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PRC Information

  Header '''四川省 <br/>Sìchuān Shěng'''
  Name Sichuan
  Abbreviation 川/蜀
  AbbrevPinyin Chuān or Shǔ
  ISOAbbrev 51
  Map China-Sichuanpng
  OriginOfName Short for 川峡四路 chuānxiá sìlù <br/>literally "The four Circuit s<br/>of rivers-and-gorges",<br/>referring to the four circuits during the Song Dynasty
  AdministrationType Province
  Capital Chengdu
  LargestCity Chengdu
  Secretary Zhang Xuezhong
  Governor Zhang Zhongwei
  Area 485,000
  AreaRank 5th
  PopYear 2004
  Pop 87,250,000
  PopRank 3rd
  PopDensity 180
  PopDensityRank 22nd
  GDPYear 2004
  GDP 6556 billion
  GDPRank 9th
  GDPperCapita 7510
  GDPperCapitaRank 26th
  HDIYear 2005
  HDI 0728
  HDIRank 24th
  HDICat <font color="#ffcc00">medium</font>
  Nationalities Han - 95% <br /> Yi - 26% <br /> Tibetan - 15% <br /> Qiang - 04%
  Prefectures 21
  Counties 181
  Townships 5011
  Website http://wwwsichuangovcn/ <br/>( Simplified Chinese )


(; in western China with its capital at Chengdu . Sìchuān literally means four rivers.


HISTORY

The territory of the province and its vicinity were the cradle of unique local civilizations, which can be dated back to at least the Fifteenth Century BC (i.e. the later years of Shang Dynasty ). Beginning from the Ninth Century BC , Shu (today Chengdu ) and Ba (today Chongqing City ) emerged as cultural and administrative centers where two rival kingdoms were established.

Shu's existence was unknown until an archaeological discovery in 1986 at a small village named Sanxingdui (三星堆 Sān Xīng Duī) in Guanghan County . It is believed to be an ancient city of the Shu Kingdom, where excavations have yielded invaluable archaeological information.

Although the Qin Dynasty happened to destroy the civilizations of Shu and Ba, their cultures were preserved and inherited by people in Sichuan until today. The Qin government accelerated the technological and agricultural advancements of Sichuan making it comparable to that of the Huang He (Yellow River) Valley. The Dujiangyan Irrigation System , built in the 3rd Century BC under the inspection of Li Bing , was the symbol of modernization of that period. Composed of a series of Dam s, it redirected the flow of the Min Jiang , a major Tributary of the Yangtze River , to fields, relieving the damage of seasonal floods. The construction and various other projects greatly increased the harvest of the area which thus became the main source of provision and men for Qin's unification of China.

Various ores were abundant. Adding to its significance, the area was also on the trade route from Huang He Valley to foreign countries of the southwest, especially India .

Military importance matches the commercial and agricultural values. As the area is actually a basin and is surrounded by the Himalayas to the west, the Qinling Range to the north, and mountainous areas of Yunnan to the south, its climate is often heavily foggy. Since the Yangtze flows through the basin and thus is upstream to areas of eastern China, navies could be easily sailed downstream. Therefore the area was bases of numerous ambitious militarians and refuges of Chinese governments throughout history. A few independent regimes were founded; the most famous was Shu Han of the Three Kingdoms . The Jin Dynasty first conquered Shu Han on its path of unification. During the Tang Dynasty , it was a battlefront against Tibet .

The Southern Song Dynasty established coordinated defense against the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty in Sichuan and Xiangyang . The line of defence was finally broken through after the first use of Firearm s in history during the six-year Siege Of Xiangyang , which ended in 1273. Foggy climate hindered the accuracy of Japan ese bombing of the basin and the Chongqing city where the capital of Republic Of China had moved to during World War II .