Abstract For the purpose of agriculture and astrology,the Astronomical Bureau of Qing Dynasty attached great importance to observing and recording of the first thunderstorm. Through investigation of various available historical documents in archives of Astronomical Bureau, Ministry of Rites, Factual Records of Qing Emperor and memorials to the throne with comments written in red of Qing Dynasty,121 records of the first thunderstorm were collected. This paper firstly summarized the reason why the Qing Dynasty emphasized the observing of the first thunderstorm and discussed the reliability of those records. Based on this,this paper further sorted and analyzed the characteristics of the first thunderstorm in Beijing of Qing Dynasty. Finally,we found:(1)The average date of the first thunderstorm during AD 1679-1714 is close to the average date of AD 1799-1856,and the average date of the first thunderstorm during AD 1716-1768 is close to that of AD 1884-1901;However,compared with the latter two periods,the average date of the first thunderstorm during the former two periods is two weeks later.(2)The first thunderstorm mainly occurred in the night and continued to the next morning,and its duration time was short. These characteristics were very similar with present.(3)Comparing the climate information reflected by the first thunderstorm with results of historical climate science,It was found that these conclusions were highly consistent. Thus,these records of the first thunderstorm are very precious for the study of spring temperature in Beijing area of Qing Dynasty and even for the further understanding of the climate in Qing Dynasty and its variation characteristics.
About author: Chu Wenjuan, born in 1988, is a master candidate of School of History of Science in University of Science and Technology of China. She specializes in the meteorological history of Qing Dynasty. E-mail: chu0511@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
Cite this article:
Chu Wenjuan,Wang Ting,Lü Lingfeng. Analysis of records of the first thunderstorm by Astronomical Bureau of Qing Dynasty in Beijing area[J]. JOPC, 2015, 17(1): 129-136.
Chu Wenjuan,Wang Ting,Lü Lingfeng. Analysis of records of the first thunderstorm by Astronomical Bureau of Qing Dynasty in Beijing area[J]. JOPC, 2015, 17(1): 129-136.
