Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0316, Norway.
Published: January 2025
AI Article Synopsis
Article 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.
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.
Department of Anthropology and Ethnology, Institute of Anthropology, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Philosophy and Social Sciences in Bioanthropology, School of Sociology and Anthropology, Xiamen University Xiamen 361005, China.
The population history of the northern coastal Chinese is largely unknown due to the lack of ancient human genomes from the Neolithic to historical periods. In this study, we reported 14 newly generated ancient genomes from Linzi, one of China's densely populated and economically prosperous cities from the Zhou to Han Dynasties. The ancient samples in this study were dated to the Warring States period to the Eastern Han Dynasty (∼2,000 BP).
School of Life Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130012, China; Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology of Jilin University, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130012, China. Electronic address:
The graveyard of the Haihun Marquis in Nanchang is the largest and best-preserved Han Dynasty mausoleum discovered in China. Within the tomb's beam bank (M1), archaeologists have uncovered a variety of plant remains, such as melon seeds, the traits and origins of which warrant timely investigation. Cucumis melo L.
'Rong Xing Zhi Shu', seen in the unearthed medical literature was believed to be a medical theory on body knowledge in the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties. It was not well and fully studied based on the relevant records in the literature and the lacquermeridian portraits found in the same tomb. This paper examines the relevant terminology on body knowledge and analyses the meaning of 'Rong Xing Zhi Shu'.
