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110-555: Zhang Xianzhong (張獻忠 or Chang Hsien-chung ; 18 September 1606 – 2 January 1647), courtesy name Bingwu (秉吾), art name Jingxuan (敬軒), was a Chinese peasant leader who led a peasant rebellion from Yan'an wei, Shaanxi (today Yulin , Shaanxi province ) during the Ming-Qing transition . He conquered Sichuan in 1644, and named himself king and later emperor of the Xi dynasty . His rule in Sichuan

220-513: A metropolis or a capital). The present spelling is based on pinyin romanization ; its Postal Map romanization was "Chengtu". Its former status as the seat of the Chengdu Prefecture prompted Marco Polo 's spellings "Sindafu", "Sin-din-fu", &c. and the Protestant missionaries ' romanization "Ching-too Foo". Although the official name of the city has remained (almost) constant,

330-465: A stele , which came to be known as the Seven Kill Stele ( 七殺碑 ), with the following inscription: 天生萬物以養人 人無一善以報天 殺殺殺殺殺殺殺 Heaven brings forth innumerable things to nurture man. Man has nothing good with which to recompense Heaven. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. There are, however, considerable doubts that this account is accurate. In 1934, a stele thought to be this very one

440-503: A 500-member underground church, the Early Rain Covenant Church , led by Pastor Wang Yi . Over 100 members of the church were arrested including the pastor and his wife. The church's kindergarten and theological college were raided and the church's media outlets were closed down. Before his arrest, church member Li Yingqiang declared: "Even if we are down to our last five, worship and gatherings will still go on because our faith

550-431: A civil administration and initially gained considerable support. According to an account by Gabriel de Magalhães , a Portuguese Jesuit who was working in Sichuan with another Jesuit Lodovico Buglio (but both pressed to serve as astronomers to Zhang), "he began his rule with such liberality, justice and magnificence by which he captivated all hearts that many mandarins, famous both in civic as in military affairs whom fear

660-469: A formal and respectful purpose. In traditional Chinese society, using someone’s given name in adulthood was considered disrespectful among peers, making courtesy names essential for formal communication and writing. Courtesy names often reflect the meaning of the given name or use homophonic characters, and were typically disyllabic after the Qin dynasty . The practice also extended to other East Asian cultures, and

770-534: A large 5-star hotel, a skating rink and a 15,000-spot parking area. According to the 2020 Chinese census , the municipality had 20,937,757 inhabitants; the metropolitan area itself was home to 16,045,577 inhabitants including those of the 12 urban districts plus Guanghan City ( in Deyang ). Chengdu is the largest city in Sichuan and the fourth largest in China. 21,192,000 for 2021 , adding more residents than any other city in

880-693: A level head-on attack against an incoming coming raid of 72 IJANF G3M bombers (Capt. Cen chose this tactic knowing that the operation of the Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20mm autocannon in his D.510 is likely to fail under the g-loads of a high-deflection diving attack), with Capt. Cen pummeling the lead G3M of the IJN's 13th Kōkūtai's CO Captain Kikushi Okuda with cannon fire, sending the G3M crashing down in flames over Chengdu, along with three other G3M bombers destroyed in

990-486: A massive resettlement program was initiated during the Qing dynasty, starting around 1670 or 1671 and lasting more than two centuries. Millions of people from Hubei , Fujian , Jiangxi , Guangdong , Shaanxi and other provinces were resettled in Sichuan. Some of the early immigrants were those who returned after fleeing Sichuan (including the ancestors of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping ), but some were also coerced. A large number of

1100-401: A million people left in Sichuan, most of whom were clustered in the peripheral areas. The last Ming census figure for Sichuan in 1578 (more than 60 years before Zhang entered Sichuan) gave a population of 3,102,073. However, by 1661, only 16,096 adult males were registered in Sichuan, and Chengdu was said to have become a virtual ghost town frequented by tigers. A later figure for Sichuan was from

1210-664: A mixture of descriptive prose and verse during the Tang dynasty; Li Bai and Du Fu , the most eminent poets of the Tang and Song dynasties respectively; Yang Shen'an , a famous scholar of the Ming dynasty; and Guo Moruo and Ba Jin , two well-known modern writers. Chang Qu , a historian of Chengdu during the Jin dynasty, compiled the earliest local historical records, the Record of Hua Yang State . Zhao Chongzuo ,

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1320-668: A poet in Chengdu during the Later Shu Kingdom, edited Among the Flowers , the first anthology of Ci in China's history. Meng Chang , the king of Later Shu, wrote the first couplet for the Spring Festival, which says, "A harvest year accepts celebrations, good festivals foreshadow long springs." In 2023, Chengdu hosted the 81st World Science Fiction Convention , having beat out Winnipeg, Canada, in site-selection voting in 2021. During

1430-616: A separate ancient bronze-wielding culture that, following its partial sinification , became known to the Chinese as Shu . Shu was conquered by Qin in 316   BC, and the settlement was re-founded by Qin general Zhang Yi . In the early stage of the Xia dynasty or even earlier, the ancient Shu Kingdom located on the Chengdu Plain has formed a relatively developed bronze civilization, becoming an important source of Chinese civilization and one of

1540-516: A subsequent famine and epidemic, attacks by tigers, as well as people fleeing from the turmoil and the Qing armies, resulted in a large-scale depopulation of Sichuan. The worst affected areas are believed to be Chengdu and its surrounding counties (mainly in Chengdu Plain ), and places on the path of Zhang's retreat from Chengdu to Shaanxi. A popular account of his life has it that he erected in Chengdu

1650-621: Is Daxuetang (also known as Miaojiling) in Xiling Snow Mountain in Dayi County, with an altitude of 5,364 meters. The lowest point is the river bank at the exit of Tuojiang River in Jianyang City, with an altitude of 359 meters. Chengdu has a monsoon -influenced humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cwa ) and is largely warm with high relative humidity all year. It has four distinct seasons, with moderate rainfall concentrated mainly in

1760-401: Is a transliteration of ancient Shu place names. There is a saying that "Guangdu, Xindu and Chengdu" are collectively referred to as the "Three Capitals of Ancient Shu". Nowadays, there are many cultural relics of ancient Shu Kingdom in Chengdu Plain, such as Sanxingdui Ruins, Jinsha Ruins, Yufu Ancient City Ruins, Wangcong Temple, etc. Jinsha Ruins located in the urban area of Chengdu is a peak of

1870-551: Is also home to a large primitive forest with abundant biological resources and a giant panda habitat. East of Chengdu stands the low Longquan Mountains and the west bordering area of the hilly land of middle reaches of Min River , an area noted by several converging rivers. Since ancient times, Chengdu has been known as "the Abundant Land" owing to its fertile soil, favorable climate, and novel Dujiangyan Irrigation System. Chengdu

1980-429: Is also planned to be self-sustaining, with every residence being a two-minute walk from a park. In 2019, Chengdu overtook Shenzhen , China's technology hub, as the best-performing Chinese economy. The city has surged in population in the last two decades. Investments into a Europe-Chengdu Express Railway have been made, providing even more opportunity for the city to grow. As a way to preserve farmland and accommodate

2090-553: Is attested in sources dating back to the Warring States period . It has been called the only major city in China to have remained at an unchanged location with an unchanged name throughout the imperial , republican , and communist eras. However, it also had other names; for example, it was briefly known as "Xijing" (Western Capital) in the 17th century. Etymology of the name is unclear. The earliest and most widely known explanation, although not generally accepted by modern scholars,

2200-479: Is borrowed from the history of the establishment of the capital in the Western Zhou dynasty. The allusions of Zhou Wang Qianqi's "one year, he lived in a cluster, two years became a city, and three years Chengdu," because of the name Chengdu, it has been used to this day. Therefore, Chengdu has become a rare city in China and the world that has not changed its name since its establishment. Some people think that Chengdu

2310-571: Is concentrated in July and August, with very little of it in the cooler months. Chengdu also has one of the lowest annual sunshine totals nationally, with less sunshine annually than much of Northern Europe. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 15 percent in December to 32 percent in August, the city receives 1006 hours of bright sunshine annually. Spring (March–April) tends to be sunnier and warmer in

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2420-619: Is considered one of the best cities in China to live. It is also a national central city of China. Chengdu is one of the world's top 25 cities by scientific research output , and home to the greatest number of universities and research institutes in Western China, notably Sichuan University , University of Electronic Science and Technology of China , Southwestern University of Finance and Economics , Southwest Jiaotong University , Chengdu University of Technology , Sichuan Normal University , and Xihua University . The name Chengdu

2530-450: Is hot and humid, but not to the extent of the " Three Furnaces " cities of Chongqing , Wuhan , and Nanjing , all of which lie in the Yangtze basin. The 24-hour daily mean temperature in July and August is around 25 °C (77 °F), with afternoon highs sometimes reaching 33 °C (91 °F); sustained heat as found in much of eastern China is rare. Rainfall occurs most frequently and

2640-556: Is located at the western edge of the Sichuan Basin and sits on the Chengdu Plain ; the dominating terrain is plains. The prefecture ranges in latitude from 30° 05' to 31° 26' N, while its longitude ranges from 102° 54' to 104° 53' E, stretching for 192 kilometers (119 mi) from east to west and 166 km (103 mi) south to north, administering 12,390 km (4,780 sq mi) of land. Neighboring prefectures are Deyang (NE), Ziyang (SE), Meishan (S), Ya'an (SW), and

2750-480: Is located has an elevation ranging from 450 to 720 meters (1,480 to 2,360 feet). Northwest Chengdu is bordered by the high and steep Longmen Mountains in the north-west and in the west by the Qionglai Mountains , the elevation of which exceeds 3,000 m (9,800 ft) and includes Miao Jiling (5,364 m, 17,598 ft) and Xiling Snow Mountain (5,164 m, 16,942 ft). The western mountainous area

2860-482: Is provided in the 10th-century geographical work Universal Geography of the Taiping Era , which states that the ninth king of Shu 's Kaiming dynasty named his new capital Chengdu after a statement by King Tai of Zhou that a settlement needed "one year to become a town, two to become a city, and three to become a metropolis." (The character for cheng 成 may mean "turned into" while du 都 can mean either

2970-478: Is real. […] Persecution is a price worth paying for the Lord." Police are said to have told one member that the church had been declared an illegal organisation. Chinese media were banned from reporting the events. Video footage which found its way onto western social media showed arrests and photographs alleged to be of injuries inflicted by the police. From a photo of M s . Jiang's detention warrant it appears that

3080-456: Is reputed to have been enormous, possibly one million out of a total provincial population of three million, before he was eventually killed by the Manchus." The combination of deaths from the massacres and other causes as well as flight of people from the province resulted in a sharp drop in the population of Sichuan. The population has been estimated to have dropped by as much as 75%, with fewer than

3190-473: Is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan . With a population of 20,937,757 at the 2020 census , it is the fourth most populous city in China , and it is the only city with a population of over 20 million apart from direct-administered municipalities . It is traditionally the hub of Western China . Chengdu is in central Sichuan. The surrounding Chengdu Plain is known as the "Country of Heaven" and

3300-480: Is the third Chinese city with two international airports after Beijing and Shanghai. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport , and the newly built Tianfu International Airport , a hub of Air China and Sichuan Airlines , is one of the 30 busiest airports in the world, and the Chengdu railway station is one of the six biggest in China. Chengdu is considered a "Beta + (global second-tier)" city classification (together with Barcelona and Washington, D.C.) according to

3410-583: The Book of Rites , after a man reached adulthood, it was disrespectful for others of the same generation to address him by his given name . Thus, the given name was reserved for oneself and one's elders, whereas the courtesy name would be used by adults of the same generation to refer to one another on formal occasions or in writing. Another translation of zi is "style name", but this translation has been criticised as misleading, because it could imply an official or legal title. Generally speaking, courtesy names before

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3520-583: The GaWC . As of 2023, the city also hosts 23 foreign consulates, the fourth most in China behind Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Chengdu is the seat of the Western Theater Command region of the People's Liberation Army . In 2023, Chengdu became the third Chinese city to host the 31st FISU Summer World University Games , after Beijing 2001 and Shenzhen 2011 . Chengdu will also host the 2025 World Games . It

3630-468: The Kuomintang (KMT) government under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek ultimately retreated to Sichuan to escape from the invading Japanese forces. They brought with them into Sichuan business people, workers, and academics who founded many of the industries and cultural institutions which continue to make Chengdu an important cultural and commercial production center. Chengdu became a military center for

3740-707: The Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture (N). The urban area, with an elevation of 500 m (1,600 ft), features a few rivers, three of them being the Jin , Fu , and Sha Rivers . Outside of the immediate urban area, the topography becomes more complex: to the east lies the Longquan Mountains ( 龙泉山脉 ) and the Penzhong Hills ( 盆中丘陵 ); to the west lie the Qionglai Mountains , which rise to 5,364 m (17,598 ft) in Dayi County. The highest point in Chengdu

3850-494: The Northern Qi dynasty asserted that whereas the purpose of a given name was to distinguish one person from another, a courtesy name should express the bearer's moral integrity. Prior to the twentieth century, sinicized Koreans , Vietnamese , and Japanese were also referred to by their courtesy name. The practice was also adopted by some Mongols and Manchus after the Qing conquest of China. Chengdu Chengdu

3960-499: The Qin dynasty were one syllable, and from the Qin to the 20th century they were mostly disyllabic , consisting of two Chinese characters . Courtesy names were often relative to the meaning of the person's given name, the relationship could be synonyms, relative affairs, or rarely but sometimes antonym. For example, Chiang Kai-shek 's given name ( 中正 , romanized as Chung-cheng) and courtesy name ( 介石 , romanized as Kai-shek) are both from

4070-641: The Qing dynasty in 1636 and the Qing army advanced through the Great Wall after the fall of the Ming dynasty to rebels of Li Zicheng in 1644. In 1646 the Qing sent out a force under the leadership of Haoge intending to attack Zhang's domain in Sichuan. In October 1646, Zhang decided to abandon Sichuan, and headed towards his homeland in Shaanxi. However, the Qing army was also approaching from Shaanxi, and in January 1647, Zhang and

4180-567: The Western Han ; the "Hibiscus City" (Rongcheng, 蓉 城), from the hibiscus which King Meng Chang of the Later Shu ordered planted upon the city wall during the 10th century . According to Étienne de la Vaissière , "Baghshūr" ( lit.   ' pond of salt water ' ) may be the Sogdian name for the region of Chengdu. This toponym is attested near Merv , but not far from Chengdu are found

4290-416: The yù (豫) hexagram 16 of I Ching . Another way to form a courtesy name is to use the homophonic character zi ( 子 ) – a respectful title for a man – as the first character of the disyllabic courtesy name. Thus, for example, Gongsun Qiao 's courtesy name was Zichan ( 子產 ), and Du Fu 's was Zimei ( 子美 ). It was also common to construct a courtesy name by using as the first character one which expresses

4400-489: The "Land of Abundance". Its prehistoric settlers included the Sanxingdui culture. The site of Dujiangyan , an ancient irrigation system, is designated as a World Heritage Site . The Jin River flows through the city. Chengdu's culture largely reflects that of its province, Sichuan; in 2011, it was recognized by UNESCO as a city of gastronomy. It is associated with the giant panda , a Chinese national symbol, which inhabits

4510-434: The 1720s, which is over 70 years after Zhang's death and long after the resettlement of Sichuan had begun, and it recorded 634,802 households (which one estimate calculated to be around 2.5 million individuals). Many, while acknowledging the massacres committed, do not believe that Zhang was responsible for the greater part of the population collapse in Sichuan, and thought that the greatest loss happened after his death due to

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4620-572: The 1960s, Chengdu became an important defense industry hub. Chengdu is now one of the most important economic, financial, commercial, cultural, transportation, research and communication centers in China. Its economy is diverse, characterized by the machinery , automobile , medicine, food, and information technology industries. Chengdu is a leading financial hub, ranking 35th globally the 2021 Global Financial Centres Index . Chengdu also hosts many international companies; more than 300 Fortune 500 companies have established branches in Chengdu. Chengdu

4730-687: The American XX Bomber Command launched Operation Matterhorn , an ambitious plan to base B-29 Superfortresses in Chengdu and strategically bomb the Japanese Home Islands . The operating base was located in Xinjin Airport in the southwestern part of the Chengdu metropolitan area. Because the operation required a massive airlift of fuel and supplies over the Himalayas, it was not a significant military success, but it did earn Chengdu

4840-698: The Chengdu raid that day. With the death of Captain Okuda in the air battle over Chengdu, the IJN Kaigun-daisa ( 海軍大佐 ) became the highest-ranking IJN Air officer to be killed-in-action in the War of Resistance/World War II thus far. In mid-late 1940, unknown to the Americans and European allies, the Imperial Japanese appeared in the skies over Chongqing and Chengdu with the world's most advanced fighter plane at

4950-561: The Chinese Internet, used to refer to suicidal attackers who were desperate for society and implied an expectation of " accelerationism ". Minetoshi Yasuda from Shūkan Bunshun found the term is popular among Chinese anti-establishment otaku trolls . He speculated that the criminal motive of the perpetrator of the 2024 Shenzhen stabbing probably is the "Xianzhong". Courtesy name Unlike art names , which are more akin to pseudonyms or pen names , courtesy names served

5060-540: The Cultural Revolution, the Sï-Shen-Tsï Methodist Church building was no longer in use and the building was entrusted to the nearby Chengdu City Second People's Hospital for management. The hospital used the chapel as a kindergarten and the office of the hospital equipment department. In 1984, the hospital returned the chapel building to the church. In December 2018 the authorities attempted to close

5170-580: The Han dynasty, Chengdu's literature and art also reached a high level. All the most famous literary masters in the Han dynasty were from Chengdu, including Sima Xiangru, Yang Xiong, and Wang Bao. In the former Han dynasty, the whole country was divided into 14 prefectural governors' departments, among which the Yizhou governor was established in Luoxian (now Guanghan City, Sichuan), and the governor later moved to Chengdu. In

5280-627: The KMT to regroup in the War of Resistance . Chengdu was beyond the reach of the Imperial Japanese ground forces and escort fighter planes. However, the Japanese frequently flew in the then-highly advanced twin-engine long-ranged G3M "Nell" medium bombers to conduct massive aerial bombardments of both civilian and military targets in Chongqing and Chengdu . The massed formation of the G3M bombers provided heavy firepower against Chinese fighter planes assigned to

5390-593: The Middle Ages. During World War II , refugees from eastern China fleeing from the Japanese settled in Chengdu. After the war, Chengdu was briefly the capital of the Nationalist republican government until it withdrew to Taipei on the island of Taiwan . Under the PRC, Chengdu's importance as a link between Eastern China and Western China expanded, with railways built to Chongqing in 1952, and Kunming and Tibet afterward. In

5500-520: The Ming ancestral temple at Zhongdu ( Fengyang ) in Anhui and ravaged the area, the rebel armies broke up and Zhang headed to Hubei . In 1637, joined by other rebels and with an army now reaching a size of 300,000 men, he again pushed into Anhui, then to Jiangsu , and almost down to Nanjing , auxiliary capital of Ming. But he was immediately defeated there and he retreated back to Hubei. In 1638, he surrendered to Ming supreme commander Xiong Wencan ( 熊文燦 ) and

5610-470: The Ming government to collect grains and taxes. They coalesced into rebel armies called "roving bandits" ( liúkòu 流寇) because of their highly mobile nature, and spread into other parts of China. Zhang deserted from the army, joined the rebel forces in Mizhi County in 1630, and established himself as a rebel leader, styling himself Bada Wang (八大王, Eighth Great King). His mobile forces would conduct raids along

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5720-491: The Qing forces met in Xichong where Zhang had set up camp, and he was killed in the confrontation. According to one account, he was betrayed by one of his officers, a native of Sichuan named Liu Chin-chung (Liu Jinzhong) who resented his policy of terror in Sichuan. Zhang was alerted to their presence and decided to confront them with only 8 to 10 men. Liu pointed Zhang out to the Qing when Zhang rushed out from his tent on learning of

5830-425: The Qing until a dozen years or so later, and fighting only finally ended in eastern Sichuan in 1664. It is said that when Zhang Xianzhong led the army through Zitong , he was entrusted by Wenchang Wang not to kill the people in the dream, so Zhang regarded the residents of Zitong as brothers of the same clan, and the residents of Zitong were not massacred. Modern Chinese social science researcher Yang Peide believed

5940-612: The Song, a rebel leader set up a short-lived kingdom known as Great Shu ( 大蜀 , Dàshǔ ). Allegedly the Mongols called for the death of a million people in the city but the city's population had less than 30,000 residents (not Chengdu prefecture). The aged males who had not fled were killed while in typical fashion, the women, children and artisans were enslaved and deported. During the Yuan dynasty , most of Sichuan's residents were deported to Hunan during

6050-505: The Zhang's behavior is a political stunt. For thanks to Zhang's grace of not killing, the residents of Zitong established his statue in the Wenchang Temple of Zitong. In 1742, An Hongde, the head of Mianzhu County , directived to destroy the statue, but it was then rebuilt. In 1987, the local government erected a monument for the statue. In order to fill up the depopulated regions of Sichuan,

6160-639: The area of Sichuan; the city is home to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding . Founded by the Kingdom of Shu in 4th century BC, Chengdu is unique as the only major Chinese settlement that has maintained its name unchanged throughout the imperial , republican , and communist eras for more than two thousand years. It was the capital of Liu Bei 's Shu Han Empire during the Three Kingdoms Era, as well as several other local kingdoms during

6270-414: The bearer's birth order among male siblings in his family. Thus Confucius , whose name was Kong Qiu ( 孔丘 ), was given the courtesy name Zhongni ( 仲尼 ), where the first character zhong indicates that he was the second son born into his family. The characters commonly used are bo ( 伯 ) for the first, zhong ( 仲 ) for the second, shu ( 叔 ) for the third, and ji ( 季 ) typically for the youngest, if

6380-503: The betrayal, and he was then shot and killed by a skilled Manchu archer. The Draft History of Qing has an entirely different account of his death and says he was killed by Oboi during a battle. The events surrounding Zhang's rule and afterwards devastated Sichuan, where he was said to have "engaged in one of the most hair-raising genocides in imperial history". Lurid stories of his killings and flayings were given in various accounts. According to Shu Bi ( 蜀碧 ), an 18th-century account of

6490-455: The birthplaces of the Chinese nation. According to records, there were five dynasties in the ancient Shu Kingdom, and their capitals were Qushang (now Wenjiang District, Chengdu), Piyi (now Pidu District), Xindu, and Guangdu. At the end of the Spring and Autumn period (around the 4th century BC), the fifth King Kaiming moved the capital to Chengdu. According to "Taiping Huanyu Ji", the name of the city

6600-413: The city of Chengdu is to make the city 'a city within a park' rather than creating parks within a city. The Great City falls in line with the Chengdu 'park city' initiative, prioritizing the environment, public space and quality of life. It will consist of 15% park and green space and be situated on a 1.3 km (0.50 sq mi) area. Although 25% of the space will be dedicated to roads, one half of

6710-577: The city without any resistance after a deal was negotiated between the People's Liberation Army and the commander of the KMT Army guarding the city. On 10 December the remnants of the Nationalist Chinese government evacuated to Taiwan . The Chengdu Tianfu New Area is a sustainable planned city that will be outside of Central Chengdu, and is expected to be completely built later in the decade. The city

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6820-410: The city. Li Bai praised it as "lying above the empyrean ." The city's present Caotang ("Grass Hall") was constructed in 1078 in honor of an earlier, more humble structure of that name erected by Du Fu in 760, the second year of his 4-year stay. The Taoist Qingyang Gong ("Green Goat Temple") was built in the 9th century. Chengdu was the capital of Wang Jian 's Former Shu from 907 to 925, when it

6930-401: The city. After several days of fighting, his army managed to blast a hole through the city wall and captured the city on 25 July 1644. He was said to have cut off the hands of the city's defenders and massacred a large number of people. The conquest of some other parts of Sichuan was made easier after he promised not to harm the local population if they seized their officials, took possession of

7040-511: The continuing turmoil, famine and diseases. Some argued that while a great many died, Sichuan did not become virtually depopulated as recorded. Some modern Chinese historians such as Hu Zhaoxi considered him a proto-revolutionary, maintaining that accounts of the massacres were exaggerated, and many of the deaths were caused by others including the Qing, Ming and rebel forces, that his victims were Ming nobles, rich landlords, and other " counter-revolutionary " elements, and that his heinous reputation

7150-477: The country's cigar and cigarette production, the rest of the country long continuing to consume snuff instead. In 1911, Chengdu's branch of the Railway Protection Movement helped trigger the Wuchang Uprising , which led to the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty. During World War II , the capital city of China was forced to move inland from Nanjing to Wuhan in 1937 and from Wuhan to Chengdu, then from Chengdu to Chongqing in 1938, as

7260-418: The country. As of 2015, the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) estimated the Chengdu metropolitan area's population to be 18.1 million. In 2006, China Daily named Chengdu China's fourth-most-livable city. Some of China's most important literature comes from Chengdu. The city has been home to literary giants, such as Sima Xiangru and Yang Xiong , two masters of Fu ,

7370-405: The court accepted Liu Yan's suggestion and changed the provincial governors to state shepherds with actual recruitment and command power. In the fifth year of Chuping (194), it moved to Chengdu. At that time, the Yizhou Provincial Governor's Department was the place where the Hu people in the Western Regions were operating. Under the Han , the brocade produced in Chengdu became fashionable and

7480-433: The day than autumn (October–November). The annual mean is 16.9 °C (62.4 °F), and extremes have ranged from −6.5 °C (20 °F) to 39.4 °C (102.9 °F). Chengdu is a sub-provincial city which has served as the capital of Sichuan since Chongqing 's restoration to provincial status in 1997. It has direct jurisdiction over 12 districts , 5 county-level cities and 3 counties : As of July 2013,

7590-500: The defense of Chongqing and Chengdu, which continued to cause problems for the Japanese attacks. Slow and vulnerable obsolescent Chinese fighter aircraft burning low-grade fuel were still sufficiently dangerous in the hands of capable pilots against the Japanese schnellbomber - terror bombing raiders; on 4 November 1939 for instance, Capt. Cen Zeliu ( Wade-Giles : Shen Tse-Liu ) led his 17th Fighter Squadron, 5th Fighter Group of seven cannon-equipped Dewoitine D.510 fighters in

7700-411: The development of ancient Shu culture. The Golden Mask of the Shang and Zhou dynasties at the Jinsha Site. The ancient state of Shu was the first target to be conquered by the Qin state in the process of unifying the world. King Huiwen of Qin had prepared for this for many years, and opened up the Shiniu Road (that is, the Jinniu Road) from Qin to Shu. In 316 BC, King Huiwen of Qin took advantage of

7810-455: The distinction of launching the first serious retaliation against the Japanese homeland. During the Chinese Civil War , Chengdu was the last city on the Chinese mainland to be held by the Kuomintang. President Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo directed the defense of the city from the Chengdu Central Military Academy ( 黄埔军校成都分校 ) until 1949, when Communist forces took the city on 27 December . The People's Liberation Army took

7920-426: The doors of Chengtu's first Protestant Mission Headquarters were opened with over one thousand people of the community attending. The first Methodist religious service was held the following Sunday with only several attendants. The first western dispensary in Sichuan was opened 3 November 1892 with sixteen patients seeking care. The mission site became so popular that a larger space was secured near Chengtu's East Gate in

8030-404: The family consists of more than three sons. General Sun Jian 's four sons, for instance, were Sun Ce ( 伯符 , Bófú), Sun Quan ( 仲謀 , Zhòngmóu), Sun Yi ( 叔弼 , Shūbì) and Sun Kuang ( 季佐 , Jìzuǒ). Reflecting a general cultural tendency to regard names as significant , the choice of what name to bestow upon one's children was considered very important in traditional China. Yan Zhitui of

8140-598: The first year of Emperor Guangwu's reign (25 years) in the Eastern Han dynasty, Gongsun Shu established himself as the emperor in Chengdu, and the country's name was "married family". In the twelfth year of Jianwu in the Later Han dynasty (36 years), the Great Sima Wuhan of the Eastern Han dynasty finally captured Chengdu after five years of war, and his family perished. In the fifth year of Zhongping (188), Emperor Ling of Han,

8250-469: The growing population of Chengdu, China is building a hyper-dense satellite city centered around a central mass-transit hub called the Great City where any destination within the city is within a 15-minute walk. This proto-type city is intended to provide affordable, high-quality lifestyle, which provides people-oriented spaces that does not require a car to navigate. Their current urban-planning focus in

8360-697: The imperial Prince of Xiang there. In 1643, he took Macheng in Hubei, and his army swelled to some 57,000 after incorporating the city's rebels. He then captured the provincial capital of Wuchang , killed the imperial prince there, and proclaimed himself "Xi Wang" (King of the West). Wuchang however was soon recaptured by Ming forces, and for a while Zhang stayed at Changsha where he controlled much of Hunan and part of Jiangxi . In 1644, Zhang decided to abandon Hunan and led 100,000 of his troops towards Sichuan. His army converged on Chongqing from two directions and surrounded

8470-544: The insurgency of the western ethnic tribes of western Sichuan. Marco Polo visited Chengdu and wrote about the Anshun Bridge or an earlier version of it. At the fall of the Ming , the rebel Zhang Xianzhong established his Great Western Kingdom ( 大西 ) with its capital at Chengdu; it lasted only from 1643 to 1646. Zhang was said to have massacred a large number of people in Chengdu and throughout Sichuan. In any case, Chengdu

8580-616: The large salt water wells of the Yangtze basin. The city logo adopted in 2011 is inspired by the Golden Sun Bird , an ancient relic unearthed in 2001 from the Jinsha Site . Archaeological discoveries at the Sanxingdui and Jinsha Site have established that the area surrounding Chengdu was inhabited over four thousand years ago, in the 18th–10th century   BC. At the time of China's Xia , Shang , and Zhou dynasties , it represented

8690-453: The late Qin dynasty and was called the "Land of Abundance", and this reputation has continued to this day. During the Han dynasty, the Chengdu economy, especially its brocade industry, prospered, becoming an important source of tribute to the court. The imperial court invested in Chengdu and specially set up Jinguan management and built "Jinguan City" in the southwest of Chengdu, "Jinguan City" and "Jincheng" becoming nicknames for Chengdu. In

8800-500: The massacre, after every slaughter, the heads or skulls were collected and placed in several big piles, while the hands were placed in other big piles, and the ears and noses in more piles, so that Zhang could keep count of the killings. In one incident, he is said to have organized an imperial examination ostensibly to recruit scholars for his administration, only to have all the candidates, who numbered many thousands, killed. In another, to give thanks for his recovery after an illness, he

8910-454: The meeting, it was proposed he lead this contingency; having built western hospitals, Boy's and Girl's schools at Missions he established on the Yangtze and Gan Rivers from 1866 – 1888. On 9 May 1891 Dr. Virgil Hart arrived in Chengtu and two weeks later bought a home and had it subdivided into living quarters and a dispensary, for the later arriving Missionary staff to move into. On 24 June 1892,

9020-436: The migrants came from Huguang (now Hubei/Hunan), and the migration was therefore described by 19th century scholar Wei Yuan as " Huguang filling Sichuan  [ zh ] ". By the 1720s, 70–80% of the population of Sichuan was reportedly non-native, and as much as 85% a century later. In 2021, after several consecutive random killings in China, Zhang Xianzhong became popular as a political symbol and Internet meme on

9130-480: The mutual attack between Ba and Shu, and sent Sima Cuo to lead his army into Shu along the Shiniu Road, and they captured the land in a few months. After that, the king of Qin established three abolitions of Shu Hou, and finally established Shu County, and the county seat of Chengdu County was established in Chengdu, the former capital of Shu. In 311 BC, Zhang Yi of the Qin dynasty built the Chengdu city wall according to

9240-636: The period of the Five Dynasties, Huang Quan, a painter in Chengdu, initiated the Fine-Brush Flower-and-Bird Painting School with other painters. At that time, "Hanlin Painting Academy" was the earliest royal academy in China. Chengdu contains official, Roman Catholic and Protestant congregations, some of which are underground churches . The Apostolic Vicariate of Szechwan (now known as Roman Catholic Diocese of Chengdu )

9350-535: The roads will be pedestrian-oriented . This transit system provides direct transport to Chengdu itself. It is expected that the city will consume 48% less energy than cities of similar size. The goal of the 'park city' project is to allow a city like Chengdu to compete with Beijing and Shanghai without stripping the city of its character. The city of Chengdu is already known for its focus on quality of life, which includes affordable housing, good public schools, trees and bike lanes. The vast plain on which Chengdu

9460-526: The second year of Emperor Ping of the Yuan dynasty, the population of Chengdu reached 76,000 households, or about 354,000 people, making it one of the most populous cities at that time. Towards the six major cities. In the third year of the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han dynasty (141 BC), the Wen Dang, the prefect of Shu County, established the world's earliest local government-run school, "Wenweng Shishi", in Chengdu. In

9570-476: The spring of 1893. This site is where the city's first Methodist church ( Sï-Shen-Tsï Methodist Church ) and hospital were built. These were later razed by rioting Chinese in 1895 and the Mission staff retreated to Chongqing and later Shanghai to escape the marauders. Dr. Virgil Hart traveled to Peking to demand redress and full payment of retribution was collected from Sichuan Viceroy Liu Ping Chang. The mission compound

9680-440: The storehouse and surrendered without resistance. He took Chengdu on 9 September 1644, and met no real opposition in the rest of Sichuan afterwards. He then set up court in Chengdu, which he renamed Xijing (西京, Western Capital), and declared himself king of the Xi dynasty (大西王朝, Great Western dynasty). In the 10th lunar month of 1644 he declared himself as emperor with the reign title Dashun. In Sichuan, Zhang attempted to set up

9790-420: The story to be a distortion from the Qing era. The actual number of people killed by Zhang is not known and is disputed. Official Ming dynasty history Ming Shi recorded a figure of 600 million deaths due to Zhang's activities, an obvious exaggeration, since the total population of China at that time was less than 150 million, perhaps much lower. According to an assessment by a modern historian, "the death toll

9900-489: The surrounding area has sometimes taken other names, including " Yizhou ". Chinese nicknames for the city include the "Turtle City" , variously derived from the old city walls ' shape on a map or a legend that Zhang Yi had planned their course by following a turtle's tracks; the "Brocade City" (see Sichuan brocade ), a contraction of the earlier "City of the Brocade Official", after an imperial office established under

10010-407: The system of the capital Xianyang, and built a large city and a small city. In 256 BC, King Zhao of Qin appointed Li Bing as the governor of Shu County. During his tenure, he presided over the construction of the world-famous Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project. The Chengdu Plain has been fertile and wild for thousands of miles since then. After decades of operation, Chengdu replaced Guanzhong Plain in

10120-631: The time: the A6M "Zero" fighter that dominated the skies over China against the increasingly obsolete Russian-made Polikarpov I-15/I-153s and I-16s that were the principal fighter planes of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force. This would later prove to be a rude awakening for the Allied forces in the Pacific War following the attack on Pearl Harbor . One of the first American ace fighter pilots of

10230-671: The war and original volunteer fighter pilot for the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, Major Huang Xinrui (nicknamed "Buffalo" by his comrades) died as a result of battling the Zero fighters along with his squadronmates Cen Zeliu and Lin Heng (younger brother of renowned architect Lin Huiyin ) defending Chengdu on 14 March 1941. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor at the end of 1941, the United States began setting up stations at airbases in China. In 1944,

10340-528: The warmer months, and relieved from both sweltering summers and freezing winters. The Qin Mountains (Qinling) to the far north help shield the city from cold Siberian winds in the winter; because of this, the short winter is milder than in the Lower Yangtze . The 24-hour daily mean temperature in January is 5.9 °C (42.6 °F), and snow is rare but there are a few periods of frost each winter. The summer

10450-604: The western edge of Shaanxi, plundering swiftly and hiding out in the hills. Later he moved into other provinces, moving from place to place raiding towns and cities. He was defeated at various times by the Ming forces; Zhang would also surrender when it was expedient for him to do so, for example in 1631 and 1638, but would then later regroup and resume the rebellion. In 1635 he joined a larger confederation of bandits that included another rebel leader, Li Zicheng (Li would later capture Beijing and end Ming rule there). They devastated Henan and pushed into Anhui . After they had burnt

10560-495: The world's largest building in terms of floor area, the New Century Global Center , is located in the city. The 100-meter-tall (330 ft) structure is 500 by 400 meters (1,600 by 1,300 ft) in size with 1,700,000 square meters (18,000,000 sq ft) of floor area, housing retail outlets, a movie theaters, offices, hotels, a water park with artificial beach and waves and a Mediterranean-style village comprising

10670-410: Was allowed to serve as a regional Ming commander. However, he reneged on the agreement in 1639 and rebelled, and later defeated the Ming forces led by the Ming general Zuo Liangyu ( 左良玉 ). In 1640, he suffered defeats at the hand of Zuo and had to flee with his few remaining followers into the mountains of Eastern Sichuan. In 1641 he emerged from Sichuan and attacked Xiangyang , capturing and executing

10780-504: Was brief, and he was killed by the invading Qing army. He is commonly associated with the massacres in Sichuan that depopulated the region. However, the extent of his killings is disputed. Zhang was born in Liushujian (柳树涧; literally 'willow spring', modern Dingbian , Shaanxi province), in 1606 into a poor family. He was described as tall in stature, had a yellow complexion and a "tiger chin" ( 虎頷 , meaning an impressive beard), and hence

10890-646: Was coming against him", announced that "the people of his kingdom had a secret pact with the enemy and planned an uprising; because of this he was determined to kill any suspected resistors". The Jesuits, who now "understood the evil of this man", reported that while they managed to save a few of their Jesuit brothers who were taken, the rest were killed. Zhang's policy of terror increased in intensity, especially in 1646 after he had decided to abandon Sichuan. By then, Zhang's government had virtually disintegrated, all but three of his principal officials had either committed suicide or were executed. The Manchu Hong Taiji founded

11000-462: Was conquered by the Later Tang . The Later Shu was founded by Meng Zhixiang in 934, with its capital at Chengdu. Its second and last king, Meng Chang beautified the city by ordering hibiscus to be planted upon the city walls . The Song conquered the city in 965, introducing the first widely used paper money in the world. Su Shi praised it as "the southwestern metropolis". At the fall of

11110-650: Was established on 15 October 1696. Artus de Lionne , a French missionary of Paris Foreign Missions Society , was appointed as the first Apostolic Vicar. In 1890, the Canadian Methodist Mission was searching for more stations in Asia. In February 1891, Dr. Virgil Chittenden Hart  [ zh ] , who had been Superintendent of the New York Methodist Mission Society of Central China recommended that Chengtu be its first Mission sight. During

11220-511: Was exported throughout China. A "Brocade Official" ( 錦官 ; jǐnguān ) was established to oversee its production and transaction. After the fall of the Eastern Han, Liu Bei ruled Shu Han , the southwestern of the Three Kingdoms , from Chengdu. His minister Zhuge Liang called the area the "Land of Abundance". Under the Tang , Chengdu was considered the second most prosperous city in China after Yangzhou . Both Li Bai and Du Fu lived in

11330-459: Was found by a missionary – its reverse side contains an added inscription by a Southern Ming general commemorating Zhang's numerous victims whose bones he had collected and buried in 1646. While the first two lines of the poem on this stele are similar, the line with the seven kills is absent in this stele. Instead the actual line reads: "The spirits and gods are knowing, so reflect on this and examine yourselves" (鬼神明明，自思自量). Many therefore considered

11440-424: Was given the nickname "Yellow Tiger". He served in the Ming army , and while in the army he was sentenced to death for violations of military rules, but was reprieved after an intervention by a senior officer who was impressed by his appearance. Towards the end the Ming dynasty , drought, famines and epidemics broke out in various parts of China. In the late 1620s, peasants revolted in Shaanxi, resisting attempts by

11550-421: Was keeping concealed, left their hideouts and flew to his side." However, resistance to his rule did not cease, and Chongqing was retaken by Ming loyalists in the spring of 1645. Zhang then embarked on a campaign of terror, which was well under way by the middle of 1645, to stamp out the remaining resistance in Sichuan. In November 1645, according to de Magalhães, Zhang, after hearing that "a huge and powerful army

11660-636: Was quickly rebuilt only to be destroyed once more in the riots of 1901. These were rebuilt a third time and later missionaries would relocate and expand the Boys' and Girls' Schools just south of the city, dedicating the Divinity College as Hart College in 1914; a part of the West China Union University , that is now Sichuan University and the West China School of Medicine (Huaxiyida). During

11770-459: Was said to have become a virtual ghost town frequented by tigers and the depopulation of Sichuan necessitated the resettlement of millions of people from other provinces during the Qing dynasty . Following the Columbian Exchange , the Chengdu Plain became one of China's principal sources of tobacco . Pi County was considered to have the highest quality in Sichuan, which was the center of

11880-410: Was said to have cut off the feet of many women. The severed feet were heaped in two piles with those of his favorite concubine, whose feet were unusually small, placed on top. These two piles of feet were then doused in oil and set alight to become what he called "heavenly candles". He was reported to have ordered further massacres before he abandoned Chengdu in advance of the Qing armies. The massacres,

11990-449: Was sometimes adopted by Mongols and Manchus during the Qing dynasty . The choice of a courtesy name was significant, intended to express moral integrity and respect within the cultural context. A courtesy name is a name traditionally given to Chinese men at the age of 20 sui , marking their coming of age . It was sometimes given to women, usually upon marriage. The practice is no longer common in modern Chinese society. According to

12100-403: Was the result of "Qing slanders" and "reactionary propaganda". Before he had abandoned Sichuan, Zhang divided his forces into four divisions, each led by one of his four generals ( Li Dingguo , Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu, Ai Nengqi). These remnants of his army, as well as Ming loyalists, held out in Sichuan, Yunnan , and Guizhou after Zhang's death, and most of Sichuan did not come under control of

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