Famine Relief Statistics as a Guide to the Population of Sixteenth-Century China: A Case-Study of Honan Province

FAMINE RELIEF STATISTICS AS A aUIJS TO THE POPULATION OF SIXTEENTH-CENTURY CHINA: A CASE-STUDY OF HONAN PROVINCE SHUI-YUEN YIM OXFORD UNIVERSITY Introduction It has been recognized since at least 1959 that the official figures for the Chinese population in the sixteenth century are 1 far too low. Up to the present no one has been able to suggest a basis on which they might be adjusted. In this methodological note, a case-study of the famine relief statistics for Honan province in 1593/^ is used to demonstrate a feasible, though rough, solution to this problem. Therefore, the primary object of publishing this research note is to stimulate a search for other materials which may be used in a similar fashion, in a hope that eventually a properly substantiated case may be built up. The Famine of 1 593A in Honan It is first of all necessary to show that the severity of the 1593 /^ famine was such that the greater part of Honan's population was affected to the extent of needing at least some relief. Some indication that this was so is given by the fact that kk of the 96 county gazetteers which are available for the 106 counties of the province record a famine for one or both of these years . These counties are shown in black on Map 1, together with those known to have been flooded or which can safely be assumed to have been flooded, i.e. those for which information is missin? but which -2ccupied low ground entirely surrounded by flooded areas. Since the coverage from gazetteer to gazetteer was not uniform and systematic, the absence of a record should not be taken as an indication that all was well. Famines were recorded in a variety of chapters on "Disasters and Strange Phenomena", "Disasters and Blessings", "Astronomy", "Chronological Events", and so on. These bald figures, however, give no idea of the enormity of the disaster in human terms. The details make a frightening story. Floods started as early as in 1592· In Yfl-chou ß] "??, there was incessant rain from the fifth to the seventh month. In the HRiaulU-f HiSfBl /WE*. r—-Tj SUSHTXY FLOOKiOMM MAP 1 , honAm Province -3counties of Shang-ts'ai -t ^-, Hsi ^, and Nei-huang ft) -^ , the autumn harvest was destroyed by rains and floods, dykes collapsed, 3 and houses were washed away. In the sixth month, Nei-hsiang ft) ??ß reported that the flooded water had reached to the top of the county k capital wall. In 1593 1 26 counties suffered either from excessive 5 rains or from flooding. The duration of this rain ranged from two 6 to six months, and it was described as "rain coming down as if 7 from an upside-down water bucket". Fields were flooded, the wheat and barley completely drowned, and no seed-sowing was possible in the autumn. In Yti-yang >£" 7^¡, the county capital wall was unable to prevent flood water from bringing fish and shrimp swimming into 8 the city. The water was as high as the top of a tree. Rivers 9 101112 such as the Yü;/g, Sha >>·, Huai^íi, Yü >£, and Hsiung;^ overflowed and dykes were broken down. Cereal food ran short. At first people caught fish in the main streets; then they had to eat 13 grassroots, leaves and bark, and even goose manure. Daughters, sons and wives were sold for food. Cannibalism was reported in lb twenty-two counties! one father ate his starving son¡ another 15 father beat his daughter to death, and so on. At night people 16 were kidnapped, and later found butchered. Besides the food crisis, a problem of vagrancy arose as a result of those displaced 17 by the floods. Food riots broke out in Yeh"^, Shen-ch'iu ¿'fcitf?, Shen-yang 5j¿, i$|¡, Lu-shan -\ tit , Wu-yang ^ ?%j and Hsin-ts'ai %? ^- , and military action was taken to suppress them. In Shen-ch'iu, 90 18 bandits were arrested in 1593, and 99 more in 159^· More than 19 a thousand bandits were found in Yeh, Hsin-ts'ai and Shen-yang. Most dangerous of all, epidemics broke out in Yung-ch 'eng...