Epidemics and Wet and Dry Grades in China from 1470 to 1911

Epidemics are defined as the occurrence of infectious disease outbreaks that spread rapidly across human populations within a defined geographic area and time period, causing significant morbidity or mortality, as documented in historical records. The original data of epidemics in this study come from the “General Collection of Chinese Meteorological Records for 3000 Years” (Zhang, 2004), the “History of Famine in China” (Meng, 1999) and the “Chronicle of Human Disasters” (Fan, 1998). The data include epidemics occurred in China from 1369 to 1911. The data of drought and flood disasters come from the “Atlas of Drought and Flood Distribution in China in the Past 500 Years” (The Academy of Meteorological Sciences, 1980). This study adopts the standardized drought/flood classification system established by Shi and Zhang (1996). The data include wet and dry grades from 1470 to 1911.