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Qin, Chun, Yang, Bao, Bräuning, Achim, Charpentier ljungqvist, Fredrik, Osborn, Timothy J. 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8425-6799, Shishov, Vladimir, He, Minhui, Kang, Shuyuan, Schneider, Lea, Esper, Jan, Büntgen, Ulf, Grießinger, Jussi, Huang, Danqing, Zhang, Peng, Talento, Stefanie, Xoplaki, Elena, Luterbacher, Jürg and Stenseth, Nils Chr.
(2025)
Persistent humid climate favored the Qin and Western Han Dynasties in China around 2,200 y ago.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122 (1).
ISSN 0027-8424
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Abstract
The Qin and Western Han dynasties (221 BCE to 24 CE) represent an era of societal prosperity in China. However, due to a lack of high-resolution paleoclimate records it is still unclear whether the agricultural boost documented for this period was associated with more favorable climatic conditions. Here, multiparameter analysis of annually resolved tree-ring records and process-based physiological modeling provide evidence of stable and consistently humid climatic conditions during 270 to 77 BCE in northern China. Precipitation in the Asian summer monsoon region during the Qin–Western Han Dynasties was ~18 to 34% higher compared to present-day conditions. In shifting agricultural and pastoral boundaries ~60 to 100 km northwestward, possibility up to 200 km at times, persistently wetter conditions arguably increased food production, contributing to the socioeconomic prosperity around 2,200 y ago. A gradual wetting trend in the western part of arid northwestern China since the 1980s resembles the historical climate analogue, suggesting that similar benefits for regional environmental and agricultural systems may reoccur under current climate change, at least in the near term.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Additional Information: | Data, Materials, and Software Availability: Data are available from on the WDC-Paleo/ITRDB platform (see refs 76–78). Funding information: This study was funded by National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC grant nos. 42130511, 42488201, and 42271175). B.Y., J.L., T.J.O., and L.S. were supported by the Belmont Forum and JPI-Climate, Collaborative Research Action “INTEGRATE An integrated data–model study of interactions between tropical monsoons and extratropical climate variability and extremes” (NSFC grant no. 41661144008; BMBF grant no. 01LP1612A; NERC grant no. NE/P006809/1). C.Q. received support from the short-term research or professional development scholarships (V3) under the supervision of Sergio Rossi and B.Y. F.C.L. was supported by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet, grant no. 2018-01272 and grant no. 2023- 00605) and by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation (grant no. MMW 2022-0114), J.E. and U.B. AdAgrif (CZ.02.01.01/00/22_008/0004635) and European Research Council Monostar (AdG 882727), and V.S. by the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education (grant no. FSRZ-2023-0007). |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Climatic Research Unit |
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| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Jan 2025 01:10 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Jan 2025 01:00 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/98227 |
| DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.2415294121 |
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