An estimate of the historical population trend of a migrant-sending community in Hainan Island, China

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26760001
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Area studies
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: INOUE Yosuke 東京大学, 大学院医学系研究科(医学部), 特任助教 (80722016)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 地域研究 / 海南省 / 家系図 / 人口学 / 移住 / 移民

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The objective of this study is to reconstruct the population trend of a migrant-sending community in Hainan Province, China, using information obtained from their genealogical chart. It was reported that there used to be a large number of out-migration to East Asian countries (e.g., Thailand and Malaysia) particularly before the World War II. Results showed that there were many migrants to Thailand in this community and that there was a decline in the number of villagers during the period between the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, which might have protected the villagers from starvation during the Great Chinese Famine. The population increased in the other periods and we did not observe a distinct impact of the one-child policy on the population trend in this community.

Free Research Field

人類生態学