The data also show that all segments of the regular banner population saw an approximate tripling of their numbers between the first set of figures from 1648, 1654, and 1657 and the second from 1720, 1721, 1723; Manchus slightly more, Mongols and Chinese banners slightly less. The exception is in the bondservant population, which declined from 62.5 percent of total population in 1648 to just 35 percent in 1723. This reversal of proportions, from twothirds to just one-third, is explained by the apparently unchanging number of people in this group (consistently between 215,000 and 275,000 adult males), a stability that stands in obvious contrast to the trend of population increase in the regular banners. The exact reasons for the failure of the bondservant population to increase remain unclear; we know that in the Kangxi reign some bondservants were able to convert to regular banner status, but many more no doubt left the banners altogether