"The Great Wall of Chu" Survey 14: 6. The "U" curve of local population history.
Looking at the local population history, we find that in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the population of this region was once surprisingly rare:
The Tongzhi edition of Fang County Chronicles of the Qing Dynasty records that the population of the county is: 563 households and 2797 people in the tenth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1377); In the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu, there were 820 households and 4275 people. In the tenth year of Yongle (1412), there were 3745 people.
This large county, known as "Qianlifangling", had 666 households and 3,620 people in the 38th year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1699); In the thirty-first year of Qianlong (1766), there were 7,428 households and 42,426 people. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were 299,420 people in the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908); In the second year of Xuantong (1910), there were 59,416 households and 299,420 people. **The population in the first year was the same as ...... at the time of the unification
Looking backwards, the population is much larger: 5090 in the Yuan Dynasty; In the third year of Song Jianlong (962), there were 16,576 households and 23,971 people; Eastern Han household 5000; There are 10,000 households and 25,000 people in the Western Han Dynasty.
The situation in other counties is basically similar, "Zhushan County Chronicles": In 1710 (the forty-ninth year of Kangxi), the household department approved that the number of people in Zhushan Dingkou was 4,371, and if the Zhuang Ding accounted for 15% of the total population, the population of the county was about 30,000. In 1772, (the 37th year of Qianlong), there were 11,773 households in Zhushan according to the indigenous flow of households, with a total population of 171783 people. ......In 1908 (the 34th year of Guangxu), the provincial government counted the total population of Zhushan as 266237 people.
Yunxian Chronicles: In the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1891), Yunxian County had a population of 1,391 households and 11,756 people. The Ming Dynasty adopted the policy of sending foreign refugees back to their hometowns, and those who did not obey were "executed by the main culprit, and the subordinates were sent to the army". By the sixth year of Tianshun, the population of the county had dropped to 997 households and 4,993 people. A hundred years later, the Ming Dynasty was corrupt, and government and military orders were difficult to enforce. Expatriates have entered the country. By the first year of Wanli (1573), the population of the county had grown to 2,813 households and 33,115 people. ......In the fifth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1866), the population of the county grew to 168613 people.
Fang County, Zhushan and Yun County were originally the basic counties in this region, and among the other counties, Zhuxi was originally a part of Zhushan; Yunxi was originally part of Yun County; Baokang County, which is now under the jurisdiction of Xiangyang City, was separated from Fang County in the Ming Dynasty, and the history of the county is relatively short.
Among them, the more detailed population information is the "Yunxi County Chronicle", which records that during the Song and Yuan dynasties, wars were frequent, the population of the county decreased sharply, and "the land of thousands of miles was deserted". ......During the Ming and Qing dynasties, population statistics were sometimes calculated by mouth, and sometimes by Ding (all men who reached the age of 18 were "Chengding", and the service ration was calculated according to Ding). According to the Tomorrow Shun Xiangyang County Chronicle: in the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1391), there were 663 households and 2,797 households in Shangjin County (now Shangjin Town and nearby areas). Yongle ten years (1412) 257 households, 1148 mouths (the southeast part of Yunxi County was originally under the jurisdiction of Yun County, and the number of households was not counted). In the sixteenth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1659), Shangjin County was cut into Yunxi County, the number of households is still not detailed, the county is 7168 ding, in addition to fleeing to, there are 1306 ding. According to the Qing Dynasty Qianlong version of the county chronicles, ,......In the 20 years to the 36th year of Qianlong (1771), a total of 7,280 people were born. According to the Tongzhi County Chronicle: in the ninth year of Tongzhi (1870), it increased to 9,077 households and 70,795 people. In the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908), it reached 229,000 people.
Another important area of Junxian County, now Danjiangkou City, according to the "Danjiangkou City Chronicles" records: AD 742 (Tang Tianbao year), Junzhou 3 counties have 9,698 households, 50,809 people; In 1102 (the year of Chongning in the Northern Song Dynasty), there were 30,107 households in 2 counties under the jurisdiction of Wudang County in Junzhou; After 1476 (the twelfth year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty), Junzhou had no collar county. In 1575 (the third year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty), there were 3,896 households and 15,451 people; In 1880 (the sixth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty), the population of Junzhou increased to 178756. In 1908 (the 34th year of Guangxu), he was a 201811 person.
The record of the local population in the Yunyang Mansion Chronicles of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty is as follows:
Yunyang Mansion: In the first year of Wanli, there were 11,630 households and 117,469 mouths. Where:
Yunxian: In the first year of Wanli, the household was 2,813 and the mouth was 33,127.
Fang County: In the first year of Wanli, the household was 1,582 households, and the mouth was 16,265.
Zhushan County: In the first year of Wanli, the household was 1,582 and the mouth was 16,265.
Shangjin County: In the first year of Wanli, the household was 194 and the mouth was 8,049.
Zhuxi County: In the first year of Wanli, the household was 174 and the mouth was 14,906.
Yunxi County: In the first year of Wanli, the household was 1,659 and the mouth was 13,334.
Baokang County: In the first year of Wanli, there were 945 households and 1,620 mouths.
In the eighteenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1590), the "Yuntai Chronicles" contains: Junzhou households: 2,577 mouths: 14,862.
Shaanxi's "Baihe County Chronicles" records: The society was relatively stable in the Tang and Song dynasties, and the total population of the territory at that time was 2More than 40,000 people. At the end of the Song Dynasty, there was social turmoil and the population began to decrease. By the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the population was only 1More than 10,000. When the county was established in the twelfth year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty (1476), the total population of Baihe County reached 2More than 30,000 people, the end of the Ming Dynasty increased to 2More than 60,000. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the peasant rebel army led by Zhang Xianzhong passed through the Baihe River, "the people were scattered, and nine out of ten were gone", and the number of registered people decreased sharply.
Here's what to offer.
At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, there were only about 10 households in Baihe County, which shows the extent of population decline.
Shaanxi "Pingli County Chronicles" recorded: at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the county (including Zhenping) only 110 households and 1177 people, during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, it was reduced to 161 Ding ("Ding", referring to adult men who can bear the service), Qianlong 19 years (1754) compiled and checked the household registration, the county "joint camp soldiers and overseas Chinese residence home, a total of 2318 households, 8509 men and women" in the 52nd year of Qianlong (1787), increased to 69070 people (37834 men, 31236 women). In the seventeenth year of Jiaqing (1812), there were 28,174 households and 148099 people, which was the peak of the population of the Qing Dynasty and before. In the twentieth year of Guangxu (1894), there were 26,520 households and 144985 people, a decrease of 3,100 people.
At that time, the "Zhushan County Chronicles" compiled during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty had a more detailed description: The remnants of Zhushan County "are less than one-tenth, and they are all scattered in cottages." The thorns are everywhere, and there is no cooking smoke in the wild. ”
Tongzhi's "Zhuxi County Chronicles" recorded that Zhuxi "has no three households in the wilderness, and the village affairs are half ......."
Fang County Chronicles" records: In the third year of Kangxi, there were only 170 households in Fang County.
Obviously, for our visit to the "Great Wall of Chu", there are two problems that cannot be avoided:
First of all, can the population size of the Ming and Qing dynasties support such a large number of ancient cottages? It's very doubtful. Second, the massive decline in population has made it inevitable that the collective memory of local history will be lost.
In this way, how much credibility is there in the oral stories of today's local people? It's also problematic.
However, in the past few years, most of the evidence we can find during our field visits does point to the Ming and Qing dynasties. Are these ancient stone walls and cottages really irrelevant to the "Great Wall of Chu"? We can't find the answer, and we always feel that things are far from being so simple, and we are unwilling.
Tracing back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, the ancient population of the Han River basin was far more than we now imagined.
According to experts, at least during the Qin and Han dynasties, the population of the Han River basin had reached the peak of official statistics before the Qing Dynasty.
In China, the more accurate demographic statistics that are currently recognized began in the Qin and Han dynasties.
The Qin Dynasty already had the national household registration information, and the "Historical Records" said: "The Han King (Liu Bang) knew the world's dooms, the number of household registrations, the strengths and weaknesses, and the people's sufferings. ”
In the Han Dynasty, the household registration information was further improved. According to the "Hanshu Geographical Chronicles" and other data, some experts have calculated that in the first two years of the Western Han Dynasty (2 AD), the population per square kilometer of the Hanshui basin has reached 1726 people. Although it cannot be compared with the 1,000 people in the Guanzhong Plain, the population density is much higher than that of the Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake basins, and it is in a leading position in the Yangtze River basin.
Since then, the population of the region has generally been on a downward trend, and it was not until the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China that it reached the population level of the Qin and Han dynasties.
If we take the Qin and Han dynasties as a reference starting point, and then take the population of the modern and modern times as another reference point, we can see that the population history of this region is basically an obvious "U" curve.
In other words, from the Qin and Han dynasties to the past, in a more distant era, it is possible that the population of this region supported the construction of the "Great Wall of Chu".
Then, if it is assumed that these relics of the Ming and Qing dynasties are really likely to be used on the basis of the "Great Wall of Chu" in later generations, it may really be the "Great Wall of Chu" in the first place, and it is still logically possible.
So, the question remains, how can it be proven?
To be continued).