Sichuan province is the main part of the economic region for Yangtze River drainage area, also plays an essential role of ecological barrier for this drainage area. Sichuan has a vast territory across 1,075 km from east to the west and 900 km from north to south with an area of 485,000 km². The landform of Sichuan Province is complex with a wide variety of landscapes including great rivers, rivulets, lakes, swamps, plains, basins, hills, plateaus, ravines, snow apices and glaciers. The topographic character of it is high in the west and low in the east, and wide gap in height. The western part is a plateaus and mountainous region with Gongga Mountain at an elevation of 7,556 m, while the eastern part features basin and edge hilly land only about 250 m above sea level at its lowest place. The height difference between these two parts is over 7,300 m. The large gap of hypsography in Sichuan province is very infrequency in China, and it is especially unique that the entire original environment has preserved in traverse mountain chains of west Sichuan.

    Sichuan is the home of many ethnic groups. Except for the Han nationality, there are fourteen minorities, such as Yi, Tibetan, Qiang, Hui, Mongolian, Lisu, Man, Naxi, Bai, Buyi, Dai, Miao, Zhuang and Tujia etc. It deserves the name of a big ethnic groups province. In the Hengduan mountain areas in west of Sichuan province, there are tens of nationalities who had migrated, multiplied, and lived there. Thus, it is called "the corridor of ethnic group". The Tibet population in Sichuan is only less than that in Tibet Autonomous Region. It is also the largest residing place of Yi and the only living place of Qiang.

    Sichuan has a long history, and "Ziyang people" have lived here as early as 10 to 50 thousand years before. In the period of Xia (21st - 16th cent. BC) and Shang (16th - 11th cent. BC), two clans named Ba and Shu have set up biggish countries running by enslavement system separately. In the ancient history, it is purported that Can Cong and Yu Fu were ancestor king of ancient Shu. From The Sanxingdui and Jinsha Ruins, archaeologists cleared people’s puzzle for the purported mythos, and proved the ancient Shu kingdom had entered agriculture society in the period of Shang (16th - 11th cent. BC) and Zhou (11 cent. – 221 BC) or even earlier. The Kingdom had built several primary cities and the capital of it on a grand scale, which formed regional and splendid Bronze Civilization

    In Qin Dynasty, the area had been set up as Shu Prefecture and Ba Prefecture. Under the direction of the prefect Li Bing and his son, Gujiang Dam Irrigation Project had been constructed. Since then, Chengdu Plain was named as "Land of Abundance because that floods and droughts follow the will of people; nobody bears from hunger; and no famine occur". At that time, copper and iron production had also developed, and people began to exploit salt wells on grand scale organizationally. Therefore, Sichuan became the earliest salt wells place exploited on scale all over the world.

    Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) carried forward the system of Qin, and also improved it. Regional inspector Wen Weng of Yi Region set up a government-run school in Chengdu, and carried out governmental education system in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 24). As the school was built by stones, it was called "Stone Chamber". During the Han era, academic thoughts were active there, prose and odes were famous, both astronomy and regular calendar were with advanced level, Philosophy of Huang Lao and Zhou Yi was popular, and Taoism was founded in Heming Mountain. Thanks to the constant expanding areas irrigated by Gujiang Dam, Chengdu Plain became a major producer of rice. Sichuan was also the earliest place in drilling and using natural gas and petroleum all over the world; and the key center of iron smelting and silk weaving in China. Tea, silk and Shu cloth transported from China to India through the famous "Shu Channel" (called south "Silk Road"). Chengdu had become one of five developed and prosperous cities, which was named "Western City".

    In Three Kingdoms (220 -280), Liu Bei set up the Shu han Kingdom (AD 221 - 263) of the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280) in Chengdu.

     During the Dynasties of Sui (581 -618) and Tang (618 - 907), Sichuan had been set as Jiannan Circuit, economy and culture developed fast, literature there came on to prosperous, and stone carving art had got a high degree of professional proficiency. The levels and skills for silk weaving, paper making, engraving printing, china making, salt production and mines smelting were far beyond the former dynasty, which became famous not only in domestic country but also in oversea countries.

    In Five Dynasties (907 - 960), emperor of Later Shu (934 - 965) Meng Chang ordered people to grow Hibiscuses all over Chengdu city because of his predilection. When Hibiscus flowers bloomed, people can see all flowers as beautiful as rosy clouds for scores of 5 km around, the whole city was colorful with these flowers, and then Chengdu gained a graceful name "Hibiscus City" called Hibiscus City for short.

    Sine Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), this area was set four circuits — Yi Region, Zi Region, li Region and Kui Region, called "Sichuan Circuits" for short, and Sichuan gained the name due to this.

    For Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368) secretariat province, and its provincial status was achieved during the Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) administered Western Sichuan plateau and Liangshan region.

    When the People’s Republic of China was founded, the government repealed Xikang province, setting counties east of Jinsha River to Sichuan, while Changdu areas west of Jinsha River to Tibet. In 1997. Sichuan and Chongqing were divided, with Chongqing City, Wanxian City, Fuling City and Qinjiang given to Chongqing municipality. At present, Sichuan Province has administrative jurisdiction over one subordinate province level city — Chengdu，17 prefecture-level cities — Zigong, Panzhihua, Luzhou, Deyang, Mianyang, Guangyuan, Suining, Neijiang, Leshan, Nanchong, Yibin, Guang’an, Dazhou, Bazhong, Ya’an, Meishan and Ziyang, three minority autonomous regions — A’ba, Ganzi and Liangshan. The capital city of it is Chengdu.

TOP >>