Systematic data on Chinese weather prior to 1949 is very sparse. Such data is important to better understand both long-term regional climate variability and the social and economic consequences of weather shocks. Here, we compile 463,025 instrumental observations of daily temperature, precipitation, and sunshine at up to 330 sites in China during the Nationalist era, 1912-49. The principal sources are monthly reports of the Institute of Meteorology, Nanjing, North China Meteorological Section of the Japanese Army, and observatories in Japanese-occupied Manchuria. This new dataset provides a valuable dataset for scientific and academic research. Variable List     A. Name: station        Description: Station     B. Name: author        Description: Author     C. Name: source        Description: Source     D. Name: archive        Description: Archive     E. Name: year        Description: Year     F. Name: month        Description: Month     G. Name: day        Description: Day     H. Name: tmin        Description: Daily low temperature     I. Name: tmax        Description: Daily high temperature     J. Name: prec        Description: Daily precipitation     K. Name: ssd        Description: Daily sunshine hours     L. Name: archive        Description: Archive holding source     M. Name: latitude        Description: Latitude     N. Name: longitude        Description: Longitude     O. Name: elevation        Description: Elevation (metres)     P. Name: minmax        Description: Minimum temperature exceeds maximum       Q. Name: tmax_jump        Description: Jump in maximum temperature     R. Name: tmin_jump         Description: Jump in minimum temperature     S. Name: prec_jump         Description: Jump in precipitation     R. Name: tmin_jump         Description: Jump in sunshine hours     T. Name: tmax_hmm        Description: Maximum temperature corrected for rounding     U. Name: tmin_hmm         Description: Minimum temperature corrected for rounding     V. Name: prec_hmm        Description: Precipitation corrected for rounding     W. Name: tmin_hmm         Description: Sunshine hours corrected for rounding     X. Name: tmax_bp        Description: Break point in maximum temperature     Y. Name: tmin_bp         Description: Break point in minimum temperature     Z. Name: prec_bp         Description: Break point in precipitation    AA. Name: tmin_bp         Description: Break point in sunshine hours