| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures |
| Editors | Helaine Selin |
| Place of Publication | Netherlands |
| Publisher | Springer Netherlands |
| Pages | 1-5pp |
| Volume | 1 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9789400739345 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Abstract
According to available records, the population living in areas controlled by Chinas Western Han dynasty (206 BC25 AD) was already close to 60 million in the year 2 AD. In the next thousand years, Chinas population size varied greatly between 20 and 60 million, and its reduction was often related to wars, famines, pandemics, natural disasters, and the decrease in the territory administrated by the imperial government. Noticeable population growth took place in the eleventh and twelfth centuries when the Chinese population was very likely to have reached 100 million. This was followed by further fluctuations in its number in the next few centuries. By the early seventeenth century, the Chinese population increased to 100150 million. It rose further to about 440 million in 1850 (Ho, 1959; Zhao & Xie, 1988) and 550 million in 1950 (Yao & Yin, 1994). For most of the last two millennia, the Chinese had about a quarter of the worlds population