Monsoon Precipitation, Economy and Wars in Ancient China

Jixiao Zhang,Xiaoyan Liu,Xin Zhou,Shiwei Jiang,Luyao Tu

doi:10.3389/feart.2020.00317

Abstract

Northern China, particularly the Yellow River Basin, which is the birth place of Chinese civilization and has been the political center throughout most of China’s history, is an ideal region for studying the response of human activities to climate change. However, studies on links between climate change and variations in earlier civilization are limited due to the scarcity of macroscale monsoon precipitation records. In the present study, a ~4,000-year record of monsoon precipitation, which represents average rainfall in large areas in northern China, was reconstructed from sediments in Northern Yellow Sea Mud (NYSM). The record shows high monsoon precipitation from ~4,000–~2,500 BP, ~1,350–~750 BP and during the past ~250 years. In general, our record of monsoon precipitation exhibits trends similar to the percentages of planted Poaceae pollen in lake sediments and the Chinese economic index, contrasting with the frequency of wars over the past 2,000 years. We postulated that, in the agricultural society of ancient China, low monsoon precipitation in northern China may be an important factor that cause reduced agricultural production, declined economy and even the occurrence of wars.

Highlights

Billions of people currently live in monsoon regions, with monsoon precipitation bringing significant influences to bear on human lives and wealth through severe climate conditions
We extended the macroscale monsoon precipitation records by more than 4,000 years, using coastal sediments from the Northern Yellow Sea Mud (NYSM) region
Our results show that the median grain size in the sediments of Core 38002-A varied from 22 to 60 μm, with an average of 38 μm (Figure 3C)

Summary

Introduction

Billions of people currently live in monsoon regions, with monsoon precipitation bringing significant influences to bear on human lives and wealth through severe climate conditions. Research on the relationship between prehistoric human activities and monsoon climate change provides long-term evidence for studying the response of human activity to climate change (Wigley et al, 1985; Pandey, 2005; Potts, 2012). This topic has been extensively researched over the past 20 years, and much progress has been achieved (Gupta et al, 2006; Xie et al, 2013; Zhang et al, 2016). The interactions between human activities and monsoon precipitation in northern China during the past several thousand years have been extensively studied (Fan, 2010; Yin et al, 2016)

Results

Discussion

Conclusion