Historical droughts in the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) of China

Lin, Kuan-Hui Elaine; Wang, Pao K.; Pai, Pi-Ling; Lin, Yu-Shiuan; Wang, Chih-Wei

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-911-2020

Articles | Volume 16, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-911-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Droughts over centuries: what can documentary evidence tell...

https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-911-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 3

Research article

|

02 Jun 2020

Research article |

| 02 Jun 2020

Historical droughts in the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) of China

Kuan-Hui Elaine Lin, Pao K. Wang, Pi-Ling Pai, Yu-Shiuan Lin, and Chih-Wei Wang

Data sets

REACHES Chinese Historical Climate Database Qing Dynasty Drought Series K. H. E. Lin, P.-K. Wang, P.-L. Pai, Y.-S. Lin, and C.-W. Wang https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/29472

Short summary

This study reconstructs drought chronologies of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) based on Chinese documentary records from the REACHES database. In addition to drought records, ecological and societal records are also retrieved. Tests are performed to cross-check data and time series. Six severe drought periods are identified, and spatial patterns are revealed through multivariable analysis. Drought consequence networks are built highlighting human intervention affecting famine and social turmoil.