An Analysis On Sun Benwen’s Population Thought

Sun Benwen is a famous sociologist in China.His wrote many works which are connecting to various subjects including sociology,demography and psychology.His population thought has significant impact in China.Since many of his works are distributing in different fields,his thoughts on population has not been systematically organized yet.It would be valuable to consider Sun Benwen’s contribution when discussing population thought in China.Based on literature review,this paper systematically collates and analyzes Sun’s population thought,summarizes its contribution,analyzes its deficiency,and re-understands Sun’s population thought.Sun’s population thought is systematic and comprehensive,involving different levels and aspects of demography.In terms of the origin of population theory,Sun introduces and evaluates the classical theory of population,which led to his tendency of population theory--population is affected by complex factors,especially by social and cultural factors.In terms of moderate population,he puts forward the framework of moderate population analysis,believing that when population,land,living level and cultural level are in balance,the population will be reasonable.In terms of population control,Sun believes that birth restriction is the most reasonable method.In terms of population quantity and structure,Sun uses data to make a comparative analysis of population quantity and population structure between China and the western countries.When there was no census data,he sorted out a set of Chinese population data by collecting,analyzing and integrating all kinds of population data.In terms of migration,he believes that migration is an individual negative choice,originating from the inequality of living degree,which may have a negative impact on both the migrants and the destination.The rural population outflow will reduce the vitality of rural production and life,and it is necessary to enhance the attractiveness of rural areas and reduce the brain drain.It is worth noting that he also discusses the migration activities during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and comes up with the idea that "reverse population flow" was beneficial to the development of western China.In terms of population quality,he analyzes the physical quality,scientific and cultural quality and moral quality;proposed that the acquired environment determines the population’s quality,and criticizes the eugenics.Sun’s population thought reflects Chinese scholars’ exploration of the solution to the population issue in the first half of the 20 th century.It is also a reflection of Sun’s enthusiasm and faith in serving his country,as well as the scientific academic spirit he has.Sun insists on viewing China’s population problem from the the global and cultural perspectives,and forms his thought of China’s population with personal characteristics.Sun population thought not only helps us to have a clearer understanding of the past population situation and population problems,but also enlighten us the solution of contemporary population problems in China through his forward-looking judgment and relevant measures.