1. Zhixin Hao Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS 4 th Asia 2k workshop in Kyoto, Japan (19-20, March, 2015) High resolution climate reconstructions from historical documents in China

2. 1.Brief introduction on Chinese historical documents 2.Temperature reconstruction 3.Precipitation (dry/wet index) reconstruction Contents

3. Brief introduction on Chinese historical documents  Systematic historical records were kept beginning in the Qin dynasty (221BC).  Before Ming Dynasty, Historians including the weather events and disasters  Under the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644): the central government required provincial authorities to call up local scholars and non-governmental groups, whose duty was to compile the knowledge of past and current geography and to report on natural disasters, population and agricultural resources.  Under the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1911) 273 administrative centers were required to submit detailed records on precipitation (including rain infiltration and snow accumulation depth). Detailed weather diaries were kept from the early 18th century by order of the emperor (Ge et al. 2008).

4. Brief introduction on Chinese historical documents 1. Historians and Ancient writings record drought, flood, frost, snowstorm, …The records are extracted into data-card and input in a data-bank Fig. Sample of databank for Climatic records from ancient writings

5. Brief introduction on Chinese historical documents 2. Local gazettes include weather-related natural catastrophes, e.g., drought, flood, frost, snowstorm, …The record are extracted into data-card, then  count the number of disastrous (e.g. drought, flood) counties in a specified area  graded by the meaning of descriptions

6. Brief introduction on Chinese historical documents 2. Local gazettes Locust disaster in autumn of 1843,Daoguang emperor Dongtai county during Qing Dynasty Flood in summer of 1873,Tongzhi emperor Flood in autumn of 1872,Tongzhi emperor

7. Brief introduction on Chinese historical documents 3. Historical dairies from famous persons consist of plant phenology and weather records, about 100 volumes have been consulted and extracted Fig. Sample of plant phenology records from historical daily Same person Same place

8. Brief introduction on Chinese historical documents 4. A Compendium of Chinese Meteorological records of the last 3000 years  consist of abnormal weather, climatic conditions, atmospheric physical phenomena, and other records related to meteorological conditions such as insect damage, plague, famine and disaster relief.  edited by Zhang De’er, published in 2004, 2 nd version on 2013

9. Brief introduction on Chinese historical documents The 2 pages are the first and last page (right to left) of the original 12-page memo prepared by Gao Bin, Governor General of Zhili province. Fig. An example of Yu-Fen-Cun (infiltration depth of rainfall into the ground) is dated July 11, 1743 (the 20 th day of the fifth month in the 8 th year of the Qianlong Reign in the Chinese lunar calendar). 5. Yu-Xue-Fen-Cun archives

10. Photo of experiment by artificial simulation rainfall An artificial rainfall device was used for the experiments on the farmland during the period May 30-June 16, 2002 Brief introduction on Chinese historical documents

11. 5. Yu-Xue-Fen-Cun archives The 2 pages are the first and last page (right to left) of the original 6-page memo prepared by Gao Bin, Governor General of Zhili province. Fig. An example of Xue-Fen-Cun (depth of snowfall) dated January 6, 1744 (the 22 nd day of the eleventh month on the 8 th year of the Qianlong Reign in the Chinese lunar calendar).

12. Ge et al., BAMS, 2005 More than 114,000 pieces of memo are extracted/copied, and all of them are in a databank.

13. Temperature reconstruction from Chinese historical documents Wang SW reconstructed winter temperature over the 10-small regions in the eastern China

14. Temperature reconstruction from Chinese historical documents Zhang DE, 1980: winter temperature Reconstruction during the past 500 years over the southern China Time resolution: 10a

15. Temperature reconstruction from Chinese historical documents (a) Winter half-year temperature series of past 2000 years (Ge et al, 2003) (b) Temperature change of past 2000 years in China reconstructed by Zhu (1973) (c) Temperature change from AD800 in eastern China reconstructed by Wang (2000) Fig. Temperature change series in eastern China for the past 2000 years

16. Temperature reconstruction from Chinese historical documents Temperature reconstruction (28-records, 15 from historical documents) during the past 2000 years over China （ Ge& Hao,2013 ）

17. Temperature reconstruction from Chinese historical documents  Based on the snow days over the middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River, winter temperature was reconstructed from Xue-Fen-Cun

18. Temperature reconstruction from Chinese historical documents Hao et al., 2012

19. Precipitation reconstruction from Chinese historical documents Figure The 273 administrative sites where “Yu-Xue-Fen-Cun” records existed during the Qing Dynasty (1736-1911). Bar: the total number of memos existed for every reign Annual precipitation in North China Plain Precipitation during annual Meiyu (Plum rain) period in middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River

20. Precipitation reconstruction from Chinese historical documents Fig. Seasonal and annual precipitation reconstruction in 17-sites over the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yellow River since 1736 Left: Location of 17-sites; Right: sample of the result (at Ji’nan) (Zheng et al., 2005, Science in China, Ser. D)

21. Precipitation reconstruction from Chinese historical documents East of 105E, 28-34 ° N Dates of Monsoon onset from Tao and Chen,1987 Figure The characteristic of Meiyu during 1736―2000. (a) starting dates; (b) ending dates; (c) length of Meiyu; (d) rainfall of Meiyu; heavy line: 9 years running mean value; grey area in d: 95% confidence boundary.

22. Precipitation reconstruction from Chinese historical documents Dry/wet index derived from historians, local gazettes, etc. covering 63 stations during the past 2000 years In addition, similar dataset, but cover 120 stations after 1470 AD

23. Precipitation reconstruction from Chinese historical documents Fig. (a - d): Standardized dry-wet index series (gray line) and the 30-year FFT filter smoothing (Bold dash); (e - f): FFT filter signals of sub-regional dry-wet index series. Bold dash-dot: North China Plain.Thin gray dash: Jiang-Huai area. Solid: Jiang-Nan area.