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94-561: Qiangic speakers are variously classified as part of the Qiang , Tibetan , Pumi , Nakhi , and Mongol ethnic groups by the People's Republic of China . The extinct Tangut language of the Western Xia is considered to be Qiangic by some linguists, including Matisoff (2004). The undeciphered Nam language of China may possibly be related to Qiangic. Lamo , Larong and Drag-yab , or

188-399: A Burmo-Qiangic branch together with Lolo–Burmese . Na–Qiangic comprises three primary branches, which are Ersuish (or Ersuic), Naic (or Naxish), and [core] Qiangic. Similarly, David Bradley (2008) also proposed an Eastern Tibeto-Burman branch that includes Burmic ( a.k.a. Lolo-Burmese ) and Qiangic. The position of Guiqiong is not addressed. However, Chirkova (2012) casts doubt on

282-478: A medium of instruction for the Qiang people, and as a result of the universal access to schooling and TV, very few Qiang cannot speak Chinese but many Qiang cannot speak Qiangic languages. Until recently, there was no script for the Qiang language, and the Qiang used a system of carving marks on wood to represent events or communicate. In the late 1980s a writing system was developed for the Qiang language based on

376-470: A subarctic climate ( Köppen Dwc )- featuring extremely cold winters down to −30 °C and even cold summer nights. The region is geologically active with landslides and earthquakes. Average elevation ranges from 2,000 to 3,500 meters; average temperatures range from 0 to 15 °C. The southern part of the province, including Panzhihua and Xichang, has a sunny climate with short, very mild winters and very warm to hot summers. Sichuan borders Qinghai to

470-534: A 'first ancestor culture', there is evidence of the Qiang in northwestern China dating back to the 16th-11th centuries B.C., when they were recorded bringing tribute to the Shang Dynasty . They were primarily known to practice pastoral nomadism , and resisted westward expansion of the Han Empire, gradually shifting to the south-west of their ancestral lands. However, the name Qiang has been applied to

564-457: A clear relationship. The unclassified language Baima may also be Qiangic or may retain a Qiangic substratum after speakers shifted to Tibetan. Some other lesser-known, unclassified Qiangic peoples and languages include the following: Sun Hongkai (2001) groups the Qiangic languages are follows. Guillaume Jacques & Alexis Michaud (2011) argue for a Na–Qiangic branch which itself forms

658-585: A cradle of indigenous civilizations dating back to at least the 15th century BC, coinciding with the Shang in northern China. The region had its own distinct religious beliefs and worldview. The earliest excavated culture found therein is the Baodun culture ( c. 2700–1750 BC) excavated in the Chengdu Plain . The most important native states were those of Ba and Shu. Ba stretched into Sichuan from

752-704: A cuckoo after his death. The existence of a highly developed civilization with an independent bronze industry in Sichuan was excavated in 1986 at a small village named Sanxingdui in Guanghan , Sichuan. This site, believed to be an ancient city of Shu, was initially discovered by a local farmer in 1929 who found jade and stone artifacts. Excavations by archeologists yielded few significant finds until 1986 when two major sacrificial pits were found with spectacular bronze items as well as artifacts in jade, gold, earthenware, and stone. This and other discoveries in Sichuan contest

846-581: A mountainous region in the northwestern part of Sichuan (Szechwan) on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau . The modern Qiang refer to themselves as Rma ( /ɹmæː/ or /ɹmɛː/ , 尔玛 , erma in Chinese or RRmea in Qiang orthography) or a dialect variant of this word. However, they did not define themselves with the Chinese term "Qiang ethnicity" ( Chinese : 羌族 ) until 1950, when they were officially designated Qiāngzú . Qiang has been

940-494: A result, there were 300,000 Qiang people in 2010, 200,000 of which lived in Sichuan, predominantly in the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture , Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County and in the counties of Mao , Wenchuan , Li , Heishui , and Songpan . On 12 May 2008, the Qiang people were heavily affected by the 8.0 magnitude 2008 Sichuan earthquake . With 69,142 total deaths, and 17,551 missing, over 30,000 of

1034-465: A single branch. Yu (2012:218) notes that Ersuic and Naish languages share some forms that are not found in Lolo-Burmese or "core" Qiangic (Qiang, Prinmi , and Minyak ). As a result, "Southern Qiangic" (Ersuic, Namuyi , and Shixing ) may be closer to Naish than it is to "core" Qiangic. Together, Southern Qiangic and Naish could form a wider "Naic" group that has links to both Lolo-Burmese to

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1128-434: A small valley along a mountain stream, known in local Chinese as gou 沟 , make up a village cluster ( cun 村 ). The inhabitants of fortress village or village cluster have close contact in social life. In these small valleys, people cultivate narrow fluvial plains along creeks or mountain terraces, hunt animals or collect mushrooms and herbs (for food or medicine) in the neighboring woods, and herd yaks and horses on

1222-543: A term that has historically referred less to a specific community, but more to the fluid western boundary of Han Chinese settlers. Chinese philosophers of the Warring States period also mentioned a ' Di-Qiang ' peoples living on the western edge of Han territory. They were known for their customs of cremation. People called " Qiang " have been mentioned in ancient Chinese texts since 3,000 years ago when they first appeared in oracle bone inscriptions. Recognized as

1316-584: A typical sound change in many Qiangic languages, and refers to this vowel heightening as "brightening." Yu (2012) also notes that "brightening" is a defining innovation in Proto-Ersuic, the reconstructed ancestor of the Ersuic languages . Thurgood and La Polla (2003) state that the inclusion of Qiang, Prinmi , and Muya is well supported, but that they do not follow Sun's argument for the inclusion of Tangut. Matisoff (2004), however, claims Tangut demonstrates

1410-592: A variety of groups that might not be the same as the modern Qiang. Many of the people formerly designated as "Qiang" were gradually removed from this category in Chinese texts as they become sinicised or reclassified. By the Ming and Qing dynasties , the term "Qiang" denoted only non-Han people living in the upper Min River Valley and Beichuan area, the area now occupied by the modern Qiang. Nonetheless, most modern scholarship assumes modern Qiang are descended from

1504-537: Is Chengdu , and its population stands at 83 million. Sichuan neighbors Qinghai and Gansu to the north, Shaanxi and Chongqing to the east, Guizhou and Yunnan to the south, and Tibet to the west. During antiquity, Sichuan was home to the kingdoms of Ba and Shu until their incorporation by the Qin . During the Three Kingdoms era (220–280), Liu Bei 's state of Shu was based in Sichuan. The area

1598-670: Is a well-preserved 15th-century monastery complex built between 1440 and 1446 during the Zhengtong Emperor 's reign (1427–64). 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. In the middle of the 17th century, the peasant rebel leader Zhang Xianzhong (1606–1646) from Yan'an , Shaanxi Province, nicknamed Yellow Tiger , led his peasant troop from north China to

1692-408: Is abundant where they live, pandas' diet consists of 99% bamboo, with small other plants, or small animals consisting of the other 1%. As the panda is native to China, they have become a national symbol of China. 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

1786-405: Is made. Both the menfolk and womenfolk wear gowns made of gunny cloth , cotton , and silk with sleeveless wool jackets. White is particularly sacred as a color among the Qiang. Due to the harsh climate of their lands, the Qiang have developed clothing to adapt to it. A common dress is the "Yangpi Gua" (a kind of sleeveless jacket made of sheepskin or goatskin), and bind puttees to protect against

1880-412: Is meant for keeping livestock and poultry, while the second floor is meant for the living quarters, and the third floor for grain storage. If the third floor does not exist, the grains will be kept on the first or second floor instead. Sheep are considered particularly sacred in Qiang culture, as they are the source of much of a village's livelihood. As such, wool is the primary material of which clothing

1974-490: Is no gender limitation, no female duangongs exist currently. They are also keepers of the two most important symbols of Qiang religion, known as the duangong's tools: the sheepskin drum and a preserved a monkey skull, known as the AbaMullah . Duangongs function as priests, scholars, medicine men and village elders all rolled into one. Though they live ordinary everyday lives, serving regular social functions as part of

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2068-521: Is rich in mineral resources. It has more than 132 kinds of proven underground mineral resources including vanadium, titanium, and lithium is the largest in China. The Panxi region alone possesses 13.3% of the reserves of iron, 93% of titanium, 69% of vanadium, and 83% of cobalt in the whole country. Sichuan also possesses China's largest proven natural gas reserves (such as the Dazhou and Yuanba gas fields ),

2162-762: Is surrounded by the Hengduan Mountains to the west, the Qin Mountains to the north, and Yungui Plateau to the south. Since the Yangtze flows through the basin and then through the perilous Three Gorges to eastern and southern China, Sichuan was a staging area for amphibious military forces and a haven for political refugees. Qin armies finished their conquest of the kingdoms of Shu and Ba by 316 BC. Any written records and civil achievements of earlier kingdoms were destroyed. Qin administrators introduced improved agricultural technology. Li Bing , engineered

2256-405: Is that the duangong does not earn his living from his status, but as a worker of whatever trade he chooses. Another key difference between duangongs in Qiang culture and the idea of the 'shaman' is that while shamans are 'chosen by the gods', anyone can become a duangong given the appropriate training. To become a duangong , one must pass the gaigua , an initiation/graduation ceremony where

2350-455: The 18th-largest economy and 19th-most populous as of 2021. It is commonly believed that the name Sichuan means 'four rivers '; in folk etymology , this is usually taken to mean four of the province's major rivers: the Jialing , Jinsha (or Wu ), Min , and Tuo . According to historical geographer Tan Qixiang , 'four rivers' is an erroneous interpretation of the name. The name of

2444-453: The Chamdo languages , a group of three closely related Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Chamdo , Eastern Tibet , may or may not be Qiangic. Sun Hongkai (1983) proposes two branches, northern and southern: Sun groups other, poorly described Qiangic languages as: Matisoff (2004) states that Jiarongic is an additional branch: Matisoff (2004) describes Proto-Tibeto-Burman *-a > -i as

2538-680: The Chinese Civil War , and was divided into four parts from 1949 to 1952, with Chongqing restored two years later. It suffered gravely during the Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961) but remained China's most-populous province until Chongqing was again separated from it in 1997. The Sichuanese people speak distinctive dialects of Mandarin Chinese . The spicy Sichuan pepper is prominent in modern Sichuan cuisine , featuring dishes—including Kung Pao chicken and mapo tofu , that have become staples of Chinese cuisine around

2632-685: The Daba Mountains , in the province's northeast. The Yangtze River and its tributaries flow through the mountains of western Sichuan and the Sichuan Basin; thus, the province is upstream of the great cities that stand along the Yangtze River further to the east, such as Chongqing , Wuhan , Nanjing , and Shanghai . One of the major tributaries of the Yangtze within the province is the Min River of central Sichuan, which joins

2726-752: The Dadu River caused by an earthquake gave way on 10 June 1786. The resulting flood killed 100,000 people. In the early 20th century, the newly founded Republic of China established the Chuanbian Special Administrative District ( 川邊特別行政區 ) on the province's territories to the west of the Sichuan Basin . The Special District later became the province of Xikang , incorporating the areas inhabited by Yi , Tibetan , and Qiang ethnic minorities to its west, and eastern part of today's Tibet Autonomous Region . In

2820-475: The Dujiangyan irrigation system to control the Min River , a major tributary of the Yangtze. This innovative hydraulic system was composed of movable weirs which could be adjusted for high or low water flow according to the season, to either provide irrigation or prevent floods. The increased agricultural output and taxes made the area a source of provisions and men for Qin's unification of China. Sichuan

2914-724: The Han Valley in Shaanxi and Hubei down the Jialing River as far as its confluence with the Yangtze at Chongqing . Shu occupied the valley of the Min , including Chengdu and other areas of western Sichuan. The existence of the early state of Shu was poorly recorded in the main historical records of China. It was, however, referred to in the Book of Documents as an ally of

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3008-714: The Hengduan Mountains . One of these ranges, the Daxue Mountains , contains the highest point of the province Gongga Shan , at 7,556 m (24,790 ft) above sea level. The mountains are formed by the collision of the Tibetan Plateau with the Yangtze Plate . Faults here include the Longmenshan Fault which ruptured during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Other mountain ranges surround the Sichuan Basin from north, east, and south. Among them are

3102-608: The Sui dynasty , but it was during the subsequent Tang dynasty that Sichuan regained its previous political and cultural prominence for which it was known during the Han. Chengdu became nationally known as a supplier of armies and the home of Du Fu , who is sometimes called China's greatest poet. During the An Lushan Rebellion (755–763), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang fled from Chang'an to Sichuan which became his refuge. The region

3196-650: The agglutinative Qiangic languages , a subfamily of the Tibeto-Burman languages . However, Qiang dialects are so different that communication between different Qiang groups is often in Mandarin . There are numerous Qiang dialects; traditionally they are split into two groups, Northern Qiang and Southern Qiang , although in fact the Qiang language complex is made up of a large number of dialectal continua which cannot be easily grouped into Northern or Southern. The education system largely uses Standard Chinese as

3290-417: 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 cane, sweet potatoes, peaches, and grapes. Sichuan also had the largest output of pork among all the provinces and the second largest output of silkworm cocoons in 1999. Sichuan

3384-472: The 100 million mark shortly after the 1982 census figure of 99,730,000. This changed in 1997 when the Sub-provincial city of Chongqing as well as the three surrounding prefectures of Fuling , Wanxian , and Qianjiang were split off into the new Chongqing Municipality . The new municipality was formed to spearhead China's effort to economically develop its western provinces, as well as to coordinate

3478-685: The 20th century, as Beijing , Shanghai , Nanjing , and Wuhan had all been occupied by the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War , the capital of the Republic of China had been temporarily relocated to Chongqing , then a major city in Sichuan. An enduring legacy of this move is those nearby inland provinces, such as Shaanxi , Gansu , and Guizhou , which previously never had modern Western-style universities , began to be developed in this regard. The difficulty of accessing

3572-727: The Communists one after another, the Kuomintang government again tried to make Sichuan its stronghold on the mainland, although it already saw some Communist activity since it was one area on the road of the Long March . Chiang Kai-shek himself flew to Chongqing from Taiwan in November 1949 to lead the defense. But the same month Chongqing switched to the Communists, followed by Chengdu on 10 December. The Kuomintang general Wang Sheng wanted to stay behind with his troops to continue

3666-552: The Eastern edge of the historical Tibetan Kingdoms to the Han Empire – those who live nearer to the Tibetans (northwest) exhibit more elements of Tibetan Buddhism, while Han Chinese culture prevails among those living in the south and east. Due to this, the mountain deities worshiped as village guardians became part of the lowest level of the western Tibetan Buddhist pantheon, while Taoism and Chinese Buddhism temples encroached upon

3760-679: The Kingdom of Shu-Han as a step on the path to reuniting China. Salt production becomes a major business in Ziliujing District . During the Six Dynasties period of Chinese disunity, Sichuan began to be populated by non- Han ethnic minority peoples, owing to the migration of Gelao people from the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the Sichuan basin. Sichuan came under the firm control of a Chinese central government during

3854-681: 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's Party Committee Secretary , colloquially termed the "Sichuan CCP Party Chief". Sichuan is the 6th-largest provincial economy of China, the largest in Western China and the second largest among inland provinces after Henan . As of 2021, its nominal GDP

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3948-404: The Qiang or Rma script . As a result of their geographic location on the periphery of Tibetan and Han majorities Qiang culture is a unique amalgamation of their own religions and Han, Tibetan , Muslim , and Christian influences. This attests to the significant intra-diversity of the Qiang people, a phenomenon caused almost exclusively by the linguistic barriers and topographical difficulty of

4042-525: The Qugu (曲谷) variety of a Northern dialect using the Latin alphabet . The introduction has not been successful due to the complexities of the Qiang sound system and the concomitant difficulty of its writing system, as well as the diversity of the Qiang dialects and the lack of reading material. The Qiang also use Chinese characters. More recently, a unique script has been developed specifically for Qiang, known as

4136-434: The Sichuan tea industry to pay for warhorses, but this state intervention eventually brought devastation to the local economy. The line of defense was finally broken through after the first use of firearms in history during the six-year Battle of Xiangyang , which ended in 1273. Allegedly there were a million pieces of unspecified types of skeleton bones belonging to war animals and both Song and Yuan soldiers who perished in

4230-475: The Yangtze at Yibin . There are also a number of other rivers, such as the Jialing River , Tuo River , Yalong River , Wu River , and Jinsha River , and any four of the various rivers are often grouped as the "four rivers" that the name of Sichuan is commonly and mistakenly believed to mean. Due to great differences in terrain, the climate of the province is highly variable. In general, it has strong monsoonal influences, with rainfall heavily concentrated in

4324-708: The Zhou. Accounts of Shu exist mainly as a mixture of mythological stories and historical legends recorded in local annals such as the Chronicles of Huayang compiled in the Jin dynasty (266–420) , and the Han-dynasty compilation Chronicle of the Kings of Shu  [ zh ] . These contained folk stories such as that of Emperor Duyu  [ zh ] who taught the people agriculture and transformed himself into

4418-417: The anticommunist guerilla war in Sichuan, but was recalled to Taiwan. Many of his soldiers made their way there as well, via Burma . The People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, and it split Sichuan into four areas and separated Chongqing municipality. Sichuan was reconstituted in 1952, with Chongqing added in 1954, while the former Xikang province was split between Tibet in the west and Sichuan in

4512-535: The area used the same name, for example, the Shu of the Three Kingdoms period (220–280), and Former Shu and Later Shu of the Ten Kingdoms period (907–979). Currently, both characters for Shu and Chuan are common abbreviations for Sichuan. The region was formerly referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions . The Sichuan Basin and adjacent areas of the Yangtze watershed were

4606-526: The authority of Yangtze Valley emperors over China. In 221, during the partition following the fall of the Eastern Han – the era of the Three Kingdoms – Liu Bei founded the southwest kingdom of Shu Han ( 蜀 漢 ; 221–263) in parts of Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan, with Chengdu as its capital. Shu-Han claimed to be the successor to the Han dynasty. In 263, the Cao Wei of North China conquered

4700-441: The cold weather. Additionally, they are known to wear the "Tou Pa" (cloth head coverings) around head, waistband, tie an apron around one's waist, and wear "Yunyun Shoe" (a sharp-pointed and embroidered shoes with typical Qiang characteristics). The dress, especially, women's dress, is trimmed with lace and their collars are decorated with silver ornaments. Millet , highland barley , potatoes, winter wheat, and buckwheat serve as

4794-446: The conventional historiography that the local culture and technology of Sichuan were undeveloped in comparison to the technologically and culturally "advanced" Yellow River valley of north-central China. The rulers of the expansionist state of Qin , based in present-day Gansu and Shaanxi , were the first strategists to realize that the area's military importance matched its commercial and agricultural significance. The Sichuan basin

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4888-516: The culture to the east. In eastern temples, mountain deities have disappeared entirely, with religious practice practically indistinguishable from the Han Chinese. In regards to their local religions, the Qiang practice a form of animism , worshiping nature gods and ancestral spirits, and specific white stones (often placed atop watchtowers) are worshiped as representatives of gods. Villages worship five great deities and twelve lesser ones, though

4982-411: The deportation of Sichuanese civilians to Mongolia occurred in the aftermath of a battle in 1259 when more than 80,000 people were taken captive from one city in Sichuan and moved to Mongolia. The Ming dynasty defeated Ming Yuzhen 's Xia polity which ruled Sichuan. During the Ming dynasty , major architectural works were created in Sichuan. Buddhism remained influential in the region. Bao'en Temple

5076-405: The east. The province was deeply affected by the Great Chinese Famine of 1959–1961, during which period some 9.4 million people (13.07% of the population at the time) died. In 1978, when Deng Xiaoping took power, Sichuan was one of the first provinces to experiment with the market economic enterprise. From 1955 until 1997, Sichuan had been China's most populous province; the population hit

5170-406: The end of the year 2017, the total population is 83.02 million. Sichuan consists of two geographically very distinct parts. The eastern part of the province is mostly within the fertile Sichuan basin (which is shared by Sichuan with Chongqing Municipality). The western Sichuan consists of numerous mountain ranges forming the easternmost part of the Tibetan Plateau , which are known generically as

5264-419: The fighting over the city, although the figure may have been grossly exaggerated. The recorded number of families in Sichuan dropped from 2,640,000 families, as recorded from the census taken in 1162 AD, to 120,000 families in 1282 AD. Possible causes include forced population transfer to nearby areas, evacuation to nearby provinces, census under-reporting or inaccuracy, and war-related deaths. One instance of

5358-516: The first half of the twentieth century, there was no presence of a coherent 'Qiang' culture in the Upper Min Valley of northwestern Sichuan. Rather, there existed a plethora of inhabited regions with settlers of individual communities identifying themselves as rma . A significant cultural variation was observed even among neighboring communities. In particular, Han and Tibetan influences were prevalent in those rural communities. When Qiang

5452-664: The first true paper money in human history ( 交子 ; jiāozǐ ) was issued in Chengdu . It was also during the Song dynasty that the bulk of the native Ba people of eastern Sichuan assimilated into the Han Chinese ethnicity. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Southern Song dynasty established coordinated defenses against the Mongolian Yuan dynasty , in Sichuan and Xiangyang . The Southern Song state monopolized

5546-411: The following watersheds (riverine systems) and the respective Qiangic languages spoken there. Qiang people The Qiang people ( Qiangic : Rrmea ; Chinese : 羌族 ; pinyin : Qiāngzú ) are an ethnic group in China . They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised by the People's Republic of China , with a population of approximately 310,000 in 2000. They live mainly in

5640-433: The gods through certain rituals, are placed on the top of towers as a good luck symbols. These squared stone towers are traditionally located on the edge of Qiang villages and on the top of nearby hills as well. The Qiang today are mountain dwellers. A fortress village, zhai 寨 , composed of 30 to 100 households, in general, is the basic social unit beyond the household . An average of two to five fortress villages in

5734-481: The historical Qiang people. During the wars centering on the 1580s, the term “Qiang” or less often “Qiang Fan” was increasingly applied to areas in the southern sections of the Upper Min valley that are identified as Qiang today; and in the same materials the term “Fan” was used for areas to the north and east that are today Zang (Tibetan). The ruins reported by Western travellers in the early 20th century testify to

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5828-754: The individual is confirmed in their position by the village and receives their own set of duangong tools; the monkey skin hat, sheepskin drum, holy stick, and AbaMullah , often handed down over fifteen generations. However, the turbulences of China's Cultural Revolution led to the disappearance of many tools, with no shaman currently in possession of a full set. These disappearances are primarily attributed to confiscation by Chinese government search teams in pursuit of Chinese national modernization. However, several tools are postulated to have been hidden away by villagers in an attempt to preserve Qiang possession of their historical artifacts. For most Qiang villages, consecrated white stones, believed to be imbued with powers of

5922-547: The label "Dzorgaic" may be used for Qiang proper. Hsi-fan (Xifan) is an ethnic name, meaning essentially 'Tibetan'; the people speak Qiangic or Jiarongic languages such as Qiang, Ergong/Horpa, Ersu, Guiqiong, Shixing, Zhaba, Namuyi, Muya/Minyak, and Jiarong, but not Naxi/Moso, Pumi, or Tangut. The term has not been much used since language surveys of the 1980s resulted in sufficient data for classification. Qiangic languages are spoken mainly in western Sichuan and northwestern Yunnan provinces of China. Sun Hongkai (2013) lists

6016-593: The late Paleolithic age, and the southward Di-Qiang people with dominant haplogroup O3a2c1*-M134 and O3a2c1a-M117 in the Neolithic Age. Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China , occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau —between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city

6110-533: The majority of which are transported to more developed eastern regions. Sichuan is one of the major industrial centers of China. It was a major recipient of China's investment in industrial capacity during the Third Front campaign. In addition to heavy industries such as coal, energy, iron, and steel, the province has also established a light industrial sector comprising building materials, wood processing, food, and silk processing. Chengdu and Mianyang are

6204-626: The mountain-top pastures. In terms of subsistence and diet, northwestern displayed greater reliance on animal husbandry than agriculture, thus consuming more dairy and meat products. Meanwhile, southeastern settlers favor agricultural practices, resulting in greater consumption of grains and wheat. This northwest to southwest gradient is observable in many aspects of Qiang culture due to their geographic location between two distinct (relative) majority cultures. The Qiang constructed watchtowers and houses with thick stone walls and small windows and doors. Each village may have had one or more stone towers in

6298-413: The mountains are accompanied by dances and the music of traditional instruments such as leather drums. Genetic evidence reveals a predominantly Northern Asian-specific component in Qiangic populations, especially in maternal lineages. The Qiangic populations are an admixture of the northward migrations of East Asian initial settlers with Y chromosome haplogroup D (D1-M15 and the later originated D3a-P47) in

6392-419: The name has also been irregularly romanized as Szű-chuan and Szechuen . In antiquity, the area of modern Sichuan including the now separated Chongqing Municipality was known to the Chinese as Ba–Shu , in reference to the ancient state of Ba and the ancient kingdom of Shu that once occupied the Sichuan Basin . Shu continued to be used to refer to the region to the present day; several states formed in

6486-623: The neighboring Huguang Province (modern Hubei and Hunan) and other provinces during the Qing dynasty. Sichuan was originally the origin of the Deng lineage until one of them was hired as an official in Guangdong during the Ming dynasty but during the Qing plan to increase the population in 1671 they came to Sichuan again. In 1904 Deng Xiaoping was born in Sichuan. During the Qing dynasty , Sichuan

6580-416: The northwest, Gansu to the north, Shaanxi to the northeast, Chongqing to the east, Guizhou to the southeast, Yunnan to the south, and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the west. Giant pandas live in bamboo forests and low mountainous areas such as the Minshan Mountains in Sichuan. The majority of the panda population lives in Sichuan, with their range spreading into Shaanxi and Gansu . As it

6674-418: The pantheon consists of gods of equal importance dedicated to almost every social function. However, there is considered to be one supreme Abamubita (God of Heaven). In Qiang villages, the culture is remembered and practice primarily by the duangong , known as bi in the Qiang language. As keepers of the culture, these village shamans hold great importance in the preservation of Qiang heritage. Though there

6768-490: The past, and these Himalayan Towers still survive in some Qiang villages and remain a distinctive feature in these villages. Though Qiang villages historically served as fortified settlements with several defense mechanisms, these functions were lost over time. The Communist government's 1949 establishment saw the removal of defense installations as part of a national unity policy. Villagers live in granite stone houses generally consisting of two to three stories. The first floor

6862-505: The people killed were ethnic Qiang (10 percent of the total Qiang population). Major restoration efforts were made in the A'er village, one of the few remaining centers of Qiang culture, by the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP). Specifically, preservation of the Qiang languages (which have no written form) was of concern, and several recording repositories were made to preserve

6956-620: The province is a contraction of the phrases 'Four Plain Circuits ' ( 四川路 ; Sìchuān lù ) and 'Four Circuits of Chuanxia' ( 川峽四路 ; chuānxiásìlù ), referring to the division of the existing imperial administrative circuit in the area into four during the Northern Song dynasty , which were Yizhou , Lizhou , Zizhou , and Kuizhou . The word chuan ( 川 ) here means 'plain', not its typical meaning of 'river' as popularly assumed. In addition to its postal map and Wade–Giles forms,

7050-491: The provincial capital of Chengdu. Official figures recorded a death toll of nearly 70,000 people, and millions of people were left homeless. Sichuan consists of twenty-one prefecture-level divisions : eighteen prefecture-level cities (including a sub-provincial city ) and three autonomous prefectures : The twenty prefectures of Sichuan are subdivided into 183 county-level divisions (53 districts , 17 county-level cities , 109 counties , and 4 autonomous counties ). At

7144-516: The region overland from the eastern part of China and the foggy climate hindering the accuracy of the Japanese bombing of the Sichuan Basin made the region the stronghold of Chiang Kai-shek 's Kuomintang government during 1938–45 and led to the Bombing of Chongqing . The Second Sino-Japanese War was soon followed by the resumed Chinese Civil War , and the cities of East China are obtained by

7238-421: The regions they inhabit. The majority of the Qiang adhere to a pantheistic religion involving guardian mountain deities. Several nearby villages ma share a higher-level mountain deity out of proximity. These deities served not just as religious idols, but practical protections of resource rights and territorial boundaries in a region of severe resource competition. Generally, there is a spectrum spanning from

7332-532: The resettlement of residents from the reservoir areas of the Three Gorges Dam project. In 1997, when Sichuan split, the sum of the two parts was recorded to be 114,720,000 people. As of 2010, Sichuan ranks as both the 3rd largest (the largest among Chinese provinces with a population greater than 50 million) and 4th most populous province in China. In May 2008, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9/8.0 hit just 79 km (49 mi) northwest of

7426-531: The south and conquered Sichuan. Upon capturing it, he declared himself emperor of the Daxi dynasty ( 大西王朝 ). In response to the resistance from local elites, he massacred a large number of people in Sichuan, killing around one in three people. As a result of the massacre as well as years of turmoil during the Ming-Qing transition , the population of Sichuan fell sharply, requiring massive resettlement of people from

7520-461: The south and other Qiangic languages to the north. Shafer (1955) and other accounts of the Dzorgaic/Ch'iang branch preserve the names Dzorgai, Kortsè, Thochu, Outer/Outside Man-tze, Pingfang from the turn of the century. The first three were Northern Qiang, and Outside Mantse was Southern Qiang. When Jiarongic is included as a branch of Qiangic, but distinct from the non-Jiarongic languages,

7614-609: The staple food of the Qiang. Consumption of wine and smoking of orchid leaves are also popular among the Qiang. Skilled in construction of roads and bamboo bridges, the Qiang can build them on the rockiest cliffs and swiftest rivers. Using only wooden boards and piers, these bridges can stretch up to 100 meters. Others who are excellent masons are good at digging wells. Especially during poor farming seasons, they will visit neighboring places to do chiseling and digging. Embroidery and drawn work are done extemporaneously without any designs. Traditional songs related to topics such as wine and

7708-697: The summer. Under the Köppen climate classification , the Sichuan Basin (including Chengdu ) in the eastern half of the province experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa or Cfa ), with long, hot, wet summers and short, mild to cool, dry, and cloudy winters. Consequently, it has China's lowest sunshine totals. The western region has mountainous areas producing a cooler but sunnier climate. Having cool to very cold winters and mild summers, temperatures generally decrease with greater elevation. However, due to its high altitude and its inland location, many areas such as Garze County and Zoige County in Sichuan exhibit

7802-548: The tales remembered only by the shibi or duangongs restoration attempts were made in consideration of the 1989 UNESCO Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore, and ensured maximum participation of the local inhabitants, the custodians of the culture that was being preserved. The A'er stone tower, of particular significance, was carefully restored in 2012 by the A'er villagers themselves using authentic materials and techniques. The Qiang speak

7896-497: The validity of Qiangic as a coherent branch, instead considering Qiangic to be a diffusion area. She considers the following four languages to be part of four separate Tibeto-Burman branches: Both Shixing and Namuzi are both classified as Naic (Naxi) by Jacques & Michaud (2011), but Naic would not be a valid genetic unit in Chirkova's classification scheme since Shixing and Namuzi are considered by Chirkova to not be part of

7990-446: The village community, their possession of the duangong tools demarcates their explicit importance to the village's spiritual culture. Almost all ceremonies, ranging from funerals to healing rituals are performed by the duangong . They are believed to have mysterious powers which allow them to be in constant communication with the world of spirits and ghosts, and thus straddle the line between healer and wizard. Important to note, however,

8084-430: The violence of that official repression. We suggest that the origins of the modern Qiang, who for the past four centuries have cast their lot with Chinese rulers more readily than the people of Shar khog, may be sought in the Ming, beginning with Chinese in-migration at Maozhou in the 15th century and culminating in the violence upriver in the 1580s. Analysis of Han and Western (European) scholarly sources reveals that in

8178-542: The world. There are many panda stations in the province and large reserves for these creatures, such as the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding . Sichuan is the 6th-largest provincial economy of China, the largest in Western China , and the second-largest among inland provinces after Henan . As of 2021, its nominal GDP was CN¥5,385 billion (US$ 847.68 billion), ahead of that of Turkey ($ 815 billion). If it were its own country, Sichuan would be

8272-522: Was 5,385 billion yuan (US$ 847.68 billion), ahead of the GDP of Turkey of 815 billion. Compared to a country, it would be the 18th-largest economy as well as the 19th most populous as of 2021. As of 2021, its nominal GDP per capita was 64,357 RMB (US$ 10,120). In 2021, the per capita net income of rural residents was 17,575 yuan (US$ 2760). The per capita disposable income of the urbanites averaged 41,444 yuan (US$ 6510). Sichuan has been historically known as

8366-521: Was absorbed by the Song . During the Song dynasty (960–1279), Sichuanese was able to protect themselves from Tibetan attacks with the help of the central government. There were rebellions against the Song by Li Shun in 994 and Wang Jun in 1000. Sichuan also saw cultural revivals like the great poets Su Xun ( 蘇洵 ), Su Shi , and Su Zhe . Although paper currency was known in the Tang dynasty, in 1023 AD,

8460-458: Was devastated in the 17th century by Zhang Xianzhong 's rebellion and the area's subsequent Manchu conquest, but recovered to become one of China's most productive areas by the 19th century. During World War II , Chongqing served as the temporary capital of the Republic of China , and was heavily bombed . It was one of the last mainland areas captured by the People's Liberation Army during

8554-544: Was merged with Shaanxi and Shanxi to create "Shenzhuan" during 1680–1731 and 1735–1748. The current borders of Sichuan (which then included Chongqing ) were established in the early 18th century. In the aftermath of the Sino-Nepalese War on China's southwestern border, the Qing gave Sichuan's provincial government direct control over the minority-inhabited areas of Sichuan west of Kangding , which had previously been handled by an amban . A landslide dam on

8648-575: Was officially designated an ethnic group in 1950, they numbered only 35,600. Many sought to gain Qiang status due to government policy of prohibition of discrimination as well as economic subsidies for minority nationalities. As a result, the Qiang population has therefore increased due to the reclassification of people. From 1982 to 1990, 75,600 Han people changed their ethnicity to Qiang, and from 1990 to 2000, 96,500 Han people became Qiang. Another 49,200 people reclaimed their Qiang ethnicity from 1982 to 1989. In total, some 200,000 Han people became Qiang. As

8742-541: Was subjected to the autonomous control of kings named by the imperial family of the Han dynasty. During the 11 years hiatus between 25 and 36 AD, Sichuan was controlled by the Chengjia Kingdom. Following the declining central government of the Han dynasty in the second century, the Sichuan basin, surrounded by mountains and easily defensible, became a popular place for upstart generals to found kingdoms that challenged

8836-527: Was torn by constant warfare and economic distress as it was besieged by the Tibetan Empire . In the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period , Sichuan became the heart of the Shu kingdom with its capital in Chengdu . In 925, the kingdom was absorbed into Later Tang but would regain independence under Meng Zhixiang who founded Later Shu in 934. Later Shu would continue until 965 when it

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