For additional context: some Threads comments pointed out that large swaths of the Chinese population were typically left out of population census as the new rulers claim territory; however, the ppl behind the study explained that they adjusted for that & if we only rely on census numbers, the population could have fell by 90% at times.
Also, for some reason the replacement of the Yuan (mongol) by the Ming dynasty is not reflected on this chart.
This is fascinating. The top line reflects Chinese population throughout history & bottom line reflects Europe’s population. China’s centralized political landscape is conducive to population booms during peaceful times, but each time political power crumbled resulted in huge population decline comparable to Black Death in Europe. Meanwhile, despite its frequent wars, Europe’s fragmented nature means that damages tend to be regional with relatively few deaths.
@Tfmonkey I had an opportunity this weekend to meet someone, a first for me, who collected beanie babies. During our conversation he was trying to convince me how much money he was going to make selling them blahblahblah. The whole time I was just trying not to laugh in his face so I just kept nodding my head and saying "Dude that's ridiculous"
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