Abstract: Drought is one of the most frequent and serious meteorological disasters in natural disasters in China, which has caused serious losses to agricultural production and life. At present, some scholars have studied the drought disasters in North China, central China and Jiangnan region during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the research on drought disasters in Henan province, especially the classification criteria and spatiotemporal variation characteristics of drought disaster levels, is still seldom reported. Based on this, the classification and spatiotemporal variation characteristics of arid disasters in Henan province during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911 AD) are investigated through the collection and collation of historical data. The following conclusions are drawn:(1) During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there are 115 mild droughts, 86 moderate droughts, 7 severe droughts and 29 major droughts in Henan province. (2) In the time distribution, the interannual variation of drought disaster shows volatility, and has a good correspondence with "Little Ice Age". (3) In the spatial distribution, the frequency of drought disasters shows more northwest and less characteristics in the southeast. The results on the drought disaster in Henan province during the Ming and Qing dynasties can provide a new cognitive for exploring the law of future climate change.