How local climate descriptions domesticated borderland areas in the early Qing period (1644–1722)

This chapter examines how local gazetteers compiled in the Early Qing presented the climates in the southwest inland borderland provinces Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan. Climate descriptions are mostly found in gazetteers from a broadly defined South China. This was likely due to a perceived difference from the north Chinese climate in which China&s;s classical literature originated. Temperatures, stability and diseases were emphasized. How local climates were described formed part of how people understood their home locality&s;s relative cultural placement within the empire. More negative aspects of local climates were often downplayed by local scholars to give a more positive impression of their regions. The main explanation given for these climates was geographical features; qi also appears as an important factor.