Abstract:

According to the demographic data from the 6th branch in Qianchuan Sheng Family, the numbers of births, deaths and net populat ion growth of men and women survived to over 15 years old increased roughly in the exponential function during a period of 1507~ 2000. However, this growth pattern varied in different periods. Two times of dramatic decreases in the populations of men and women happened in the late years of Ming and Qing dynast ies during 1601~ 1650 and 1851~ 1900, respectively. After the decreases there were two dramat ic increases. Regressions showed that predicted longevities of the men and women decreased by 2. 95 and 3. 17 years every 50 years during the period. In 1951~ 2000, the numbers of births and net increases remained at relatively high levels, and longevities of the men and women rebounded to 57. 8 and 58. 4 years, respectively. In 1991~ 2000, the longevit ies were over 60.3 and 64. 6 years, respectively.

Key words: human population, longevity, eraChinese family tree, historical ecology