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Global warming over the past decades has resulted in desiccation of lakes in arid and semi-arid northern China. However, the mechanisms responsible for the sharp fluctuations in water levels for these lakes in this region are still unclear. The water level fluctuations in geological time can provide an analogue to better understand current lake levels' response to global warming. In this study, a combination of quartz and feldspar luminescence dating techniques was applied to establish the chronologies of two sedimentary sequences related to lake level in the catchment of Daihai Lake, located on the fringe of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) domain. Our objective is to reconstruct the late Quaternary history of lake level fluctuations and provide the interpretations of their causes. The results indicate that two lake-level highstands existed during 130–120 ka and 8-4 ka, at least ∼38 m and 40 m above the current lake level, respectively. We interpret that the lake level variations on multiple timescales in the monsoonal marginal area have primarily been regulated by the EASM intensity and corresponding monsoonal precipitation, while temperature changes may have played a minor role. Moreover, a compilation of existing lake level data reveals that EASM intensity has a complex response to changes in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation on millennial-orbital timescales. Combining precipitation records in central and southern China, the character of rainfall across East Asia during MIS 5 exhibits a dominant tripolar pattern. • Lake highstands existed during 130–120 ka (MIS 5) and 8-4 ka (MIS 1). • EASM intensity has a complex response to changes in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation on millennial-orbital timescales. • The character of rainfall across East Asia exhibits a dominant triple pattern during MIS 5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]