History
editFamily register was conducted as early as the Xia Dynasty. In the following centuries, family register developed into an organization of families and clans for taxation, conscription and social control.
According to the Examination of Hukou in Wenxian Tongkao published in 1317, the Zhou Dynasty has a minister named Simin (Simplified Chinese:司民) for population management. The minister was responsible for recoding births, deaths, emigrations and immigrations. The Rites of Zhou describes three copies of documents were kept in different places. The administrative division in Zhou Dynasty was based on the distance to the state capital. The top division name near the capital was named Dubi(都鄙), top division name in further area was named Xiang (乡) and Sui(遂). Families are orgnized under the Baojia system. Guan Zhong, Prime Minister of the Qi state 7th century BCE, imposed different taxations and conscription policies on different areas[1]. In addition, Guan Zhong also banned immigration and emigration, and seperation of families without permission[2]. In The Book of Lord Shang, Shang Yang also described his policy banning immigrations and emigrations[3].