Sichuan

Sichuan (四川, previously spelled Szechuan) is a province in central-western China with its capital at Chengdu.

Brief history of the Province

Terriory of the province and its vincity were the cradle of unique local civilizations, which could be dated to at least 15th century BC (i.e. Later years of Shang Dynasty). Beginning from 9th century BC, Shu (today Chengdu) and Ba (today Chongqiang) emerged as the cultural and administrative centres where two rival kingdoms were established. Their distintive cultures were doubted until the discovery of Sanxingdu (ŽO¯‘Í san1 xing1 dui1) at Guanghan (œAŠ¿ guang3 han4) Prefecture. Believed to be an ancient city of the Shu Kingdom, archeological finds yielded invaluable informations which was destroyed by Qin's conquest.

Although the Qin Kingdom destroyed the civilzations of Shu and Ba, the government accelerated the technological and agriculture advancements comparable to that of the Huanghe Valley. Dujiangyan (“s]‰ du1 jiang2 yan4) built under the inspection of Li Bing (—›™u li3 bing1) was the symbol of modernization of that period. Composed of a series of dams, it was the first controlled the flow of Changjiang by redirection of the water to fields. The construction and various other projects greatly increasd the harvest of the area which thus became the main source of provision and men for Qin's unification of China.

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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 and neighboring Yunnan province.