuals and revolutionaries in the Late Qing Dynasty, we could see that they often addressed the people of China as 400 million compatriots. This address came from Chinese people’s understanding of the total population of China, which was around 400 million people.

Overall, we could see that throughout the 2000 years of imperial history of China, the country’s total population experienced dramatic changes because of different factors. Political instability and military anarchy are the most popular reasons to explain the decrease in population in Chinese history. Meanwhile China’s development in agriculture and traditional medicine also helped to increase the total population. China’s total population in history demonstrated that China has always been an important country in the world with a large population. This also shows that Chinese people were hard working and creative in history and the living standard in Ancient China was actually higher than many other parts of the world. China’s development and prosperity in the ancient time gave China the capability to feed a large population.