What is Sichuan?

Coordinates:

四川省 Sìchuān Shěng
Abbreviations: 川/?  (Pinyin: Chuān or Shu)
Szechuan is highlighted on this map
Origin of name	Short for 川峡四路 chuānxiá sìlù literally "The four circuits of rivers-and-gorges", referring to the four circuits during the Song Dynasty.
Administration type	Province
Capital (and largest city)	Chengdu
CPC Ctte Secretary	Zhang Xuezhong
Governor	Zhang Zhongwei
Area	485,000 km (5th)
Population (2004)  - Density	87,250,000 (3rd) 180/km (22nd)
GDP (2005)  - per capita	CNY 738.5 billion (9th) CNY 8,547 (25th)
HDI (2005)	0.728 (medium) (24th)
Major nationalities	Han - 95% Yi - 2.6% Tibetan - 1.5% Qiang - 0.4%
Prefecture-level	21 divisions
County-level	181 divisions
Township-level	5011 divisions
ISO 3166-2	CN-51
Official website [1] (Simplified Chinese)
Source for population and GDP data: 《中国统计年鉴—2005》 China Statistical Yearbook 2005 ISBN 7503747382 Source for nationalities data: 《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》 Tabulation on nationalities of 2000 population census of China ISBN 7105054255 † As at December 31, 2004

Sichuan (helpinfo) (Chinese: 四川; Pinyin: Sìchuān; Wade-Giles: Szŭ4-ch'uan1; Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province 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 dams, 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 firearms in history during the six-year siege of Xiangyang, which ended in 1273. Foggy climate hindered the accuracy of Japanese bombing of the basin and the Chongqing city where the capital of Republic of China had moved to during World War II.

During the Ming Dynasty major architectural works were created in Sichuan. Bao'en Temple is a well-preserved fifteenth century monastery complex built between 1440 and 1446 during Emperor Yingzong's reign (1427-64) in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Dabei Hall enshrines a thousand-armed wooden image of Avalokitesvara and Huayan Hall is a repository with a revolving sutra cabinet. The wall paintings, sculptures and other ornamental details are masterpieces of the Ming period.^[1]

Sichuan's borders have remained relatively constant for the past 500 years. This changed in 1997 when the city of Chongqing as well as the surrounding towns of Fuling and Wanxian were formed into the new Chongqing Municipality. The new municipality was formed to spearhead China's effort to develop its western regions as well as to coordinate the resettlement of refugees from the Three Gorges Dam project.

Subdivisions

Main article: List of administrative divisions of Sichuan

The current immediate administrative divisions of Sichuan consist of eighteen prefecture-level cities and three autonomous prefectures:

• Chengdu (成都)
• Mianyang (绵阳)
• Deyang (德阳)
• Yibin (宜宾)
• Panzhihua (攀枝花)
• Leshan (乐山)
• Nanchong (南充)
• Zigong (自贡)
• Luzhou (泸州)
• Neijiang (内江)
• Guangyuan (广元)
• Suining (遂宁)
• Ziyang (资阳)
• Guang'an (广安)
• Ya'an (雅安)
• Meishan (眉山)
• Dazhou (达州)
• Bazhong (巴中)
• Aba Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture (阿坝藏族羌族自治州)
• Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (甘孜藏族自治州)
• Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture (凉山彝族自治州)

Geography

The area lies in the Sichuan basin and is surrounded by the Himalaya (喜玛拉雅山脉）to the west, Qinling (秦岭) range to the north, and mountainous areas of Yunnan to the south. The Yangtze River flows through the basin and thus is upstream to areas of eastern China. The Minjiang River, in central Sichuan is a tributary of the upper Yangtze River, which it joins at Yibin.

The climate is often heavily foggy. Several cities are quite polluted and seldom get sunny days.

Bordering provinces: Chongqing Municipality, Tibetan Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Guizhou and Yunnan.

Economy

Sichuan has been historically known as the "Province of Abundance". It is one of the major agricultural production bases of China. Grain, including rice and wheat, is the major product with output that ranked first in China in 1999. Commercial crops include citrus fruits, sugar canes, sweet potatoes, peaches and rapeseeds. Sichuan also had the largest output of pork among all the provinces and the second largest output of silkworm cocoons in China in 1999. Sichuan is rich in mineral resources. It has more than 132 kinds of proven underground mineral resources of which reserves of 11 kinds including vanadium, titanium, and lithium are the largest in China. The Panxi region alone possesses 13.3% of the reserves of iron, 93% of titanium, 69% of vanadium, 83% of cobalt of the whole country. [2]

Sichuan is one of the major industrial bases of China. In addition to heavy industries such as coal, energy, iron and steel industry, the province has established a light manufacturing sector comprising building materials, wood processing, food and silk processing. Chengdu and Mianyang are the production bases for textiles and electronics products. Deyang, Panzhihua, and Yibin are the production bases for machinery, metallurgy industries, and wine respectively. The wine production of Sichuan accounted for 21.9% of the country’s total production in 2000. Great strides have been achieved in accelerating the development of Sichuan into a modern hi-tech industrial base by encouraging both domestic and foreign investments in electronics and information technology (such as software), machinery and metallurgy (including automobiles), hydropower, pharmaceutical, food and beverage industries. The auto industry is important and a key sector of the machinery industry in Sichuan. Most of the auto manufacturing companies are located in Chengdu, Mianyang, Nanchong, and Luzhou [3]. Other important industries in Sichuan include aerospace and defense (military) industries. A number of China's rockets (Long March rockets) and satellites has been launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, located in the city of Xichang. Sichuan's beautiful landscapes and rich historical relics have also made the province into a major center for tourism.

The Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam ever constructed, is being built on the Yangtze River in nearby Hubei province to control flooding in the Sichuan Basin, neighboring Yunnan province, and downstream. The plan is hailed by some as a Chinese effort to shift towards alternate energy sources and to further develop its industrial and commercial bases but others have criticised it for its potential harmful effects, such as massive resettlement of refugees, loss of archeological sites, and ecological damage.

Sichuan's nominal GDP for 2004 was 656 billion yuan (US$81.3 billion), equivalent to 6,270 RMB (US$757) per capita. In 2005, the per capita net income of rural residents reached 2,800 yuan (US$350), up 8.6% year-on-year. The per capita disposable income of the urbanites averaged 8,386 yuan (US$1,048), up 8.8% year-on-year. [4]

Demographics

The majority of population is Han Chinese, who are found scattered throughout the province. Significant minorities of Tibetans, Yi, Qiang and Naxi reside in the western portion.

Culture

• Sichuan cuisine
• Music of Sichuan

The Li Bai Memorial, located at his birthplace, Zhongba Town of northern Jiangyou County in Sichuan Province, is a museum in memory of Li Bai, a Chinese poet in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It was prepared in 1962 on the occasion of 1,200th anniversary of his death, completed in 1981 and opened to the public in October 1982. The memorial is built in the style of the classic garden of the Tang Dynasty.

Languages

Most dialects of the Chinese language spoken in Sichuan, including the Chengdu dialect of the provincial capital, belong to the southwestern subdivision of the Mandarin group, and are therefore very similar to the dialects of neighbouring Yunnan and Guizhou provinces as well as Chongqing Municipality. Typical features shared by many southwestern Mandarin dialects include the merger of the retroflex consonants /tʂ tʂʰ ʂ/ into the alveolar consonants /ts tsʰ s/, the merger of /n/ and /l/, as well as the merger of /ɤŋ iɤŋ/ into /ən in/.

The prefectures of Garzê and Aba in western Sichuan are populated predominantly by Tibetans, who speak the Kham and Amdo dialects of Tibetan. The Qiang and other related ethnicities speak the Qiangic languages, also part of the Tibeto-Burman languages. The Yi of Liangshan prefecture in southern Sichuan speak the Yi language, which is more closely related to Burmese; Yi is written using the Yi script, a syllabary standardized in 1974.

Colleges and universities

• Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (Chengdu)
• Sichuan University (Chengdu)
• Southwest Jiaotong University (Chengdu)
• University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Chengdu)
• Southwest University of Science and Technology (Mianyang)

Tourism

UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

• Dazu Rock Carvings, listed as property of the Chongqing municipality
• Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area
• Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area
• Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area
• Mount Qincheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System
• Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries

Sports

Professional sports teams in Sichuan include:

• Chinese Basketball Association
• None
• Chinese Football Association Jia League
• Chengdu Wuniu
• Chinese Football Association Super League
• Sichuan Guancheng

Twin states

• Washington (state), USA (1982)
• Michigan, USA (1982)
• Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan (1984)
• Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan (1985)
• South Pyongan, North Korea (1985)
• Midi-Pyrénées, France (1987)
• North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (1988)
• Leicestershire, England (1988)
• Piedmont, Italy (1990)
• Pernambuco, Brazil (1992)
• Tolna County, Hungary (1993)
• Valencian Community, Spain (1994)
• Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium (1995)
• Barinas State, Venezuela (2001)
• Friesland, Netherlands (2001)
• Almaty Province, Kazakhstan (2001)
• Mpumalanga, South Africa (2002)
• Jeollanam-do, South Korea (2004)

See also

• Eight Immortals from Sichuan

Footnotes

External links

• 中国四川 Sichuan Provincial Government
• Large map of Sichuan
• Li Bai Museum at Zhongba Town of northern Jiangyou County
• Contemporary Art Comes to Sichuan

•  • [ e] Province-level divisions administered by the People's Republic of China (PRC)
Provinces	Anhui Fujian Gansu Guangdong Guizhou Hainan Hebei Heilongjiang Henan Hubei Hunan Jiangsu Jiangxi Jilin Liaoning Qinghai Shaanxi Shandong Shanxi Sichuan Taiwan1 Yunnan Zhejiang
Autonomous regions	Guangxi Inner Mongolia Ningxia Tibet (Xizang) Xinjiang
Municipalities	Beijing Chongqing Shanghai Tianjin
Special administrative regions	Hong Kong Macau
1 Claimed by the People's Republic of China, but currently ruled by the Republic of China. See also Political status of Taiwan.

Prefecture-level divisions of Sichuan '''Sub-provincial cities: Chengdu '''Prefecture-level cities: Bazhong | Dazhou | Deyang | Guang'an | Guangyuan | Leshan | Luzhou | Meishan Mianyang | Nanchong | Neijiang | Panzhihua | Suining | Ya'an | Yibin | Zigong | Ziyang '''Autonomous prefectures: Ngawa | Garz | Liangshan

List of Sichuan County-level divisions