We all know there were bloody and violent periods throughout Chinese history. But how violent?
According to a new book by Harvard psychologist and polymath Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, China has five of the 21 conflicts with the highest death tolls in history.
At the top is the An Lushan rebellion during the 8th-century Tang dynasty. Based on Pinker's authoritative sources, 36 million died. As a proportion of the global population at the time, it would be equivalent to 429 million deaths in the mid-20th century. The fall of the Ming dynasty in the 17th century came in fourth place, at 25 million deaths - the mid-20th century-equivalent of 112 million. Between these two were the Mongol conquest and the Middle East slave trade.
The Taiping rebellion in the 19th century killed 20 million (40 million in 20th-century terms). Mao was responsible for 40 million deaths, mostly through government-induced famines. Before his terrible reign, there was the Chinese civil war, which killed three million, the lowest and last on Pinker's mega-death list.
Interestingly, Pinker thinks the world is becoming more rational, compassionate and peaceful. The arguments and evidence he cites are counter-intuitive to many people who think our age is very violent and chaotic, and the 20th century the worst.
Pinker may have a point, especially about China. The deaths of a few hundreds or thousands in the Tiananmen crackdown, while highly significant in our time, might not have drawn even a footnote from an ancient Chinese historian. Toddler Yueyue, killed by two callous drivers, would have been a non-event decades ago, let alone a spark for nationwide soul-searching. We hope Pinker is right.
