明清扬州人口变化及其原因浅谈

Analysis of the Population Changes and Their Causes in Yangzhou during the Ming and Qing Dynasty

明清时期的扬州是东南地区地位最为重要的城市之一,其经济繁荣,人口众多。但扬州人口并非一成不变,根据地方志与历史文献记载,可以发现明清两代扬州人口呈波浪型向上递增的趋势,在明初与清初降到谷底,随后迅速增长,嘉庆年间达到历史的最高点,之后缓慢下降。明清扬州人口的变化具有鲜明的时代特征,与当时的社会变迁息息相关。

Yangzhou in the Ming and Qing Dynasty was one of the most important cities in south-eastern China,with economic prosperity and a large population. However,the population of Yangzhou was not static. In accordance with the local records and the historical document records,it can be found that Yangzhou population showed wavelike increasing upward trend in the Ming and Qing dynasties,dropped down to the bottom in the early Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty,followed by rapid growth,and reached a historical peak in the reign of Emperor Jiaqing,and had been falling slowly since. The changes of population in Yangzhou in the Ming and Qing Dynasties have distinct characteristics of the times,which are closely related to the social changes of the times.