East is East and West is West? Comparing Historical Infant Mortality Rates in Taiwan and the Netherlands

Theo Engelen

doi:10.51964/hlcs22955

Author(s)

Theo Engelen Radboud University Nijmegen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51964/hlcs22955

Keywords:

Historical demography, Infant mortalilty patterns, Comparative research, China, The Netherlands

Abstract

This article compares infant mortality rates in two historical populations: one in Europe (the city of Nijmegen) and the other in China (the city of Lugang). The author investigates whether the Malthusian divide — between a preventive demographic system in Western Europe and a positive system in Asia — can be substantiated. The conclusion is that the differences in infant mortality were not as large or as structural as often assumed. Furthermore, the expected negative impact of the patrilineal family system on girls in China could not be confirmed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Barclay, G. W. (1954). Colonial development and population in Taiwan. Princeton University Press.

Beltrán Tapia, F. J., & Szoltysek, M. (2022). 'Missing girls' in historical Europe: Reopening the debate. The History of the Family, 27(4), 619–657. https://doi.org/10.1080/1081602X.2022.2132979

Devos, I. (2000). Te jong om te sterven. De levenskansen van meisjes in België omstreeks 1900. Tijdschrift voor Sociale Geschiedenis, 26(1), 55–77. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292738492_Te_jong_om_te_sterven_
De_levenskansen_van_meisjes_in_Belgie_omstreeks_1900

Emmett Holt, L. (1913). Infant mortality, ancient and modern. An historical sketch. Archives of Pediatrics, 30, 885–915. https://neonatology.net/classics/holt.html

Engelen, Th., & Hsieh, Y-H. (2007). Two cities, one life. Marriage and fertility in Lugang and Nijmegen. Aksant. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789048521012

Knodel, J. E. (1988). Demographic behavior in the past. A study of fourteen German village populations in the 18th and 19th centuries. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511523403

Lee, J., & Wang, F. (1999). One quarter of humanity. Malthusian mythology and Chinese realities 1700–2000. Harvard University Press.

Malthus, T. R. (1798). An essay on the principle of population. J. Johnson. https://archive.org/details/essayonprincipl00malt/page/n7/mode/2up

Shi-yung, L. (2004). Differential mortality in colonial Taiwan (1895–1945). Annales de démographie historique, 107(1), 229–247. https://doi.org/10.3917/adh.107.0229

van Poppel, F., & Mandemakers, K. (1997). Differential infant and childhood mortality in the Netherlands, 1812–1912. In A. Bideau, B. Dejardins & H. Pérez-Brignoli (Eds.), Infant and child mortality in the past (pp. 276–300). Oxford University Press.

Yang, W-S, & Hsieh, Y-H. (2004, November 22–23). Infant mortality in colonial Taiwan, 1901–1945 [Conference paper]. Academia Sinica.