One Quarter of Humanity: Malthusian Mythology and Chinese Realities, 1700–2000

by James Z. Lee, Wang Feng

This book presents evidence about historical and contemporary Chinese population behavior that overturns much of the received wisdom about the differences between China and the West first voiced by Malthus. Malthus described a China in which early and universal marriage ensured high fertility and therefore high mortality. He contrasted this with Western Europe, where marriage occurred late and was far from universal, resulting in lower fertility and higher demographic responsiveness to economic circumstances. The result in China was thought to be mass misery as part of the population teetered on the brink of a Malthusian precipice, whereas in the West conditions were less severe.

In reality, James Lee and Wang Feng argue, there has been effective regulation of population growth in China through a variety of practices that depressed marital fertility to levels far below European standards, and through the widespread practices of infanticide and abortion. Moreover, in China, population behavior has long been primarily a consequence of collective intervention. This collective culture underlies four distinctive features of the Chinese demographic pattern―high rates of female infanticide, low rates of male marriage, low rates of marital fertility, and high rates of adoption―that Lee and Wang trace from 1700 to today. These and other distinctive features of the Chinese demographic and social system, they argue, led to a different demographic transition in China from the one that took place in the West.

Genres: Nonfiction, China, History

Paperback

First published October 29, 1999

Reviews

[Josh Brett · Rating 1 out of 5]

James Z. Lee: "ooooh, look at me, I'm so revisionist! I'm tearing down all these Western myths about China!"
reader: "oh, okay, what is your conclusion?"
Lee: "China has always been a fundamentally collectivist society from 2500 years ago until now, in opposition to Western individualism! Also, based on my reading of one 7th century text, married couples in China in the 18th century had sex less because they didnt want to use up their Qi energy. Also, infanticide is now to be referred to as 'post-partum abortion'"

[Tony Huo · Rating 3 out of 5]

- living standards went up even as Qing approached collapse. therefore, stability can decline even as consumption increases

- fertility was controlled through delayed onset of reproduction (3 years from marriage to birth), not having sex (huanjing). couple needs permission from coresiding kin to reproduce

[Alyssa]

Pretty easy read as far as textbooks go.