Sichuan

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This article is about the Chinese province. For the style of cooking, see Szechuan cuisine.
 This article is related to a current event: 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

Coordinates: 30°0′N, 103°0′E

Sichuan Province
Chinese : 四川省
Sìchuān Shěng
Abbreviations: 川/蜀  (pinyin: Chuān or Shǔ)
Szechuan is highlighted on this map
Origin of name Short for 川峡四路 chuānxiá sìlù
literally "The Four Circuits
of the Rivers and Gorges",
referring to the four circuits during the Song Dynasty.
Administration type Province
Capital
(and largest city)		 Chengdu
CPC Ctte Secretary Liu Qibao
Governor Jiang Jufeng
Area 485,000 km² (187,000 sq mi) (5th)
Population (2004)
 - Density		 87,250,000 (3rd)
180 /km² (470 /sq mi) (22nd)
GDP (2006)
 - per capita		 CNY 863.8 billion (9th)
CNY 10,574 (25th)
HDI (2005) 0.728 (medium) (25th)
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
http://www.sichuan.gov.cn/
(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 (help·info) (Chinese: 四川; pinyin: Sìchuān; Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in western China with its capital at Chengdu. The current name of the province, 四川 (Sìchuān), is an abbreviation of 四川路 (Sì Chuānlù), or "Four circuits of rivers", which is itself abbreviated from 川峡四路 (Chuānxiá Sìlù), or "Four circuits of rivers and gorges", named after the division of the existing circuit into four during the Northern Song Dynasty.[1]

Contents

[edit] 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 (coinciding with 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 destroyed the civilizations of Shu and Ba, their cultures were preserved and inherited by people in Sichuan until today.[citation needed] 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 provisions 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 the Huang He Valley to foreign countries of the southwest, especially India.

The area's military importance matches its commercial and agricultural significance. As a basin surrounded by the Himalayas to the west, the Qinling Range to the north, and mountainous areas of Yunnan to the south, Sichuan is prone to fog. Since the Yangtze flows through the basin and is thus upstream of eastern China, navies could be easily sailed downstream. Therefore Sichuan was the base for numerous amphibious military forces and also served as the refuge 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 defenses against the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty in Sichuan and Xiangyang. The line of defense was finally broken through after the first use of firearms in history during the six-year siege of Xiangyang, which ended in 1273. In the 20th century, the foggy climate hindered the accuracy of Japanese bombing of the basin and the city of Chongqing, where the capital of the Republic of China had been relocated during World War II.

The Leshan Giant Buddha of Mount Emei, built during the latter half of the Tang Dynasty (618–907).
The Leshan Giant Buddha of Mount Emei, built during the latter half of the Tang Dynasty (618–907).

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 Guanyin 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.[2]

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 residents from the reservoir areas of the Three Gorges Dam project.

On Monday, May 12, 2008 at 2:28:01 PM local time, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9/8.0 hit just 90km northwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu. As of May 14, the official Xinhua news agency reported: 14,463 people were dead, another 14,051 were missing, 25,788 were buried in the debris and 64,746 had been injured,[3][4][5][6] [7] On May 22, the death toll was updated to 50,651 in Sichuan with a further 32,361 people missing, and 277,028 injured[8][9].

[edit] Subdivisions

Main article: List of administrative divisions of Sichuan

Sichuan consists of eighteen prefecture-level cities and three autonomous prefectures:

The eighteen prefecture-level cities:

  • Bazhong (巴中 |Bāzhōng Shì)
  • Chengdu (成都 |Chéngdū Shì) (Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province)
  • Dazhou (达州 |Dázhōu Shì)
  • Deyang (德阳 |Déyáng Shì)
  • Guang'an (广安 |Guǎng'ān Shì)
  • Guangyuan (广元 |Gǔangyúan Shì)
  • Leshan (乐山 |Lèshān Shì)
  • Luzhou (泸州 |Lúzhōu Shì)
  • Meishan (眉山 |Méishān Shì)
  • Mianyang (绵阳 |Miányáng Shì)
  • Nanchong (南充 |Nánchōng Shì)
  • Neijiang (内江 |Nèijiāng Shì)
  • Panzhihua (攀枝花 |Pānzhīhūa Shì)
  • Suining (遂宁 |Sùiníng Shì)
  • Ya'an (雅安 |Yǎ'ān Shì)
  • Yibin (宜宾 |Yíbīn Shì)
  • Zigong (自贡 |Zìgòng Shì)
  • Ziyang (资阳 |Zīyáng Shì)

The three autonomous prefectures:

[edit] Geography

The area lies in the Sichuan basin and is surrounded by the Himalayas (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. Plate tectonics formed the Longmen Shan fault, proceeding under the north-easterly mountain location of the 2008 earthquake

The climate is highly variable. The Sichuan Basin (including Chengdu) in eastern half of the province experiences a subtropical monsoon climate with long, warm to hot, humid summers and short, cool to cold, dry and cloudy winters, with China's lowest sunshine totals. The western areas have a mountainous climate characterized by very cold winters and mild summers, with plentiful sunshine. The southern part of the province, including Panzhihua, has a sunny, subtropical climate with very mild winters and hot summers.

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

[edit] Politics

Main article: Politics of Sichuan

The politics of Sichuan is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China.

The Governor of Sichuan is the highest ranking official in the People's Government of Sichuan. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Sichuan Communist Party of China Provincial Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Sichuan CPC Party Chief".

[edit] Economy

The capital of Sichuan, Chengdu.
The capital of Sichuan, Chengdu.

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 grapeseeds. 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. [1]

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 [2]. 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 residents in the reservoir areas, loss of archeological sites, and ecological damage.

Sichuan's nominal GDP for 2006 was 863.8 billion yuan (US$111.6 billion), equivalent to 10,574 RMB (US$1370) per capita. In 2006, the per capita net income of rural residents reached 3,013 yuan (US$350), up 7.5% year-on-year. The per capita disposable income of the urbanites averaged 9,350 yuan (US$1,048), up 11.5% year-on-year. [3]

[edit] Demographics

Tibetans as a main ethnic minority group in Sichuan.
Tibetans as a main ethnic minority group in Sichuan.

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. Sichuan was China's most populous province before Chongqing was carved out of it, making Henan the current most populous. However, when including migrants, Guangdong has a higher population than Henan.

It was the 3rd most populous sub-national entity in the world, after the Uttar Pradesh, India and the Russian SFSR until 1991 when the Soviet Union was dissolved, as well as only 1 of 4 (Uttar Pradesh, Russian RSFSR, Maharashtra, and Sichuan) to ever reach 100 million people. It is currently 6th.

[edit] Culture

See also: Szechuan cuisine and 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.

[edit] 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 Ngawa (Aba) in western Sichuan are populated predominantly by ethnic Tibetans, who speak the Kham and Amdo dialects of Tibetan. The Qiang and other related ethnicities speak the Qiangic languages, which are 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.

[edit] Colleges and universities

[edit] Tourism

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

[edit] Sports

Professional sports teams in Sichuan include:

[edit] Twin states

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ (Chinese) Origin of the Names of China's Provinces, People's Daily Online.
  2. ^ Guxi, Pan (2002). Chinese Architecture -- The Yuan and Ming Dynasties, English Ed., Yale University Press, pp 245–246. ISBN 0-300-09559-7. 
  3. ^ Strong earthquake hits southwest China
  4. ^ Powerful earthquake shakes China
  5. ^ Nearly 9,000 Dead in Quake
  6. ^ USGS Earthquake Details
  7. ^ China quake toll close to 15,000
  8. ^ "China earthquake toll tops 40,000", bbc.co.uk, 2008-05-20. Retrieved on 2008-05-20. (English) 
  9. ^ "Casualties of the Wenchuan Earthquake", Sina.com, 2008-05-22. Retrieved on 2008-05-22. (Chinese) 

[edit] External links

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