Studies on the Population of China, 1368–1953

In this book, Ping-ti Ho makes a thorough examination of the machineries with which population data in China were collected in different periods. This has led him to redefine, among other things, the key term ting, which has served as almost the sole basis of reconstruction of China's historical population by many well-known authorities. The second part of the book explains different factors which have affected the growth of China's population during the last six centuries: the approximate extents of cultivated conditions, institutional factors like fiscal burden and land tenure, and major deterrents to population growth such as floods, famines, and female infanticide. Ho came to conclusion that there are correlations between population data with economic and institutional factors of various periods. Also, he suggests ways for a reconstruction of China's population history. This book also correlates the past with the present.