History

Archaeological discoveries at the Sanxingdui and Jinsha sites have established that the Chengdu region was inhabited over four thousands years ago and was an important center of a unique ancient culture. During the period of Shang and Zhou dynasties, this region was the center of Shu culture.

The archaeological site of Jinsha proved that Chengdu, as the capital of Shu, was established around 1200 BCE

In the early 4th century BC, the 9th king of the state of Shu, Kaiming IX, moved his capital from today's nearby Pixian to the city's current location. The Song Dynasty geographical work Tai Ping Huan Yu Ji states that the king was inspired by King Tai of Zhou's statement that a settlement needed "one year to become a town; two years to become a capital." Following this, the king named the new city Cheng Du: literally, "become the capital". There are, however, several versions of why the capital was moved to Chengdu, and more recent theories of the name's origin point to it as stemming from, or referring to, earlier non-Han inhabitants and/or their languages.

The state of Shu was conquered by the State of Qin in 316 BC, and a new city was founded by the Qin general Zhang Yi (who as a matter of fact had argued against the invasion). This can be seen as the beginning of the Chinese Chengdu. Chengdu is the only major city in China to have remained in the same location with the same name after more than 2000 years, although it was also known as Yizhou (益州) for a long time, and was given other names at other times.

Dujiangyan Irrigation System built in 256 BC still functions today

As a central city for at least 2000 years, Chengdu’s influence gradually expanded from the Sichuan basin to Western China. At its height, Chengdu was once named "One of the Five Metropolis" in China and was equally famous with Yangzhou (in modern-day Jiangsu) in history. During the Three-Kingdom period, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu kingdom, called Chengdu "the land of abundance". Li Bai, the famous poet during the Tang Dynasty, eulogized the city as "Chengdu lies above empyrean". Su Shi, the eminent writer during the Song Dynasty, hailed Chengdu as "the southwestern metropolis".

During the partition following the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty, i.e. the era of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei founded the southwest kingdom of Shu-Han (蜀漢; 221-263) with Chengdu as its capital. Over time, Chengdu had been the capital of six local feudal reigns of which Shu-Han is the best known.

During the Tang Dynasty, both the "Poet God" Li Bai and the "Poet Sage" Du Fu spent some part of their lives in Chengdu. Du Fu constructed the celebrated "Caotáng" (thatched cottage or grass-hut) in the second year of his four-years stay (759-762). But today's Caotang, a rather sumptuous house in the traditional style, was only constructed in 1078 in memory of Du Fu. During the Tang dynasty more than 1,200 years ago, Chengdu became one of the foremost commercial cities in China, second only to Yangzhou (揚一益二).

The tomb of Wang Jian, founder of Former Shu Kingdom based in Sichuan

Chengdu was also the birthplace of the first widely used paper money in the world (Northern Song Dynasty, around 960 AD). The Qingyang Gong Taoist temple was built in Chengdu in the 9th century, meaning "Green Goat".

At around the end of the Song Dynasty, a rebel leader set up the capital of a short-lived kingdom in Chengdu, called Dàshu (大蜀).

In 1279, the Mongols sacked Chengdu and over a million of its inhabitants were estimated to have been killed. During the Yuan Dynasty, Marco Polo visited Chengdu and wrote about the Anshun Bridge (or an earlier version of it) in Chengdu. He referred to Chengdu as "Sindafu" ("Cheng-Tu_Fu") as the capital of the province of the same name.

In 1644, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, another rebel leader, Zhang Xianzhong, established a short-lived Daxi (大西) Dynasty in Sichuan with Chengdu, which he renamed Xijing (西京, Western Capital), as the capital. Zhang was said to have massacred large number of people in Sichuan and Chengdu was reduced to a virtual ghost town frequented by tigers. The depopulation of Sichuan necessitated the resettlement of millions of people from other provinces during the Qing Dynasty.

During the Second World War the Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) government under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek fled to Sichuan to escape the invading Japanese forces. They brought with them businesspeople, workers and academics, who founded many of the industries and cultural institutions which continue to make Chengdu an important center.

Huangchengba in 1911

In 1944 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. 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 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 defence of the city from Chengdu Central Military Academy until 1949, when the city fell into Communist hands. The People's Liberation Army took 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 December 10 the remnants of the Nationalist Chinese government evacuated to Taiwan.

The industrial base is very broad, including light and heavy manufacturing, aluminum smelting and chemicals. The textile industry remains important, with cotton and wool milling added to the traditional manufacturing of silk brocade and satin.

Chengdu is the headquarters of the Chengdu Military Region.

On May 12, 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck causing damage to the area, killing about 80,000 people and injuring 26,413 as of May 12, 2008. 4,021 of the casualties and most of the property damage were from Dujiangyan and Pengzhou, two cities within the administration of Chengdu, the sub-provincial city. Chengdu did not suffer any discernible damage. The reason why many people died in the surrounding areas had to do with poor construction. Though only 75 kilometres (47 mi) from the epicenter, Chengdu itself was built to earthquake specification, and most buildings there remained intact.

The Chengdu Tianfu District Great City is a sustainably-planned city that will be outside of Chengdu, and is expected to open later in the decade. The city is also planned to be self-sustaining, with every residence being a two-minute walk from a park.