The reasons why contemporary young people are reluctant to marry and have children and historical referencesNowadays, with the continuous progress of productive forces, we have entered an era of civilization with material abundance. However, while people's material needs have been met like never before, the spiritual world is becoming increasingly empty. This phenomenon is particularly evident among young people today, who are choosing not to marry or even not to have children. What is it that causes them to be so afraid of marriage and childbearing?
Although the state has introduced relevant policies and provided welfare support, it has had little effect and failed to fundamentally solve the problems of young people and give them a real sense of security. In fact, it is precisely because of the lack of security that young people are more inclined to become unmarried or Dink. If we want to completely solve the problem of negative population growth today, perhaps we can learn some experience from the policies of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the population showed a first-class growth, from 70 million to as much as 400 million.
The reason behind this phenomenon is not complicated, it proves that the people at that time had a high level of happiness in their lives, and they had gained enough security to be willing to have more children. Compared with previous dynasties, the key reason why the Manchu court was able to change the situation of small population was that they were committed to improving the happiness index of the people's lives and enhancing their sense of security. Why, then, did the dynasties that preceded the Manchu court fail to solve the problem of population growth?We can recall the situation after Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty.
Although he ensured the long-term peace and stability of the people, the harsh system he imposed also caused the people to suffer. Under his rule, a social hierarchy similar to the Hindu caste system was established, aimed at strengthening social management. Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born in the peasant rebel army, knew very well that the Yuan Dynasty suffered from the people's uprisings and social turmoil because it did not effectively manage the people.
Therefore, as soon as he ascended the throne as emperor, he began to adjust the household registration system, stipulating that peasant families could only engage in agriculture, merchant families could only engage in **, and handicraft families could only engage in handicrafts, and they could only be changed with the permission of the imperial court. This system severely restricts the right to development of the people, so that their personal destiny is fixed from the day of birth. Zhu Yuanzhang promulgated a series of regulations aimed at changing the phenomenon of peasants.
He stipulated that the people should not travel more than 100 miles, and that they must report to the government in advance;On weekdays, the range of activities should not exceed one mile, and neighbors should supervise each other. In addition, he implemented a poll tax legal system. According to statistics, in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, more than 20 miscellaneous taxes were added on the basis of the poll tax legal system. Due to the high taxes borne by the poor people at the bottom of the society, they have long lost the desire to survive and develop, so they are no longer willing to have children.
Although the ancients had the concept of "no filial piety has three, and no queen is the greatest" to encourage more children, during the Ming Dynasty, in order to escape the strict tax law, many families chose to hide their children, and took the whole family to hide in the mountains and forests, and no longer have offspring. At the same time, the cold climate in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, suffering from large-scale natural disasters, coupled with the inaction of the people, the survival of the people is facing a crisis, and the national population is declining off a cliff. After the establishment of the Manchu court, the society was slightly stable, and the initial estimate of the country's population was only about 70 million.
Population was crucial to the development of a dynasty, so the Manchu court relaxed taxation policies to promote productivity and rapid economic development. Especially after Emperor Kangxi ascended the throne and succeeded to the throne, he issued a decree of "never giving more". Emperor Yongzheng succeeded to the throne and abolished the poll tax that had existed in feudal society for nearly 2,000 years. The more land owned by the wealthy, the more taxes they had to pay, and the burden on the common people was lightened, and the pressure on life was reduced, so the people were willing to have more children, add labor to the family, and improve their living conditions.
Overall, under the relaxed tax policy of the Qing court, the population showed a first-class growth, from the initial more than 70 million to 400 million. In addition to the policy relaxation, some high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes and corn have also been introduced into the country, which have a short growth cycle and a high survival rate, providing stable conditions for the survival of the people. The population of the Manchu court grew rapidly, and relying on policies to meet the spiritual and material needs of the people, reduce the pressure of life, and naturally encourage childbearing. Today, this law still applies to modern society.
Although we have abundant material wealth, people's spiritual world is unusually empty. The imbalance between the material and spiritual worlds has caused people to gradually lose their desire to marry and have children.