第七章人口政策

Population Policy Author(s): Ta Chen Source: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 52, Supplement: Population in Modern China (1947), pp. 72-77 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2771185 . Accessed: 28/06/2011 08:51 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpress. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Journal of Sociology. http://www.jstor.org CHAPTER VII POPULATION POLICY THE data presented in the preceding chapters should normally be helpful for the formulation of China's popula- tion policies. Presumably, such policies must first be enacted into law by the national legislature and then enforced through the chief executive of the gov- ernment. More fundamentally, if these policies are intended to be effective and enduring, they should be deep rooted in the folkways and must therefore express the "general will" of the people. The artificial divorce of governmental action from popular sentiments explains in large measure the tragic failure of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in their at- tempts to enforce the "new population policies" before the second World War.' In China the interplay of social forces and political power in population mat- ters is distinctly discernible in history. About 495 B.C., when Yueh was defeated by Wu, King Kou Chien of Yueh retreat- ed to Kwei Chi (now Shao Hsin in Che- kiang) and encouraged the growth of population by punishing the parents "if girls of I 7 and boys of 20 years of age and over are not married. "2 In this the king was warmly supported by the populace, and, in 473 B.C., Yueh ultimately con- quered Wu. In recent years scattered views on population may be found from the speeches and writings of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, though nowhere has he set forth his arguments cogently and coherently. A. POPULATION POLICY AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT Throughout China's long history, though marriage and family relations have usually been considered personal and intimate affairs, they invariably re- flect the economic and social situation in which the individual lives and by which his thought and conduct are strongly in- fluenced. Only on this basis can we un- derstand the position taken by Confucius and Mo Ti on population and related questions. Living at a period between Confucius (who died 479 B.C.) and Mencius (who was born 372 B.C.), Mo Ti enunciated almost identical views on marriage and family as Confucius, while the two thinkers differed on almost all other questions of social importance. Among other things, Mo Ti encouraged early marriage because that would en- able the average family to bring up more children, and he was against warfare be- cause the casualties of war would natu- rally cause a decrease in population. These views were quite in harmony with the popular adage, which was commonly attributed to Confucius, that "to die without offspring is one of the three gravest unfilial acts." To appreciate Confucius and Mo Ti more fully, one must analyze the social environment of their periods. Both of them lived in the Kingdom of Lu (now Shantung), which had at the time a com- paratively sparse population, and the increase of man-power for the more ade- quate division of labor and for more ef- fective national defense was one of the x D. V. Glass, The Struggle for Population (Ox- ford: Oxford University Press, I936), and Pop- ulation Movements and Policies in Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, I940). 2Chao Hua, Annals of Wu and Yueh, Vol. X. 72 POPULATION POLICY 73 pressing military and social needs of the day. Confucius and Mo Ti both saw this and therefore urged the increase of popu- lation to meet the requirement. Perhaps low densities generally prevailed in the Yellow River Valley in those days, be- cause similar views were expressed by other thinkers. Thus the king of Liang (now Honan), southwest of the King- dom of Lu, once requested Mencius to make suggestions as to how to increase the population of his kingdom. Besides, Shang Yang (352-338 B.C.) was reported to have urged the King of Ch'in (now Shensi) to encourage the immigrants from Shansi to develop agriculture. The significant thing is that the ideas of Confucius and Mo Ti harmonize very well with the system of agriculture, be- cause on the farm the increase of helpers is always regarded as an asset. As the cultivation of the fields is usually close to the home, the farm workers may enjoy companionship with other members of the family; and the family, as a basic social institution of permanent func- tions, is thus evolved. When a man dies, he is usually buried beside the farm, and his spirit is worshiped in order to bring good fortune to the survivors. In time a chain of events becomes institutional- ized: agriculture needs the family, the family is in favor of ancestor worship, and ancestor worship encourages nu- merous children to perpetuate the family tree as well as to facilitate land cultiva- tion. For countless decades this sequence of events has been incorporated into the folkways of China, and as a result the increase of population has become a common phenomenon. Unconsciously, the average Chinese peasant prefers a large family, and the parents will usually sacrifice all for their children, even to the degrading of their own living standards. In these circumstances, population nor- mally increases faster than the means of subsistence. The social situation became so unfavorable that at the end of the eighteenth century, Malthus, basing his conclusions on the observation of J. B. Duhalde (I674-I743) and G. T. Staun- ton (I737-I80I), had occasion to remark that, compared with the standards of France, China in proportion to her area had about 6o.o per cent more people than her food resources could comfortably support.3 According to the Chinese, however, the thought of perpetuating the family lineage overshadows all other considera- tions, and the necessity of maintaining suitable living standards is generally ig- nored. In fact, individual ascendancy in the line of "social capillarity," which Arsene Dumont4 (I849-I902) discussed at length, is rather distasteful to the orthodox Chinese. To him this slow proc- ess of climbing the social ladder, where some individuals get ahead of others, is accomplished, wittingly or unwittingly, at the latters' expense. In China, familial solidarity is fostered in preference to individual initiative, and social stagna- tion is the chief consequence. B. DR. SUN YAT-SEN' S VIEWS ON POPULATION Thus, deep down in the folkways and mores, the average Chinese loves to maintain a large family. In China, more than anywhere else, the effective desire for numerous offspring finds free expres- sion. Against this social background, Dr. Sun Yat-sen urged his political and social reforms for modern China. On popula- 3 T. R. Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population (London: Dent, I933), I, Book I2, I3I. 4Depopulation et civilization (I890); NataliM et democratie (I898); La Morale basee sur la demo- graphie (Paris: Schleicher Freres, I9OI). 74 POPULATION IN MODERN CHINA tion matters Dr. Sun was ascribed by some of his followers as having advo- cated an unconditional and universal in- crease of China's population; and this stand, according to them, was the most precious legacy which the party leader had bequeathed to posterity. However, recent studies of Dr. Sun's public utterances and writings have re- vealed that he did not state his position clearly and consistently.5 While lecturing on the "principle of nationalism," he saw the necessity of a large population and its relation to national power. But in his discussions of "people's livelihood," he distinctly envisaged the great difficulties of maintaining satisfactory living stand- ards by a big and growing population. In the light of the analyses recently made of Dr. Sun's views by both Mr. Chang Heng Chen and Mr. S. C. Tsui, a brief summary may be attempted. On a number of public occasions Dr. Sun deplored the fact that China had an excessive population, which resulted in widespread poverty, and that the ma- jority of her people could not maintain "the subsistence level of living." In his memorial to Marquis Li Hung-Chang toward the close of the Manchu Dynas- ty, Dr. Sun said, in effect, that " China is now over-populated, as in the govern- ment offices no vacancies can be found, and as to the general populace, a large number of the people obtain no employ- ment."6 About twenty years later, shortly after the outbreak of the first World War, Dr. Sun further argued that the mere in- crease of numbers without concomitant improvement in production techniques was an inducement to the imperialist nations to exploit China: Colonies are diligently sought for chiefly be- cause of their rich natural resources and large capacities for consumption due to excessive population and efficient labor power. The im- perialist countries are often unwilling to develop new territories by their own fellow countrymen, as they usually go abroad in small numbers and have small capacity for consumption; when the territories are well developed, they become self- governing and can no longer be suppressed by their mother country. Therefore, the European powers often prefer colonies inhabited by the colored races for whom unequal treatment is usually meted out. The colored peoples are forced to occupy a permanently inferior status by being farmers so that the imperialist nations may sell them manufactured goods and reap the benefits from trade forever. In the world today, the countries having the ambition of acquiring new territories invariably observe the above conditions as the best criteria, and India and China thus become their primary choices.7 As to the remedies, Dr. Sun wanted to explore the natural resources to the full- est extent, to institute scientific reforms in agriculture, to develop modern indus- try, and to equalize the uneven ge- ographical distribution of population by encouraging migration to the frontiers. To broaden the base of the revolution, he naturally sought to befriend the masses by improving their living and by trans- ferring to them certain rights and privi- leges which historically had been re- served for the minority. Attempting to curtail the danger of bourgeois domina- tion, he tried hard to restrict the concen- tration of capital, on the one hand, and to promulgate protective labor laws, on the other. With the goal of strengthening the social position of the farmers, he promised to effect a redistribution of landownership among the cultivators. Visualizing this utopian society, he 5 Chang Heng Chen, Three People's Principles and Population Policy (Shanghai, I930); S. C. Tsui, New Viewpoints of Three People's Principles (Chungking, I945). (Both in Chinese.) 6Hu Han-Min (ed.), Complete Works of Sun Yat- sen (4 Vols.; Shanghai: Min Chi Book Co., I930), III, iOi. (In Chinese.) 7Sun Yat-sen, "Life and Death for China" (Complete Works, I, 986-87). POPULATION POLICY 75 would eventually attempt to increase the happiness of the farmers and workers by urging them to have large families. Like mercantilists and cameralists before him, Dr. Sun somehow wrongly associated prosperity and progress with an expand- ing population. This, however, is an inference sometimes drawn from Dr. Sun's political and social reforms with special reference to his discussions on nationalism; but he himself nowhere explicitly advocated an unconditional and universal increase of China's popu- lation. Rather emphatically, Dr. Sun thought that China's salvation lay in the quick realization of "political and economic power" and of social improvements. Of more urgent needs, he was especially in- terested in the reduction of the death rates, in the promotion of personal health and social hygiene, and in the abolition of such obnoxious social habits as geomancy, opium-smoking, and foot- binding. To some persons it appeared that Dr, Sun's view on population was modified somewhat by W. W. Rockhill's studies, which gave a lower estimate of China's population.8 This led him to conjecture that China's population was decreasing. On one occasion, Dr. Sun said: About a century ago, France, acting on the belief that she had already reached the Mal- thusian limit, began to practice family limita- tion. Today, the French people are reaping the painful effects of a declining population and are encouraging the increase of numbers to insure France's permanent place among the nations of the world. Nowadays in China, some young men are also influenced by Malthusianism and com- mence to control births.9 If from this, one infers that Dr. Sun was in favor of an increase of population for China, it would probably be considered a far-fetched conclusion. Yet, from Sun's writings it would be difficult for one to find any more direct evidence to sub- stantiate this untenable position. It is curious, however, how the view of being in favor of an unconditional and universal increase of China's population is attributed to Dr. Sun. So general and persistent is this belief that, among the party and government circles, birth con- trol has not been freely discussed in re- cent years. In official publications birth control is commonly ignored because to some party workers this seems to run counter to the teachings of the late party leader. C. THE COMMITTEE FOR STUDY OF POPULATION POLICIES Chiefly because of his breadth of views on social questions, Dr. Sun has, never- theless, stimulated public interest in population problems. Among the social scientists in academic circles, heated dis- cussions about China's population have been going on. In time their views have attracted the attention of the govern- ment, which has shown its willingness to adopt a more detached attitude by en- couraging dispassionate and scholarly discussions. As stated earlier, the task of gathering population data is now divided between the Ministry of the Interior and the Directorate of Budgets, Accounts, and Statistics. But the formulation of population policies evidently comes with- in the competence of the Ministry of Social Affairs. In the autumn of I94I the aforesaid ministry organized a Com- mittee for the Study of Population Poli- 8Inquiry into the Population of China ("Smith- sonian Miscellaneous Collections," Vol. XLVII, Part III [Washington, D.C., I904]), p. '549. Dr. Sun did not refer to this material until January 27, I924, in his first lecture on nationalism (Sun Yat-sen, Three People's Principles [Kuomintang Central Executive Committee], pp. 20-21). (In Chinese.) 9 Sun Yat-sen, ibid., p. 20. 76 POPULATION IN MODERN CHINA cies by inviting university professors and specialists in addition to the officials of the government who are deeply inter- ested in population problems.I' Since then, the committee has held a number of meetings in Chungking and Kunming, at which various views were presented and important decisions taken. Though it is still premature to evaluate the ac- tual consequences of the committee's de- liberations on China's population policy, if and when enforced, the conclusions reached by the committee nevertheless represent the considered opinion of a number of the social scientists in China today. Such views as succinctly sum- marized below should form the basis of a population policy that may harmonize with the socioeconomic situation as de- picted in the fomer chapters and may pave the way for an enduring peace be- tween China and other nations. I. QUANTITY Facing poverty, ignorance, and the low living standards of the masses, the country should not and cannot encour- age unconditional and universal increase of population. Increase should occur only where the individuals, as parents, are physically fit and mentally sound, where the families are able to give the children proper care and training, and where the social surroundings are favorable. The parents, after careful consideration of the interest of the family and of the com- munity, may decide for themselves as to the proper number of children they should bring up. In addition, the number of children may also vary with the skill and income of the parents, as well as with the folkways and social wealth of the community. Thus viewed, some indi- viduals may have children, others not; some communities may have population increase, others not. A differential rate of increase will therefore have to be worked out between individuals, classes, and communities in the interests of all the parties concerned. Broadly speaking, such views are substantially in agreement with the theory of optimum population as first expounded in England and widely advocated of late in other regions of the world. II. QUALITY After deploring the paucity of data on population quality, the committee em- phatically urges that machinery be set in motion for qualitative studies, which would emphasize both negative and posi- tive eugenics. On the side of negative eugenics, steps should be taken to segregate per- sons of hereditary defects, physical or mental, from the normal population. Possibilities of sterilization should also be explored. In regard to positive eu- genics, the beginnings should be made by encouraging marriages between persons of superior physical fitness and mental abilities. Wherever possible, medical cer- tificates should be required before mar- riage. For persons of physical and mental fitness, ample opportunities should be provided for freedom of choice. Such op- portunities should include free participa- tion by individuals in sports and recrea- tion, as well as the free pursuit of health and education, so that biological fitness may readily be turned into social fitness for cultural advancement and racial re- juvenation. IoAmong other members are the following: Mr. Chang Heng Chen, of the Legislative Yuan, chair- man of the Chungking section; Mr. Ta Chen, chair- man of the Kunming section; Professor P. W. Sun, Central University; Dr. H. C. Hsu, Health Adminis- tration, Chungking; Professor Quentin Pan, South- west Associated University; Mr. H. C. Chang, head of research section, Ministry of Social Affairs. POPULATION POLICY 77 III. MAR.RIAGE AND FAMILY Liberal ideas are freely enunciated by the committee in regard to social life between the sexes. Since girls and women are now