What was the population of the Zhou Dynasty?
After Zhou Wuwang destroyed the business, Zhou Wuwang enfeoffed the governors and implemented the enfeoffment system. However, under the system of enfeoffment, the scuffle between vassal States led to casualties, and it was quite difficult to count the population of Zhou Dynasty.
It is reported that the number of royal families in the early Western Zhou Dynasty should be around 200, because when Zhou was a vassal, the number of royal families surnamed Ji reached 53, which can be inferred that the number of royal families at that time was around 200;
After the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, clans were sealed and some people were absorbed. The number of members of the royal family is about 100! At that time, the total population of the Western Zhou Dynasty was about 5-6 million.
The population of the Western Zhou Dynasty is as high as 20 million.
However, with the stability of society, the opening up of wasteland and the self-development of vassal States, by the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the total population of the Western Zhou Dynasty had reached about 20 million, about four times that of the Western Zhou Dynasty when it was just established.
The princes of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty competed for hegemony, and the royal population of the Zhou Dynasty was only one million.
After Zhou Youwang, the Western Zhou Dynasty perished and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was established. However, in the early days of the establishment of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the vassal states reached the state of Qi, Chu and Jin with a population of one million. At that time, the population of wuyue added up to almost one million, Qin reached 600,000, and Song reached 600,000, so the monarchs of these countries successively dominated.
As we all know, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty is divided into two periods: Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period. The population of this period changed greatly with the war between governors. It is reported that there are seven countries left behind-Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin. In the early Warring States period, the population proportions of these seven countries were: Qi, Chu and Wei reached 4 million, Qin, Yan and Zhao also exceeded 2 million, and South Korea also exceeded 6.5438+0 million. Imagine that at that time, the population of the whole country was about 25 million, the population of only seven countries reached 20 million, the royal family of Zhou reached10 million, and the total population of other 30 countries did not exceed 4 million! So in the Warring States period, in fact, other vassal States in the world have existed in name only! The Zhou royal family completely lost the ability to manage the vassal state.
By the end of the Warring States period, that is, before the Battle of Changping, during the reign of Zhao Haoqi, Qin, the population of the seven countries was as follows: due to the recovery of Bashu by Qin, the population of Zhao was around 3 million, the population of Wei was down to more than 2 million, the population of Chu and Qi was basically around 4 million, the population of Yan dropped sharply to more than 6,543,800, and that of South Korea was more than 6,543,800.
Zhao Haoqi of Qin opened the prelude of Qin's annexation of six countries, and finally achieved reunification after 40 years' efforts! In the early days of Qin's reunification, the national population was about 20 million.