Abstract
Historical disaster studies tend to be addressed from various perspectives, and case studies (i.e., event reconstruction) are an important aspect of such research. Using records extracted from historical documents and focusing on locust plague events, this study investigated disasters that occurred from 1855 to 1859. The objective was to reconstruct the temporal dynamics and spatial patterns of a major locust plague event to explore the social impact and reveal the underlying climate trends. The results suggested that: (1) the locust plagues followed an approximately 5-year duration from 1855 to 1859. Over this period, the frequency of individual plagues varied greatly and 1857 was the peak year. Locust plagues showed clear distribution patterns on a spatial scale during this period, with the mean center located in Henan Province. Locust plagues tended to be localized at the beginning and then spread out from the original locations, presenting a general spatial pattern of “radiating after clustering.” (2) Locust plagues were closely related to drought and showed a correlation with the overall drainage pattern of major bodies of water in the regions studied. The main reason for the locust plagues was probably drought events, climate and other geographic factors. The droughts were likely related to teleconnection between the increasing El Niño, frequency of sunspot activity and declining SSTs. (3) Locust plagues impacted society and damaged agricultural yields, as indicated by higher rice prices and increased wars. A hysteresis transfer effect was observed between locust plagues and the corresponding social responses; rice prices increased about half to 1 year after locust plagues occurred, while the frequency of wars increased after a clear delay of about 1–2 years. This showed locust plagues caused the rice price and refugee increasing and then caused social unrest.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig1_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig2_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig3_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig4_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig5_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig6_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig7_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig8_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig9_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig10_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig11_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11069-018-3498-2/MediaObjects/11069_2018_3498_Fig12_HTML.png)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Fei J, Zhou J (2016) The drought and locust plague of 942–944 AD in the Yellow River Basin, China. Quatern Int 394:115–122
Hao ZX, Zheng JY, Wu GF et al (2010) 1876–1878 severe drought in North China: facts, impacts and climatic background. Chin Sci Bull 55(23):2321–2328
Ido L, Guo Z (2013) Climate change would make human being face much heavier locust plagues. China Three Gorges 08:64–67
Li G (2008) An integrated study on record characteristics and environmental significance of locust plagues in China during the historical period. Lanzhou University, Lanzhou
Li N (2012) Analysis about thermal condition characteristics in marginal seas east of china and relationship between it and North China climate change. Ocean University of China, Qingdao
Li G (2014) Locusts climate society. China Environment Press, China
Li G, Wang NA, Cheng HY, Zhang CH (2004) Decade-scale occurring frequencies of insect plagues and droughts: a net way to reconstruct the historical dry/wet climate change—a case study in Shaanxi Province. Arid Land Geogr 27(2):154–160
Lu RJ (1986) Research of locust outbreak in China—the analysis of historical documents from the 25-dynasty History of Kaiming edition. Agric Archaeol 1: 311-6 + 24
Ma WQ, Deng HQ (2008) Retrospect and prospect: the Chinese locust plagues history research from the perspectives of social history studies. J Chin Hist Geogr 23(1):132–143
Shi W, Guo Y, Xu C et al (2014) Unveiling the mechanism by which microsporidian parasites prevent locust swarm behavior. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111(4):1343–1348
Stige LC (2007) Thousand-year-long Chinese time series reveals climatic forcing of decadal locust dynamics. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104(41):16188–16193
Tian H, Stige LC, Cazelles B et al (2011) Reconstruction of a 1910-y-long locust series reveals consistent associations with climate fluctuations in China. Proc Natl Acad Sci 108(35):14521–14526
Wang ZR, Peng ZC, Ni SC, Ma ZB (1999) Dating of corals by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMs) and Sr/Ca thermometer and the paleoenvironment significance. Mar Geol Quatern Geol 04:47–50
Xiao TK, Peng FC, Li CF et al (1964) Analysis of drought during the historical period in Henan province. Acta Geogr Sin 3:259–276
Yang ZR, Deng X (1994) Space-time distribution of flood disasters of Hunan province during the last 500 years. Nat Sci J Hunan Normal Univ 76:76–83
Yu G, Shen HD (2010) To study the effect of climate change on the historical locust plague in China. Bull Chin Acad Sci 02:207–210
Yuan Y, Yang H, Li CY (2012) Study of El Niño events of different types and their potential impact on the following summer precipitation in China. Acta Meteorol Sin 70(3):467–478
Zhang YF (1990) Locust plagues analysis in Chinese history. Agric Hist China 4:38–50
Zhang DE (2000) 1784–1787 drought occurrence over East China in a warm climatic background. Acta Geogr Sin S1:106–112
Zhang DE (2004a) Variation of dry-wet climate and severe drought events as revealed in the climate records of China over the past 1000 years. Sci Technol Rev 08:47–49
Zhang DE (2004b) Three thousand years meteorological record collection in China. Phoenix Press, Nanjing
Zhang YH (2008) History of locust outbreaks in China. Anhui People Press, Hefei
Zhang DE (2012) Study of the large scale flooding over eastern China in 1755—an extreme climatic event in history. Progr Inquis DE Mutat Clim 8(01):1–7
Zhang L (2013) Research on the locust plague of Ming Dynasty in Shandong Province. Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou
Zhang DE, Demaree G (2004) Extreme high temperature in summer of North China in 1743: historical hot summer events in a relatively warm climate background. Chin Sci Bull 21(11):2204–2210
Zhang DE, Liang YY (2010) A long lasting and extensive drought event over China during 1876–1878. Adv Clim Change Res 6(02):106–112
Zhang XG, Mao YY (2004) Impact of El Niño on Chinese summer precipitation. Water Resour Manag 1:28–30 + 69–70
Zhang XZ, Zheng JY, Fang XQ, Xiao LB (2007) The rhythm of locusts plague and its relationship with climate change in Shandong province during 1470–1949 A.D. Clim Environ Res 12(6):788–794
Zhao YP (2005) Review for locust outbreak and its control research in China. Trends Rec Res Hist China 2:2–9
Zhao JB, Chen Y, Zhou Q (2011) Comparative study of drought disaster and climate change during the Ming and Qing dynasties in Yan’an region. J Nat Disasters 12:82–89
Zhong ZZ, Zhao JB (1994) Reconstruction of the drought and flood level sequence of the Huaihe River basin in Henan province during the historical period. J Disaster Sci 01:67–71
Funding
Funding was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41201190), Humanities and Social Science Projects for Young Scholars of Chinese Ministry of Education (Grant No. 10YJCZH069) and Tang Scholar Program of Northwest University (Grant No. 2016).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huang, B., Li, G., Li, F. et al. The 1855 to 1859 locust plague in China. Nat Hazards 95, 529–545 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-018-3498-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-018-3498-2