HISTORY AND CULTURE OF CHENGDU

With its long history of over 2,300 years, Chengdu was one 24 cities proclaimed to be culturally and historically important by China's State Council.

The city's name originated early in the 4th century BC when Kaiming IX, king of ancient Shu, moved the capital from Shuangliu to Chengdu.  A town was initially built and late became the capital, so the ancestors named the city "Chengdu", which means in Chinese "to become a capital".

In 311 B.C, people of Qin Dynasty (221 BC-208 BC) built a protective wall around Chengdu according to standard construction practice with a height of 3.5 meters and a perimeter of 6 kilometers, marking the beginning of Chengdu City.

In Western Han Dynasty (206 BC- AD 23), Chengdu became known for its brocades. One of the interesting sites to visit while in the capital is the Brocade Museum.  The government assigned Jinguan, an official in charge of brocade production, to administrate brocade production in Chengdu and so the city was also known as Jinguan City or  Brocade City.

In the Five Kingdoms Period (907-960), Mengchang, king of the Latter Shu Kingdom, decreed to plant hibiscuses on the protective wall of the city, so a new nickname was added and Chengdu became known as the "City of Hibiscus".

Chengdu has also been a city with prosperous industry. Even to this day, names of some old streets testify to that history, including names like Yanshi Street (street for salt trade).  Early in Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, each month was devoted to different trade fair: January for lamps, February flowers, March silkworms, April embroideries, May fans, June incense, July jewel wares, August sweet-scented osmanthus trees, September wines, October plum trees, and December peach wood charms.

Chengdu was also the birthplace of paper money. At that time, workshops for paper money making were located in Jingchong Temple in the northern side of the city. The paper money played a significant role in promoting trade, financial transaction, and economic development.

Tea cooking and tea culture originated in Xinjin, a town in Sichuan, China. Even in poetry, the earliest description about tea drinking was found in Chengdu. In the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, Chengdu remained an important base for tea production, and tea trade. Since the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), teahouses here gradually developed their own unique style and it is believed that Chengdu has the largest number of teahouses in the world.

By either assimilating or learning from other people and places, Chengdu gradually developed its own opera, namely Sichuan Opera, painting, Sichuan cuisine and snacks, all of which contributed to the formation of Chengdu culture. During the Eight-year Anti-Japanese War (1937-1945), many associations, societies and celebrities moved to Chengdu, added later by another 27 colleges and Universities, thus making Chengdu a cultural center at that time.

In all, over two thousand years, Chengdu has been constantly learning and absorbing the new and the advanced culturally and intellectually. This explains why Chengdu has remained prosperous politically, culturally and economically all through the history.