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Cited by 219Insurance, Mortality, Demography, Risk ManagementDemographic Trends and Gender PreferencesHistorical Economic and Social Studies

A Reassessment of the Demography of Traditional Rural China

Barclay, George W., Coale, Ansley J., Stoto, Michael A., Trussell, T. James·1976·Population Index
DOI 10.2307/2734378
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Abstract

An analysis of the composition, characteristics, and vital processes of the population of rural mainland China was undertaken using data collected as part of a study of land utilization carried out by Naking University in 1929-1931. These data have been reappraised using techniques for demographic analysis of faulty data which shows a consistent picture of the Chinese farmer of high morta moderate fertility, and early and universal marriage. Estimates of the singulate mean age at marriage was 17.5 for females and 21.3 for males. Fewer than 1 in 1000 women and 3 in 1000 men never married. The reported parity of older women was only slightly above 5, which disputes the very large historical family size that has been imputed to the chinese. There was a life expectancy of less than 25 years for each sex, and very high infant mortality. These characteristics were of sufficient persistence to have generated a stable age distribution.

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  • From the 1920s through the 1990s, the marriage rate among all women in China was 99-99.9 percent.

    “Statistics for the 1920s throughout 90s show that the marriage rate among all women in China was 99-99.9 percent (Barclay et al . 1976; Duan 1999: 177, 265; Tong 2000: 302).”

    From Unveiling China's True Population Statistics for the Pre-Modern Era with Official Census Data (2004) · cites this paper as Barclay et al . 1976

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Authors
Barclay, G. W., Coale, A. J., Stoto, M. A., & Trussell, T. J.
ORCID
Stoto, Michael A.
Venue
Population Index
Publisher
JSTOR
Published
1976-10
Volume
42
Issue
4
Pages
606
ISSN
0032-4701 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2307/2734378
OpenAlex
W6195628
Cited by
219
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 1
FWCI
10.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Population Index (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Insurance, Mortality, Demography, Risk Management
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Historical Economic and Social Studies
Keywords
rural demography, Chinese farmers, age at marriage, fertility, mortality, infant mortality, life expectancy, parity, family size, age structure, historical demography
MeSH terms
Age Factors, Asia, Birth Rate, China, Data Collection, Demography, Developing Countries, Asia, Eastern, Infant Mortality, Maternal Age, Mortality, Parity, Population, Population Characteristics, Population Dynamics, Research, Rural Population, Sampling Studies, Sex Ratio, Social Sciences

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