| Abstract: | The author analyses the demographic situation of a rural township in West China. He begins by discussing the geographical setting and historical background of the township, pointing out that the bulk of the population is made up of descendants of Hakka immigrants. In the analysis of the age and sex distribution, special attention is paid to the cultural factors which may affect the reported unequal sex ratio for various age-groups. In the subsequent discussion, the population of families is classified according to type and size of landholdings and also according to structural family type. The thesis that family size increases with size landholdings is supported by the data for this township and the author presents hypotheses to account for the correlation between large landholdings and large family size. The percentage distribution according to highest educational attainment of the population over six years of age is presented, as well as data which indicate that literacy and educational attainment is lowest for landless workers, increases for landholders with increase in size of holdings, and is highest for merchants and professionals. The data on which this paper is based were gathered by the author in 1949-50. Population figures collected by local administrators for a 1947 report were reworked and revised through direct investigation and additional material was gathered in detail for the entire population of one representative sub-division of the township; and a random sample of the family heads of that sub-division was singled out for special investigation by means of a structured interview. Such studies in miniature, it is felt, can only suggest hypotheses of wider application; in sufficient number, however, they might provide useful data for China and other countries where modern censuses are still impracticable. |
