676 



INQUIRY INTO THE POPULATION OP CHINA. 



might be twice as well olf as he is now; and this without any revolu- 

 tionary change in their present manner of life." ° 



Enumerations of the population of China, 1761, 1812, 1842, 1882, and 1885. 



Provinces. 



1761. 



1812. 



1842. 



1882. 



1885. 



Chih-li._ 1.5,222,040 



Shan-tung.. 25,180,734 



Shan-hsi .__ _ 9,768,189 



Ho-nan 16,332,.570 



Kiang-su 



An-liui 



Fu-kien 



Che-kiang.._ 



Hu-pei 



Hu-nan 



Shen-hsi 



Kan-su. 



Ssfi-ch'uan.. 

 Kuang-tung 

 Kiiang-hsi - . 



Yunnan 



Kuei-chou . . 



Kiang-hsi 



Total.. 



23,161,409 

 22,761,030 

 8,06.3,671 

 15,429,692 

 8,080,603 

 8,829,320 



7,412,014 



2,782,976 

 6,797,597 

 3,947,414 

 2,078,802 

 3,402,722 

 11,006,640 



27,990,871 

 28,9.58,764 

 14,004,210 

 23,037,171 

 37,843,501 

 ;«,165,059 

 14,779,158 

 26,256,784 

 27,-370,098 

 18, 652, .507 

 10,207,2.56 

 15,a54,875 

 21,4.3.5,678 

 19,174,030 

 7,313,895 

 5,-561,320 

 5,288,219 

 23,046,999 



29,529,877 

 17,0.56,925 

 29,069,771 

 39,646,924 

 36,596,988 

 25, 799, .556 

 30,437,974 

 28,584,564 

 20,048,969 

 10,;309,769 

 19, .512, 716 

 22,256,964 

 21,152,603 

 8,121,327 

 5,823,670 

 5,679,128 

 26,513,889 



190,257,423 



360,440,395 



413,021,452 



* 17, 937, 000 

 36,247,835 

 12,211,453 

 22,115,827 

 20,905,171 



* 20, 596, 988 

 25,000,000 

 11,588,692 

 ;33,.3&5,0O5 

 21,002,604 



* 8, 432, 193 

 *5, 411, 188 

 67,712,897 

 29,706,249 

 *. 5, 1.51,327 



* 11, 721,576 



* 7, 669, 181 

 24,534,118 



381,309,304 



* 17, 9.37, 005 

 36,. 545, 704 

 10,791,341 

 22,117,036 

 21,259,989 



* 20, .596, 988 

 23,502,794 

 11,&84,.348 

 a3, 600, 492 

 21,0a5,171 



3,276,967 



* 5, 411, 188 

 71,073,730 

 29,740,055 



* 5, 151, 327 



* 11, 721,576 



* 7, 669, 181 

 24,541,406 



~3777636^198 



The figures given in the censuses of 1701, 1842, 1S82, and 1885 were supplied 

 to Father Amiot, Saeharoff, Popoff, and Roekhill by the Chinese board of reve- 

 nue. Figures in the returns for 1882 and 1885 marked with an asterisk are 

 those given to Saeharoff for the year 1879. They are the latest official esti- 

 mates. 



The figures given under the census of 1812 are taken from Saeharoff, whose 

 authority was presumably tlie official Ta Ch'ing Hui-tien. 



In a most interesting study entitled "Tenure of Land in China and the 

 Condition of the Rural I'opulation " (.Journ. Ch. Br. Hoy. Asiat. Soc, N. S., 

 XXIII, pp. 59-174) we find it stated (pp. 7(>-79) on excellent authority that " it 

 is impossible to say with any sort of exactness what proiiortioa of the whole 

 soil of China is tilled by peasant owners, but probably it can not be put at less 

 than one-half. "^Fhe other moiety is owned in great measure by retired olficials 

 and their fainilics, the cla.ss known as the literati and gentry. * * * Con- 

 siderable tracts of land are owned by such families, and it is the invariable 

 rule in these cases to lease the land to small farmers. In the central and popu- 

 lous parts of China these holdings are exceedingly small, often less than an 

 English acre, seldom larger than three or four acres. * * * JMost iands 

 yield one oi' more subsidiary crops in the course of the year, besides the jirin- 

 cipal crop. * * On the frontier provinces, where the soil is poorer and 



the population moi'e si)arse, the size of the holdings is in general nnich larg(M- 

 than in the central provinces, and the people would seem as a rule to be l)etter 

 off. Rut as population increases there seems everywhere to be a strong tendency 

 for holdings to become reduced to the mininuim size that will support a single 

 family. The more fertile the soil the smallei- the farms and the more minute 

 the subdivision. How marvelously fertile the soil is under favorable circum- 

 stances will be seen from the fa<'t that * * * one mow (<).(> to an acre) will 

 support one individual. On this basis a square mile is capable of supporting 

 a population of 3,840 persons." 



