Editing Qing dynasty (section)

===Population growth and mobility===
The population grew in numbers, density, and mobility. The population in 1700 was roughly 150&nbsp;million, about what it had been a century before, then doubled over the next century, and reached a height of 450&nbsp;million on the eve of the Taiping Rebellion in 1850.{{sfnp|Rowe|2009|p=91}} The spread of New World crops, such as maize, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and potatoes decreased the number of deaths from malnutrition.&nbsp; Diseases such as [[smallpox]] were brought under control by an increase in inoculations. In addition, infant deaths were decreased due to campaigns against [[infanticide]] and improvements in birthing techniques performed by doctors and midwives and an increase in medical books available to the public.{{sfnp|Rowe|2009|pp=91–92}} European population growth in this period was greatest in the cities, but in China there was only slow growth in cities and the lower Yangzi. The greatest growth was in the borderlands and the highlands, where farmers moved to take advantage of large tracts of marshlands and forests.{{sfnp|Rowe|2009|p=92}}

The population was remarkably mobile, perhaps more so than at any time in Chinese history. Millions of Han Chinese migrated to [[Yunnan]] and Guizhou in the 18th century, and also to Taiwan. After the conquests of the 1750s and 1760s, the court organised agricultural colonies in Xinjiang. This mobility also included the privately organised movement of Qing subjects overseas, largely to Southeast Asia, to pursue trade and other economic opportunities.{{sfnp|Rowe|2009|p=92}}

Manchuria, however, was formally closed to Han settlement by the [[Willow Palisade]], with the exception of some bannermen.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Edmonds |first=Richard L. |year=1979 |title=The Willow Palisade |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=599–621 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1979.tb01285.x |issn=0004-5608 |jstor=2563132}}</ref> Nonetheless, by 1780, Han Chinese had become 80% of the population.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Richards |first=John F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HQ5KbXYhEB8C&pg=PA141 |title=The Unending Frontier: An Environmental History of the Early Modern World |year=2003 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-23075-0 |pages=141, 144}}</ref> The relatively sparse populatikon made the  territory vulnerable to Russian annexation. In response, the Qing officials proposed in 1860 to open parts of Guandong to Chinese civilian farmer settlers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Robert H. G. |url=http://archive.org/details/manchurianfronti0000leer |title=The Manchurian frontier in Chʼing history |year=1970 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-54775-9 |location=Cambridge, MA |page=103}}</ref> Late 19th century Manchuria was opened up to Han settlers, resulting in more extensive migration.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2012 |title=China's narrative of Han expansion |url=https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1095073/chinas-narrative-han-expansion |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108115146/https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1095073/chinas-narrative-han-expansion |archive-date=8 November 2021 |access-date=2021-11-08 |website=South China Morning Post}}</ref> By the  dawn of the 20th century, largely in an attempt to counteract increasing Russian influence, the Qing had abolished the existing administrative system in Manchuria, reclassified all immigrants to the region as "Han" instead of "civilians", and replaced provincial generals with provincial governors. From 1902 to 1911, 70 civil administrations were created in Manchuria, owing to the region's growing population.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Matsuzato |first=Kimitaka |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YwW6DQAAQBAJ |title=Russia and Its Northeast Asian Neighbors: China, Japan, and Korea, 1858–1945 |year=2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4985-3705-6 |pages=27–28}}</ref>