By field investigation in the upper reaches of the Hanjiang River,palaeoflood slack-water deposits (SWD)were found in loess profile on Tuojiazhou terrace land in Yunxian County of Hubei Province.Based on field observation,laboratory analysis,including loss on ignition,magnetic susceptibility,calcium carbonate and the grain-size distribution,four SWDs were identified as the most typical Holocene palaeoflood deposits in the Hanjiang River basin and which recorded four palaeofloods events.By using stratigraphic correlations and OSL dating,these four palaeofloods events were dated to 12 600-12 400aB.P.,4 200-4 000aB.P.,3 200-2 800aB.P.and 1 900-1 800aB.P.in Eastern Han Dynasty,respectively.Then according to the palaeoflood peak stages and reasonable hydraulic parameters,the peak discharges of four palaeofloods were calculated by using the slope-area method.To validate the calculation,the flood peak discharges of extraordinary floods in 1983,2005and 2010were also reconstructed by using the same method and hydraulic parameters in the same cross-section.The error between the reconstructed and gauged discharges was 1.99%~4.21%.This indicated that the reconstructed palaeoflood peak discharges were reliable.And the reconstructed results of palaeoflood discharges were also consistent with the relationship between palaeoflood peak discharge and drainage area.This study prolonged the flood data sequence of Hanjiang River to a time-scale of over 10 000-years.More importantly,it provided significant data for flood control and hazard mitigation in the upper reaches of the Hanjiang River.