China's Population Expansion and Its Determinants during the Qing Period, 1644–1911

Abstract

The Qing Period (1644–1911) has been recognised as one of the most important eras in China’s demographic history. However, factors that determined and contributed to the rise in the Qing population have remained unclear. Most works so far have only speculated at what might have caused the population to increase so significantly during the Qing Period.

This study uses substantial amounts of quantitative evidence to investigate the impact of changes in China’s resource base (farmland), farming technology (rice yield level and spread of maize-farming), social welfare (disaster relief), peasant wealth (rice prices), cost of living (silver’s purchasing power), as well as exogenous shocks (wars and natural disasters) on the Qing population.

Keywords: China, Population, Technology, Taxation, Social Welfare, Disasters

JEL Classification: N35, N55, P48