ABSTRACT
In AD 500 China had a population of about fifty million people. By 1500 this number had doubled, and the Chinese had become the largest population in the world united under one government. The Chinese Millennium is a good period for studying the impact of climate on history. At this time overall technological development was insufficient to offset the damage caused by droughts, floods, and severe frosts. The Chinese millennium may be divided into three periods: AD 500-1000, 1000-1300, and 1300-1500. During 500-1000, historians agree, Europe had a smaller and less prosperous population than it had in the time of the Roman Empire. The Chinese Millennium was a time when Chinese artisans and other manual workers, many of whom remain anonymous, made major contributions to world technology. By the early seventh century China had an integrated canal system. The network of canals created for irrigation also provided a cheap means of transportation.
