Totally OT now, but just wanted to say the period 1958-61 in China actually was a period of great population loss, with estimates of 20-43 million deaths due to famine. The govt had launched their "Great Leap Forward" without attention to the effects of collectivised farming and a new attention to steel took attention away from food production. This coupled with natural disasters lead to widespread starvation and death.

BUT Lime, I totally get your point, and yes it was also a period without wars, and with increased maternal and general health, leading to a large population growth rate (which managed to counter the deaths due to famine).