Climatic impacts on the rise and decline of ‘Mulan Qiuxian’ and ‘Chengde Bishu’ in North China, 1683–1820

Abstract

Mulan Qiuxian (the autumn hunt in Mulan) was an important imperial activity in the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). It was instituted for the purpose of intensifying the alliance between the Manchus and the Mongols and improving riding and shooting skills of the Bannermen. Along with another activity, Chengde Bishu (escaping the summer heat in Chengde), Mulan Qiuxian was frequently held during the early and mid Qing dynasty (1683–1820). Many factors have been discussed to explain the decline of Mulan Qiuxian at the turn of the 19th century, but not the impact of climate. In this study, historical documents were used to reconstruct annual time series for the duration of Qiuxian and Bishu from 1683 to 1820 to quantitatively describe their rise and decline and analyse the correlation with climate change. It was found that Qiuxian and Bishu were originally instituted by the Kangxi emperor in 1683–1722 and flourished in the reign of the Qianlong emperor in 1741–1787, both included in a relatively warm period of the Little Ice Age in North China. Qiuxian and Bishu declined from 1788 to 1820 when the climate turned sharply colder and wetter. The impacts of long-term climate change and abrupt bad weather on Qiuxian and Bishu were analysed respectively, and it was concluded that although climate was not the decisive factor, compared with the political intentions of the decision makers, the economic and financial situation of the empire, and the personal devotion of the emperors, climate change did play an important role as an accelerator in the rise and decline of Qiuxian and Bishu. To some extent, some of the behaviours and decisions of the Qing court during this historical period could also be regarded as human adaptations to climate change. Thus, this study not only adds detail to a well-known historical event, but it also adds benefit to the scientific understanding of the interactive mechanisms between climate and humans in the past.