RECONSTRUCTION OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY SUMMER MONTHLY PRECIPITATION SERIES OF NANJING,SUZHOU,AND HANGZHOU USING THE CLEAR AND RAIN RECORDS OF QING DYNASTY^*

In this study the Qing weather records "Clear and Rain Records" were used to reconstruct the 18th century summer (June-August) precipitation and monthly precipitation series of May,June,July,and August.The nature of these records and the techniquc of transforming them into numerical codes are described.The procedure of converting these descriptive records into quantitative monthly precipitation and its scientific basis are given in detail.The reliability of the obtaind precipitation series is also examined.