Abstract: Based on the Yu-Xue-Fen-Cun (ancient rainfall and sownfall data) archives in the Qing Dynasty and modern meteorological observations, this paper reconstructed seasonal and annual precipitation from 1736 to 2006 in Nanjing. The conclusions indicated: (1) In the 18th century, Nanjing received more precipitation during the spring and winter, while the autumn was in less precipitation period. In the 19th century, the autumn, winter and annual precipitation was relatively more, while the spring was in less precipitation period. During the first half of the 20th century, there was relatively less precipitation in all seasons. From the end of the 20th century on, the summer and annual turned into rainy period. (2) The annual precipitation had 2-5 yr cycles and abrupt changes during 1851-1860 and 1893-1894. These reconstructions were well consistent with other drought/flood or precipitation series in the region. Moreover, most of poor harvests occurred in the abnormal precipitation years, in which the proportion of years with less precipitation was higher.