ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the development of population thought and policy in order to understand present population thought and policy. It presents the principal population thought and policy before 221 B.C. The chapter describes three main aspects of population thought, and population policy between 221 B.C. and 1644 A.D. It explores two divergent population ideas and policies between 1644 and 1949. China’s traditional population thought was derived from her population growth by scholars and politicians. The chapter focuses on the development of population thought which scholars who study China’s population have paid little attention to. It discusses the development of the traditional population thought and policy and how they affect current population thought and policy in China. Before 1949, China’s population thought and policy experienced three periods of development. The Chinese government policy on migration in the 1950s and 1960s is quite similar to that of the ancient government policies.