A Chronicle of Plagues in China (243 BCE - 1911 CE)

In 1940, Chen Gaonong published A Table of Natural Disasters and Calamities Through China Dynasties. From ancient works such as the Zizhi Tongjian and the Gujin Tushu Jicheng, Chen Gaonong compiled a chronicle of plagues in China.

Drawing on his compilation, this article lists the history of plagues that occurred in China from 243 BCE to 1911 CE.

Of course, this chronicle cannot record every plague in Chinese history; there are bound to be omissions.

In 243 BCE, plague spread across the entire empire.

In 38 BCE, plague, famine, and flooding together caused severe disaster in Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, and other places.

In 16 CE, plague caused heavy losses among the nomadic tribes invading the south.

In 37 CE plague raged in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

In 38 CE plague raged in Zhejiang. In 46 CE famine and plague killed many in Mongolia. In 50 CE plague raged.

In 119 CE plague raged in Zhejiang. From 125 to 126 CE plague raged in Henan. In 151 CE plague raged in Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi. From 161 to 162 CE plague raged two years; in Xinjiang and Qinghai armies a third of soldiers died. In 171, 173, 179, 182, 185 CE plague raged.

In 208 CE plague raged, two-thirds of soldiers died in Hubei. In 217 CE plague raged. From 223 to 234 CE plague raged. In 275 CE plague killed tens of thousands in Henan. In 291 CE plague in Henan. In 296 CE plague in Shaanxi. In 297 CE plague in Hebei, Shaanxi, Sichuan.

In 312 CE plague, locusts, famine followed; north and central China population nearly wiped out, Shaanxi taxpaying people left one or two percent. In 322 CE plague cut population by 20-30 percent. In 330 CE plague. From 350 to 351 CE plague, peasant uprisings in Henan. In 353 CE plague. In 379 CE plague in Shaanxi.

In 423 CE plague killed 20-30 percent in north and Henan. In 427, 447, 451, 457, 460 CE plague in Jiangsu. In 468 CE plague nationwide; second outbreak in Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei, Anhui killed about 140,000-150,000.

From 503 to 505 CE plague three years in north. In 510 CE plague in Shaanxi killed 2,730. In 529 CE plague in Shaanxi. In 546 CE plague in Jiangsu. In 565 CE plague in Henan. In 598 CE plague.

In 612 CE plague in Shandong. In 636 CE plague in Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi. From 641 to 644 CE plague four years, reaching Shanxi, Henan, Sichuan, Anhui, northeast. In 648 CE plague in Sichuan. In 655 CE plague in Jiangsu. In 682 CE plague in Henan and Shandong, corpses over fields.

From 707 to 708 CE plague two years in Henan and Shandong, thousands died. In 762 CE plague in Shandong, more than half died. In 790 CE plague in Jiangsu, Hubei, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian.

In 806 CE plague in Zhejiang, more than half died. In 832 CE plague in Jiangsu, Sichuan, Yunnan. In 840 CE plague in Zhejiang and Fujian. In 874 CE plague in Zhejiang. From 891 to 892 CE plague in Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei; in Hubei three or four in ten died.

In 994 CE plague in Henan. In 996 CE plague in Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Anhui.

In 1003 CE plague in Henan. In 1010 CE plague in Shaanxi. In 1049 CE plague in Hebei. In 1052 CE plague in Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei. In 1054 CE plague in Henan. In 1060 CE plague in Henan. In 1094 CE plague in Henan.

In 1109 CE plague in Zhejiang. In 1127 CE plague in Henan, more than half died. In 1131 CE plague in Zhejiang and Hunan. In 1133 CE plague in Hunan and Zhejiang. In 1136 CE plague in Sichuan. In 1144 CE plague in Zhejiang. In 1146 CE plague in Jiangsu. In 1199 CE plague in Zhejiang.

In 1203 CE plague in Jiangsu. From 1208 to 1211 CE plague four years in Anhui, Henan, Zhejiang. In 1222 CE plague in Jiangxi. In 1227 CE plague in Mongol garrisons in north. In 1232 CE plague in Henan killed over 90,000 in fifty days. In 1275 CE plague, countless dead.

In 1308 CE plague killed over 26,000 in Zhejiang. In 1313 CE plague in Hebei. From 1320 to 1321 CE plague two years in Hebei. In 1323 CE plague in Hebei. In 1331 CE plague in Hebei, 90 percent died.

From 1345 to 1346 CE plague in Fujian and Shandong. From 1351 to 1354 CE plague four years, reaching Shanxi, Hebei, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Suiyuan, Guangdong; Huai basin garrisons over half killed, parts of Hubei and Shanxi six or seven in ten died. From 1357 to 1362 CE plague six years, reaching Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei, Shaanxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangdong; in 1358 alone over 200,000 died. In 1369 CE plague in Fujian, corpses over fields. In 1380 CE plague in Zhejiang.

In 1404 CE plague in Hebei. From 1407 to 1408 CE plague in Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Fujian; in 1407 alone 78,400 died. In 1410 CE plague in Shandong and Fujian, 6,000 died in Shandong, 15,000 households vanished in Fujian.

In 1411 CE plague in Henan and Shaanxi. From 1413 to 1414 CE plague in Zhejiang, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Hubei. In 1445 CE plague in Jiangxi and Hubei. In 1455 CE plague in Shanxi, Zhejiang, Gansu. In 1461 CE plague in Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Shanxi. In 1471 CE plague in Guizhou.

In 1475 CE plague in Jiangxi and Fujian. From 1480 to 1481 CE plague in Fujian, Jiangxi, Guizhou. In 1486 CE plague in Fujian. In 1489 CE plague in Hunan, whole villages and cities died, almost no survivors. In 1492 CE plague in Zhejiang. In 1495 CE plague in southeast.

In 1500 CE plague in Guangxi. In 1504 CE plague in Shanxi. In 1506 CE plague in Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Yunnan, very high death rate. In 1511 CE plague in Zhejiang. In 1514 CE plague in Yunnan.

From 1516 to 1517 CE plague in Hubei and Fujian. In 1519 CE plague in Zhejiang, Hebei, Shandong. In 1522 CE plague in Shanxi. In 1525 CE plague in Shandong, 4,128 died.

From 1528 to 1529 CE plague in Shanxi, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou. From 1532 to 1535 CE plague four years in Shaanxi, Hubei, Hunan, Zhejiang, Fujian.

In 1538 CE plague in Guangxi. From 1543 to 1545 CE plague in Shanxi, Henan, Fujian. In 1554 CE plague in Hebei. In 1556 CE plague in Fujian. In 1558 CE plague in Guizhou. From 1560 to 1563 CE four years plague in Shanxi, Hubei, Fujian, Jiangxi, about 70 percent died in some areas.

In 1565 CE plague in Zhejiang and Hebei. In 1571 CE plague in Shanxi. In 1573 CE plague in Hubei. From 1579 to 1581 CE three years plague in Shanxi. In 1582 CE plague in Hebei, Shanxi, Sichuan, Shandong. In 1584 CE plague in Hubei. In 1585 CE plague in Shanxi. From 1587 to 1588 CE plague in Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Henan, Jiangxi. In 1590 CE plague in Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong. In 1594 CE plague in Yunnan. In 1598 CE plague in Sichuan.

In 1601 CE plague in Shanxi and Guizhou. In 1603 CE plague in Zhejiang. In 1606 CE plague in Zhejiang. From 1608 to 1613 CE six years plague in Yunnan, Fujian, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Shanxi. From 1617 to 1618 CE plague in Fujian, Shanxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, corpses over Shanxi. From 1621 to 1624 CE plague in Hubei, Yunnan, Guangxi.

In 1627 CE plague in Hubei. In 1633 CE plague in Shanxi. In 1635 CE plague in Shanxi. From 1640 to 1641 CE plague in Zhejiang, Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, corpses over fields. From 1643 to 1644 CE plague in Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia. In 1653 CE plague in Inner Mongolia.

In 1656 CE plague in Gansu. In 1665 CE plague in Shandong. From 1667 to 1668 CE plague in Gansu and Hebei. In 1670 CE plague in Inner Mongolia. In 1673 CE plague in northeast.

In 1677 CE plague in Jiangsu and Shaanxi. From 1680 to 1681 CE plague in Jiangsu and Yunnan. In 1683 CE plague in Hubei. In 1692 CE plague in Shaanxi. In 1693 CE plague in Shandong. In 1694 CE plague in Zhejiang and Hainan. From 1697 to 1698 CE plague in Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shanxi, Shandong.

From 1702 to 1704 CE three years plague in Guangdong, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Hainan. From 1706 to 1709 CE four years plague in Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Gansu, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Fujian. From 1713 to 1714 CE plague in Guangdong. In 1717 CE plague in Zhejiang. In 1721 CE plague in Shaanxi.

From 1722 to 1724 CE plague in Zhejiang, Hebei, Shandong. In 1726 CE great plague in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Hubei, Anhui, eastern Yangtze. In 1733 CE plague in Jiangsu. In 1742 CE plague in Anhui. In 1746 CE plague in Hubei.

From 1747 to 1749 CE plague in Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Jiangxi. From 1756 to 1757 CE plague in Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi; in far west Xinjiang plague raged, and every infected person died.

In 1760 CE plague in Shanxi, Zhejiang, Gansu. In 1767 CE plague in Zhejiang. In 1770 CE plague in Gansu. In 1775 CE plague in Hebei. In 1783 CE plague in Zhejiang.

From 1785 to 1786 CE plague in Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Hebei. In 1790 CE plague in Gansu and Yunnan. In 1792 CE plague in Hebei. In 1793, 1795, 1797 CE plague three times in Zhejiang. In 1798 CE plague in Shandong.

In 1800 CE plague in Zhejiang. In 1806 CE plague in Hebei and Shaanxi. In 1811 CE plague in Gansu. In 1814 CE plague in Hubei. From 1815 to 1816 CE plague in Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Hebei. In 1818 CE plague in Shandong.

From 1820 to 1824 CE five years plague in Jiangsu, Shanxi, Zhejiang, Hebei, Shandong, Yunnan. From 1826 to 1827 CE plague again in Shandong. From 1831 to 1836 CE six years plague in Zhejiang, Hubei, Shanxi, Shandong, Hebei, Jiangsu, Gansu, Guangdong.

In 1839 CE plague in Hebei. From 1842 to 1843 CE plague in Jiangsu, Hubei, Jiangxi, Zhejiang. From 1847 to 1849 CE three years plague in Shaanxi and Zhejiang. In 1853 CE plague in Henan, over ten thousand died.

From 1855 to 1856 CE plague in Gansu and Shaanxi. From 1861 to 1864 CE four years plague in Shandong, Hubei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hebei, Shanxi. In 1866 CE plague in Gansu. In 1867 CE plague in Shandong and Hebei.

From 1869 to 1872 CE four years plague in Hubei, Hebei, Shaanxi, Zhejiang. In 1895 CE plague in Hebei. In 1911 CE plague once again in the northeast.

The chronicle above is drawn mainly from the historical records. Generally speaking, large plagues are caused by various parasites, viruses or bacteria.

Through this chronicle we can clearly see that when certain infectious diseases rage, they usually continue for several years on end, wave after wave infecting the population, until the population has plummeted before they stop. In severe cases the population drops by more than 80 percent, and this triggers violent social upheaval.

From this chronicle we can also see that the British experts talk of herd immunity is absurd. If we followed their so-called herd immunity approach, COVID-19 would repeatedly rage for years, ultimately reducing the global population by more than half before so-called herd immunity could form.

So in truth humankind should exert every effort to fight the COVID-19 virus; no one can stay out of it. If the COVID-19 epidemic runs out of control, it may cause the greatest casualties in the history of human plagues. Because COVID-19 has spread across the globe, and under conditions of medical-system overload, the death toll can reach 5-10 percent.

Of course, some scientists hold that plague is nature's most effective means of reducing population, a mechanism by which the ecosystem achieves self-balance. If we fail in our fight against COVID-19 this time, it will indeed drastically reduce the global population.

William H. McNeill, author of Plagues and Peoples, said: skills, knowledge, and organization all change, but human vulnerability to disease remains unalterable. Infectious diseases that existed before the earliest humans will be with humankind always and will remain, as before, one of the basic parameters and determinants shaping human history.

We hope that this once-in-a-century great plague of the twenty-first century can be contained; if it ultimately runs out of control, the consequences are unthinkable. We hope that, with today's level of global governance and scientific and technological means, we can defeat COVID-19 rather than let it slaughter us.

Reviewing history as a mirror, one can know gain and loss. I sincerely hope all humankind will unite and stop settling scores and slaughtering one another. Otherwise, COVID-19 will be the nightmare of everyone in our age.