The purpose of this study is to understand meteorological
phenomena during the Choson Dynasty, especially during King Injo
and King Hyojong(1623~1659) from the records of 『The Annals of
Seung-jeong-won』(Seongjeongwon Ilgi).
『The Annals of Seung-jeong-won』 is an important source in terms
of historical meteorology in Korea in that this annals recorded everyday
weather information during Choson Dynasty. In these annals, weather
information was recorded in two kinds of forms; title form and
expository form, the former is representative weather of that day, such
as clear, cloudy, or rainy and snowy, while the latter gives additional
and concrete weather information, like fog, thunder, hail and frost, and
even lunar and solar halo, which were considered important
phenomena in the past, and also natural disaster.
These records allow analysis of following factors in this paper. First,
the rates of clear day. Second, droughts and floods, and the following
damage caused by these natural disasters. Third, yearly and seasonal
tendency of lunar and solar halo. Fourth, the first frost date changes.
Especially, research on the first frost date yielded significant results.
During 1623~1659, the first frost date was between September 19th and
October 21st, and the average date of the first frost was around October
3rd. It shows difference with the average date during 1864~1906, which
was around October 13th according to the former research. This result
shows climate changes of that time.
As a conclusion, this research not only shows the value of the 『The Annals of Seung-jeong-won』
as a meteorological text, but also shows the various aspects of the weather during
the Choseon Dynasty, and therefore will contribute to the foundations of historical meteorology in Korea.