JNQUIKV INTO rilK I'Ol'ILATIOiN OF CHINA. 



673 



III. 



Lot lis rcNcrl now (o (he li<2;iiiH'.s <ii\t'ii hy (ho Cliiiioso Govorninont 

 for tho population at tlio vai-ious poriods sinoe 1741 and see whether 

 tho ainuial ratos of inoroaso aro at all roasonablo. This oxaniination 

 is (listinotly (lisai)i)ointiiig; iiothin<>; loss satisfactory could bo con- 

 ceived. Bot\voon 1748 and 1783 — during which time China enjoyed 

 extraordinary poaco and ])ros[)ority, disturbed oidy by some uprisings 

 of aboriginal tribes in the mountainous regions of the west, and two 

 small rebellions, one in Shan-tung in 1777, the other in Shen-hsi in 

 17S1 — no givat famines or other natural calamities are recorded. 

 Nevertheless, tlie amnial nite of increase of the popuhition (the 

 enumerations being all presumably made in the same manner, with 

 tlie same classes exce])t('d), which between 1748 and 1749 was 2.90 

 per cent, fell from 1749 to 17r)7 to 0.91 per cent, to rise between 1757 

 to 1761 to 1.37 per cent, falling again to 0.78 per cent between 17G1 

 and 1707, and to 0.57 per cent from that date to 1771. The next 

 change is phenomenal: Between 1771 and 1770 it was 5 per cent, but 

 immediately after, between 1770 and 1780 it fell, without any known 

 reason, to 0.80 per cent, to rise again between that date and 1788 to 

 2.84 [)er cent. The average annual rate of increase during the whole 

 period was 1.88 per cent. In Japan, where much more favorable 

 conditions exist than in China, the average yearly increase of the 

 l)opulation from 1872 to 1899 has been only 1.04 per cent. 



If we accept the figure given for the population in 1741 (143,412,- 

 000) as being closer the truth than subsequent ones, and bearing in 

 mind the reasons given previously for and against a rapid increase of 

 population, Ave may assume that the population of China proper 

 barely doubled in the hundred years following; consequently in 1842; 

 instead of being, as given in the official enumeration, 418,000,000, it 

 was probably about 250,000,000. 



Referring now to the extraordinary causes of mortality from 1842 

 down to the i)resent day, some of which are mentioned on preceding 

 pages, they may be tabulated as follows: 



Years. 



Resulting 

 loss of popu- 

 lation. 



Famine 



Do 



Tai-Ping rebellion 



Mohammedan rebellirjns . 



Famine 



Yellow River inundation . 



Famine 



Mohammedan rebellion . . 



Total loss of adults. 



1846 



1849 

 1854-1864 

 1861-1878 

 1877-1878 



1888 

 1892-1894 

 1894-1895 



225,000 



13,750,000 



20,000,000 



1,000,000 



9,,500,(XK) 



2,000,000 



(?) 1,000, (XX) 



225,000 



47,700,000 



SM 1904r- 



-43 



