Did more than 10,000 people really die of heat in a year during the Qianlong period?

That very hot summer took place in Qianlong eight years, and more than 10 thousand people gathered near Beijing and died because of the heat. The Qing dynasty was the closest feudal dynasty to us, and the records about the Qing dynasty were relatively comprehensive, so more than 10 thousand people died of heat that year.

In the eighth year of Qianlong, namely 1743, a very large-scale disaster occurred in China. The summer of that year was unprecedentedly hot, and tens of thousands of people died because of the hot weather. The high temperature swept through Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Shanxi and other places, forcing Qianlong to go to the summer and dare not return to Beijing.

Since May of 1743, hot weather has started everywhere. It is said that May is not the hottest time, but in May of 1743, some people died of heat. Of course, the poor are the first to die. Not to mention that they may not even have food, and their poor health makes them the first victims of this disaster.

As time went into July and August, the temperature reached incredible levels. There are records about this hot summer everywhere, and the situation in every place is tragic. According to Tianjin's records, some roofs are slowly melting because of the high temperature, and tens of thousands of people near Beijing died of the high temperature. At that time, a French missionary preached in China. He sent out French documents and recorded them. He claimed that he had never seen such a hot summer.

As for Emperor Qianlong, it was unbearably hot this year. When the disaster happened this summer, he and his entourage ran to chengde mountain resort. Due to the numerous trees and developed water system, the temperature in chengde mountain resort is lower than that in other places. But even so, Gan Long still needs the help of ice to get through this summer. As an emperor, Qianlong worked so hard to escape the summer, so you can imagine how hard those poor families lived. The high temperature disaster didn't get better until September, because so many people died in the high temperature.