Sichuan
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Template:Infobox PRC province Sichuan (Template:Zh-cpw; Postal Pinyin: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in central-western China with its capital at Chengdu.
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History
The territory of the province and its vicinity were the cradle of unique local civilizations, which can be dated to at least 15th century BC (i.e. later years of Shang Dynasty). Beginning from the 9th 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 a 1986 archaeological discovery at a small village named Sanxingdui (三星堆 Sān Xīng Duī) in Guanghan (廣漢 Guǎng Hàn) County. Believed to be an ancient city of the Shu Kingdom, the excavations yielded invaluable archaeological information.
Although the Qin Kingdom destroyed the civilizations of Shu and Ba, the Qin government accelerated the technological and agricultural advancements of Sichuan comparable to that of the Huang He (Yellow River) Valley. The Dujiangyan irrigation system, built in 3rd century BC under the inspection of Li Bing (李冰 Lǐ Bīng), was the symbol of modernization of that period. Composed of a series of dams, it redirected the flow of Min Jiang, a major tributary of Yangtze River, to fields and relieved 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, which proved successful as Mongke Khan died of illness in Sichuan. The line of defence was finally broken through after the first use of firearms in history during the six-years siege of Xiangyang. 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.
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
The current immediate administrative divisions of Sichuan consist of 18 prefecture-level cities and 3 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 to the west, Qinling 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 is known as the "Land of Abundance" (天府之國). It is one of the major agricultural production bases in China. Grain, including rice and wheat, is the major product with output that ranked first in China in 1999. Commercial cash crops include rapeseeds, citrus fruits, peaches, sugar canes, and sweet potatoes. 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 in western 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 refugees, loss of archeological sites, and ecological damage.
Sichuan's nominal GDP for 2004 was about 655.6 billion yuan (US$81.33 billion) and a per capita of 6,270 RMB (757 USD). 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. [3]
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, which is a part of historic Tibet's Kham region.
Culture
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 Template:IPA into the alveolar consonants Template:IPA, the merger of Template:IPA and Template:IPA, as well as the merger of Template:IPA into Template:IPA.
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.
Tourism
- Dazu Stone Carvings
- Dujiangyan Irrigation System (also see history section) was made a World Heritage Site in 2000
- 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
Miscellaneous topics
Professional sports teams in Sichuan include:
- Chinese Basketball Association
- None
- Chinese Football Association Jia League
- Chinese Football Association Super League
Colleges and universities
- Sichuan University (Chengdu)
- Southwest Jiaotong University (Chengdu)
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Chengdu)
- Southwest University of Science and Technology (Mianyang)
See also
External links
| Province-level divisions administered by the People's Republic of China | Image:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg | |||||||||||
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