A Test of Climate, Sun, and Culture Relationships from an 1810-Year Chinese Cave Record

TLDR

A 1810‑year record from Wanxiang Cave in China documents Asian Monsoon history. The study finds that summer monsoon strength correlates with solar activity, hemispheric and Chinese temperatures, Alpine glacial retreat, and cultural shifts, being strong during the Medieval Warm Period and early Northern Song Dynasty (linked to rice cultivation and population growth), weak during the Little Ice Age and late Tang, Yuan, and Ming dynasties (associated with unrest), and that the correlation sign reversed around 1960, indicating anthropogenic forcing dominated late‑20th‑century monsoon changes.

Abstract

A record from Wanxiang Cave, China, characterizes Asian Monsoon (AM) history over the past 1810 years. The summer monsoon correlates with solar variability, Northern Hemisphere and Chinese temperature, Alpine glacial retreat, and Chinese cultural changes. It was generally strong during Europe's Medieval Warm Period and weak during Europe's Little Ice Age, as well as during the final decades of the Tang, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties, all times that were characterized by popular unrest. It was strong during the first several decades of the Northern Song Dynasty, a period of increased rice cultivation and dramatic population increase. The sign of the correlation between the AM and temperature switches around 1960, suggesting that anthropogenic forcing superseded natural forcing as the major driver of AM changes in the late 20th century.