曾几何时,人口众多,居世界第一,是中国人引以自豪的记录。然而,如今人口问题已被人喻为一把达摩克里斯剑,它已严重地困扰着中国社会经济的发展。中国这亿兆斯民是怎样来的呢?中国在何时面临着人口压力?……十年以前,关于上述问题的系统答案却是一片空白。倒不是当时的人们没有认识到这一问题的重要性,而是要回答这一问题实在是太困难了。在中国汗牛充栋的史籍中,关于人口数字的记载不但少得可怜,而且常常让人琢磨不透数字表述的确切含义是什么。年轻的教授葛剑雄博士锐气逼人、知难而进,毅然在这块处女地上拓荒耕耘。春去冬来,年复一年,终于结出了累累硕果,继《西汉人口地理》、《亿兆斯民——中国人口史再认识》等专著后,最近又由福建人 Once upon a time, a large population, ranking first in the world, is a record of Chinese pride. However, the issue of population has now been described as a sword of Damocles, which has seriously haunted China’s social and economic development. When did China’s billion-trillion people come from? When was China under population pressure? ... Ten years ago, the systematic answer to the above-mentioned question was a blank. It is not that the people at that time did not realize the importance of this issue, but rather it was too difficult to answer this question. In the rich history books of China, not only is the record of population numbers pitiable, but people often wonder what the exact meanings of the figures are. Dr. Ge Jianxiong, a young professor, is experiencing difficulties and advancing with difficulties. He resolutely worked hard on this virgin land. Spring and winter come, year after year, and finally bear fruitful results, following the “Western Han population geography”, “billion trillion inhabitants - re-understanding of Chinese population history” and other monographs, recently by Fujian