Several errors appeared in the published version of the article by Timothy Brook. A detailed list of the corrections is noted below, and the original article has been corrected online to rectify these errors. The publisher apologizes for these errors.

Page 27, Paragraph 2, line 6: “felt was needed beyond this was” is “feel is needed beyond this is”

P. 29, para. 4, l. 8: caled is called; Malinkovich is Malinkovitch

P. 30, para. 2, l. 2: The word had is removed

P. 30, para. 2, l. 16: phenoenon is phenomenon

P. 30, para. 3, l. 5: “an uneven impact” is “an impact, however unevenly distributed”

P. 31, para. 1, l. 9: Sentence beginning “These boundaries” begins the succeeding paragraph.

P. 32, para. 2, l. 2: “It is” is “It becomes”

P. 32, para. 6, l. 5: Zhenghua is Zhenghai

P. 33, para. 3, l. 2: Comma after incident removed

P. 34, para. 4, l. 1–4: “The next three sections identify phases of cold and heat, of drought and excessive rainfall, and of severe famine, based on reports in the two dynastic histories and fourteen regional gazetteers, which were chosen on the basis of roughly one per Ming province, plus the two dynastic histories” is “The next three sections identify phases of cold and heat, of drought and excessive rainfall, and of severe famine, based on reports in the two dynastic histories and fourteen regional gazetteers, which were chosen at the rate of roughly one per Ming province.”

P. 35, para. 2, l. 2: 554 is 553

P. 38, para. 2, l. 2: Reference to Chart 1 added

P. 40, para. 1, l. 3: Karakorum is Qaraqorum

P. 40, para. 2, l. 3: “Mongolia” is “Mongolia as his political center”

P. 41–43, Table 3, column 5 heading: Three instances of P + F3luvial corrected to Pluvial

P. 43, Table 4, columns 1–2 headings: “reign eras” is “Reign eras”; “year span” is “Year span.”

P. 46, Table 5, column 1 heading: “Reign eras of an emperor” is “Reign eras of each emperor”

P. 46, Table 5, line 1: 1368 is 1268

P. 49, para. 1, l. 7–8: Sentences split to read, “The most severe droughts were in 1585–89 and 1614–19. The fields were so parched in 1615 that the Ming shi reported that the landscape looked burnt.”

P. 50, para. 2, l. 15: “markets efficient” is “grain markets efficient”

P. 50, para. 2, l. 16: “This is to assume” is “From this we can postulate”

P. 51, para. 3, l. 1: Reference to Chart 3 after Table 1 reference

P. 51, para. 3, l. 3: “In Zhejiang province” is “According to a Zhejiang prefectural gazetteer.”

P. 52, para. 3, l. 4: 554 is 553

P. 52, para. 4, l. 9: comma following “…vary)” removed

P. 53, para. 2, l. 1: “displays the 554 reports of famine prices” is “displays the temporal distribution of the famine prices”

P. 53, para. 3, l. 6: 139 is 136

P. 53, para. 5, l. 7: disasters is disaster

P. 55, para. 5, l. 3: “1597” is “1597, midway between these two sloughs,”

P. 56, para. 2, l. 1: environmental is sustained

P. 58, para. 3, l. 5–6: “makes a point of mentioning” is “similarly focuses on”

P. 58, para. 3, l. 14–15: Sentence ending at outburst continues, “…outburst, yet attached to that was his recollection that the temperature had been cold that morning.”

Placement of Figures:

Tables 2–5 and Charts 2–6 have been moved to appear closer to their in-text reference.