Chongqing

History

How the city came to be

Chongqing was in ancient times the land of the Ba state; after the Qin destroyed Ba it set up Ba Commandery. In 316 BC Zhang Yi built Jiangzhou City, and Chongqing's city history runs over three thousand years. In the sixteenth year of Chunxi of the Southern Song (1189), Zhao Dun was first enfeoffed as Prince Gong and then ascended the throne, and taking the meaning of "double celebration" (shuangchong xiqing) he raised Gongzhou to Chongqing Prefecture — the origin of the name "Chongqing". After the Ming and Qing migrations into Sichuan, Chongqing, on the water transport of the Jialing and Yangtze rivers, became the commercial centre of the southwest, and opened as a treaty port in 1891. During the War of Resistance (1937–1946) Chongqing was the National Government's wartime capital (peidu), becoming the Far East command centre of the world anti-fascist war, enduring the great bombing without yielding. In 1997 Chongqing was established as a municipality directly under the central government, China's fourth, and the leader of western development; the mountainous terrain at the meeting of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers created its three-dimensional, magical cityscape.

1. 316 BCThe Qin destroyed the Ba state, set up Ba Commandery and built Jiangzhou City
2. 1189Emperor Guangzong of Song raised Gongzhou to Chongqing Prefecture for the "double celebration"
3. 1891Chongqing formally opened as a port for foreign trade
4. 1929Chongqing was formally established as a city
5. 1937The National Government moved to Chongqing, which became the wartime capital of the War of Resistance
6. 1949Chongqing was liberated on 30 November
7. 1983Chongqing became the country's first pilot city for comprehensive economic-system reform
8. 1997The Chongqing Municipality was established