The hottest year in the Qing Dynasty
According to the "Collection of Chinese Meteorological Records for Three Thousand Years", the eighth year of Qianlong's reign (1743) can be said to be the hottest year in Chinese history.
This heat wave spread across half of China at that time. The weather in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and other places was extremely hot. Zhang Deer, director of the Paleoclimate Research Office of the National Climate Center of the China Meteorological Administration, conducted research and conversion. It was found that the afternoon temperatures from July 20 to 25 that year exceeded 40°C, and reached a peak of 44.4°C on July 25. This record has not been broken yet.
There are many records of the high temperature in the Qing Dynasty in the local chronicles of the Qing Dynasty. "Fushan County Chronicle" contains, "It was very hot in summer and May, and many pedestrians died on the road, especially in the capital. Those who were floating in the capital were trading. There are also people who die from heat." Fushan County is today's Fushan County, Linfen City, Shanxi Province. It belonged to Pingyang Prefecture during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The hot weather started here in May, causing many pedestrians to die from heat. The high temperature in the capital was even more serious. The place was doing business in the capital. There are also people who died from the heat.
Other documents record the hottest year during the Qing Dynasty:
"Qingcheng County Chronicle" records, "The drought lasted for thousands of miles, indoor appliances were all hot, and wind-scorched trees to the southwest often died. "In June, many people fled from Wuding Prefecture in southern Tianjin, and many passers-by died from the heat." Qingcheng County is located to the west of today's Gaoqing County, Zibo City, Shandong Province. It was affiliated to Wuding Prefecture in the Qing Dynasty. Drought has been raging for thousands of miles here. Even indoor appliances are hot and the trees are dying due to the weather. In order to avoid the high temperature in June, Many people from Tianjin fled south here, and many passers-by were killed by the heat.
"Xu Donghua Lu" records that "in June Bingchen, the capital was in awe of summer", adding the word "wei" directly in front of the word "shu".
"Gaoyi County Chronicle" also records that "from May 28th to June 6th, the heat was unbearable, the walls were heavily overcast and scorching like fire, lead and tin melted in the middle of the day, and many people died of thirst." Gaoyi County is today's Gaoyi County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. It was affiliated to Zhaozhou during the Qianlong period. It is easy to see from the records that the weather was unbearably hot. Even the shaded areas in the corners were like burning. At noon, Even metals such as lead and tin have been exposed to the sun.