Why are there so many people in China: from antiquity to the present day?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Over the past few centuries, only two countries have added more than a billion people to their population. Many wonder why there are so many people in China and India. The simplest answer is because there were a lot of Chinese and Indians already at the time when the modern period of rapid human growth began. The reasons for good starting conditions for these countries are largely common, although they also have their own national coloring. Therefore, in the article we will consider only one country.

Geographic reasons

One of the significant factors influencing why there are so many people in China is the good location of the country. The region has a fairly favorable climate for living and farming. Warm weather lasts much longer than cold weather. You can safely use the gifts of nature, there were no serious disasters in the region, long periods of drought, floods andhurricanes. These are significant reasons why there are so many people in China.

An important reason for the emergence of a large number of people already in the early period of development is the presence of large areas of fertile land. These, together with easily accessible sources of fresh water, made it possible to grow enough food to feed a large number of people. Even now, China has a lot of agricultural land with river valleys. In many regions of the country, several crops per year can be grown. In addition, the domestication of plants and the domestication of animals began early here, which also gave a sharp impetus to population growth.

Children are the backbone of the family

The Chinese population has been engaged in agriculture since ancient times, which was the main craft. In those distant times, the main food crop of the region was rice. Rather primitive technologies were used for its cultivation. Therefore, there was a great need for workers. For many peasants with 8-10 children, it was quite clear why there are so many people in China. Peasant families tried to acquire large offspring so that they would become helpers to their parents. The Chinese have a saying: "If you have one son, then you have no children, if you have two sons, then only half of the child, but three sons is a full-fledged child."

Perhaps another reason why there are so many people in China was Eastern indifference to the value of human life. Several centuries ago there was a high mortality, but newgenerations replaced them, the older ones were engaged in educating the younger ones. Therefore, only a large number of children in the family could save the family in critical conditions.

Population in ancient times

To find out why so many people live in China at the present time, you can only look at ancient history. Even from historical Chinese films, it can be seen that a large number of people already lived in the country then. Even the first Han states had hundreds of thousands of armies. In the second century AD, during the reign of the Han Dynasty, the first censuses began to be carried out. Then the Celestial Empire was inhabited by about 59,595 thousand people. Even then it was the country with the largest population in the world. That's more than the population of the Roman Empire at its height.

It should be borne in mind that these were not the best times in the history of the country. China had serious demographic problems. In almost continuous wars, many people died, the death rate exceeded the birth rate. However, after the formation of a strong state, the situation stabilized, and the population began to grow rapidly again.

Customs and traditions

Confucian ideals are also a factor in why so many people live in China. The teaching that began to spread in the country from about 500 BC placed respect for the extended family at the head of everything. Perhaps this positive factor has become a powerful stimulus to population growth. A large and strong family for the Chinese for decades has been on the firstplace in the value system. There were no divorces for a long time, they got married once and for all, they sought to immediately acquire a large number of children. In those days, they said: the more children, the richer the parents.

Besides, for a long time there was practically no pension system in the country. Only in recent years have pensions begun to appear on which one can live in old age, primarily from the military and civil servants. Therefore, the Chinese have been like this since ancient times: the more children, the more calm and secure old age.

Public Policy

For a long time, China has been a closed state from the whole world. Traditions were carefully preserved here, there was practically no emigration. Foreigners, especially Europeans, were also not allowed into the country, fearing the spread of diseases. Only after the Opium Wars, when the British forced China to open up the country, did traditional values gradually begin to transform.

After Mao Zedong came to power, the country began to take care of increasing the family in order to turn China into the most advanced and strong state. To do this, he needed a lot of soldiers and people who would work in factories and farms. Population growth continued every year. Until in 1979, the government thought: "Why are there so many Chinese …" In China, a restriction was introduced: a family could only have one child, with the exception of a number of national minorities.

Population now

In 2018, the country's population was1,390 million people and included residents of 31 provinces in mainland China. In terms of population growth of 0.47% per year, China is in 159th place in the world. According to government forecasts, by 2020 the country will be home to 1,420 million people, by 2030 it will reach a maximum of 1,450 million, then it will decrease. So the question: why are there so many people in China will be relevant in the foreseeable future.