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History
The administrative seat of several ancient kingdoms, Chengdu has a 2,300-year history as an important center of study and trade. In the early fourth century BC, the ancient Shu state established a capital in today's Chengdu. The conquering Qin State (778-207 BC) enlarged the city, adding an impressive wall. During the Western Han Dynasty (206-225 BC), the city was called Jincheng (Brocade City) after its thriving silk brocade industry. Once the Han Dynasty fell, giving way to the bloody Three Kingdoms Period, Chengdu became capital of one of the Shu Han (Kingdom of Shu).
The city continued to develop as a regional center into the Tang (618-907 AD) and Song Dynasties (960-1279 AD) and is known for certain innovations—for example, paper money was first printed and used in Chengdu during the Song Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, it was home to China's best-known pair of poets, Du Fu and Li Bai, perhaps the most famous of many artists and writers who have lived and worked in Chengdu over the centuries.
During World War II, Chongqing, then a part of Sichuan, served as the Kuomintang fallback capital after the Japan's brutal seizure of the previous Nationalist capital of Nanjing. Thousands of Chinese officials, scientists, scholars and businesspeople came to Sichuan at that time, bringing a wave of industrial development. After 1945, the Communists rapidly beat back Nationalist forces throughout China, finally besieging Chengdu, where Chiang Kai Shek's army made its final stand before fleeing to Taiwan. The People's Liberation Army took the city on December 10, 1949, and with it, all of mainland China.
The surrounding Sichuan countryside suffered greatly during the Great Leap Forward (1958-1960), with many perishing of starvation, and Chengdu lost a number of historical monuments, buildings and artifacts during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). In recent years, the city has come roaring back and now exists as a modern industrial metropolis of over 10 million inhabitants.
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