Shaanxi Historical Population Geography

The present dissertation entitled" A study of population geography in historical periodsin Shaanxin" is finished under the supervision of Professor Shi Nianhai, the famous expert ofhistorical geography. Overall, the dissertation, from the angle of history study, geographyof population in historical periods and theory and methodology of population study,discusses the population scale, the ups and downs of pupulation, the migration of populationand the distribution of population, etc.This paper is divided into 6 chapters, citing 36 diagrams on various vital statistics and12 maps of population distribution.In the first chapter, the author aims at the study of the significance, purpose, presentsituation of research, theory and methods, natural geography in Shaanxi Province and itscharacteristics.The second and the third chapter, based on the argumentation on different opinion,discusses the population scale in eight periods from West Han Dynasty to Qing Dynasty,and finds out the amout of population in each period.The fouth part deals mainly with the process of population changes and its cocial-economic causes. Also, the characteristics of the population changes and its regionalvariation are generalized.The fifth part studies the population migration in historical periods in Shaanxi, whichis divided into 3 stages. The captioned part mainly deals with the panoramic situation ofpupulation migration, such as, the migratingplace and immigrating place, the causes ofmigration and the amout of migration, etc. Finally, the dissertation generalises thecharacteristics of population migration and its influences in Shaanxi.The sixth chapter focuses on the Population distribution in historical periods inShaanxi, and analyses the generality of population distribution and the process ofmigration. The natural, economic and social - political factors and their influences onpopulation distribution are discussed.