In 1997, Chongqing's municipality returned to its original position, and also became the largest and youngest municipality in my country in one fell swoop.
So in the traditional history of Sichuan and Chongqing for thousands of years, why did Chongqing suddenly be separated again? Who made this suggestion?
What has Chongqing and Sichuan separated, and what has it brought to these two places and even the whole country?
map｜Chongqing map
History of Sichuan and Chongqing
China's cultural history has a long history. In ancient times, Chongqing was called Ba Kingdom , and today, Sichuan, Chengdu and other places are called Shu Kingdom, so we often call the "Ba Shu area".
Since a thousand years ago, it has referred to Sichuan and Chongqing areas. The country of Ba was first derived from the unification of in the Qin Dynasty. At that time, Qin Shihuang established Chongqing as the Ba County and used it as the eastern gateway to Chengdu Shu to ensure the safety of Shu.
This is also the first time that Chongqing has become a municipality directly under the central government, and Chongqing has its own predecessor. Although the Chongqing area has experienced various changes in the subsequent historical changes.
For example, in the late period of Southern and Northern Dynasties, Chongqing was renamed Chuzhou, period of Sui Dynasty, and Yuzhou (this is also the origin of Chongqing nowadays abbreviated as "Yu").
was renamed in the early stages of Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty , and so on. Chongqing has an important position in history. As for the origin of the name Chongqing, it was in the Southern Song period.
pic | Bashu
That was in 1189 AD. Emperor Guangzong of the Southern Song Dynasty named one of his sons King Gong and gave him the Chongqing area named Gongzhou at that time as a fief, and used the meaning of "double festiveness".
changed Gongzhou to Chongqing and promoted it to Chongqing Prefecture . In other words, as early as the Southern Song Dynasty, Chongqing was already a sub-provincial administrative region, and the name Chongqing has been used to this day.
, however, developed to the period of the period, and Chongqing's status changed again. According to relevant historical records, during the Yuan Dynasty, a man named Ming Yuzhen established the Daxia Kingdom and set the capital in Chongqing.
Then the Great Xia Kingdom was eliminated, and Chongqing became an integral part of Sichuan.
The Yuan Dynasty was very strong. In order to facilitate rule, the Yuan Dynasty emperors at that time introduced and established a new administrative division system - the provincial system.
It was also since the provincial system of the Yuan Dynasty that Chongqing has become the jurisdiction of Sichuan Province. The status of Chongqing in front of Sichuan in the following six hundred years.
Figure | Chongqing
has never changed, and the situation in lasted until 1939, when it first changed.
Because Chongqing has a special geographical location, it is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River . It is the throat of the Yangtze River and is also the original junction of the three provinces.
So Chongqing is a treasure land that must be highly valued, whether from the perspective of military strategic perspective, or the importance of economic development. This also laid a foundation for Chongqing to become a municipality later.
In the modern and contemporary history of China, Chongqing has been designated as a municipality three times, and each time has very important significance.
Chongqing was first identified as a municipality, and was in 1939. At that time, the National Government led by Chiang Kai-shek still had a control over China.
The Kuomintang government at that time was mainly located in Nanjing. However, as Nanjing was captured by the Japanese devils, Chiang Kai-shek had to take his family to escape to Chongqing without the iron hoofs of the Japanese invaders, and set Chongqing as the capital of Nanjing.
Picture | Yangtze River
Since then, Chongqing has become a municipality directly under the central government. However, Chongqing at that time was not as large as Chongqing today. Chongqing as a municipality, it only existed for ten years.
After the founding of New China in , and liberating Chongqing, Chongqing returned to Sichuan's embrace. Chongqing was identified as a municipality for the second time, in the early days of the founding of New China.
At that time, Chongqing was the location of the Southwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the Southwest Military and Political Committee and the Southwest Military Region, and was also the political, economic and cultural center of the southwest region.
However, with the abolition of the region in 1954, Chongqing became the subordinate jurisdiction of in , Sichuan.
This situation lasted until 1997, when Chongqing arrived. The third direct administration in modern history has become the Chongqing city we are familiar with today.
This time, Chongqing's direct is of great significance.
So who proposed the idea to determine Chongqing as a municipality? Why did he come up with this idea? Let’s review the specific situation at that time.
pic | Conference
The opportunity for Chongqing to become a municipality directly under the central government
In the 1980s, my country gradually ushered in the spring of reform and opening up, and all parts of the country are here. Under Comrade Deng Xiaoping's great concept and innovative practice, economic construction is developing vigorously.
However, in comparison, the economic construction of the southeast coastal areas of my country is much faster than that of the southwest and inland areas of the northwest.
Because the northwest and southwest regions were not well developed at that time, their resources could not be effectively utilized when developing production and economy.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed a solution to this problem: to make some people and some areas of our country rich first, and then drive and develop in areas that are not fully developed.
As the chief engineer of my country's reform and opening up and the great cause, Comrade Deng Xiaoping keenly noticed the importance of comprehensive development.
After all, the development of any region will take at least ten years to see significant results, so time does not wait for anyone. explores effective methods to solve this problem, which is the fundamental plan.
Then, Comrade Deng Xiaoping made a specific understanding and investigation on the construction of the western region. In this process, he found that the southwest region has rich natural resources.
Picture | Deng Xiaoping
But its basic conditions were not ordinary. In addition, the construction of Three Gorges Dam at that time, became a barrier stuck on the Yangtze River, and became a difficult problem for the whole country.
So in this case, cities near the Three Gorges Project became the top priority of development. During that period, the central government first proposed to establish the concept of " Three Gorges Province ".
In 1984, Li Peng, then Vice Premier of the State Council, formally proposed the idea of establishing the Three Gorges Province at the seminar on the Three Gorges Project.
The so-called Three Gorges Province, means that today's Yichang in Hubei, Wanxian in Sichuan, Fuling , and Qianjiang area are classified as an provincial administrative region to facilitate the overall arrangement of the Three Gorges Project.
But later, with the State Council's in-depth consideration, everyone agreed that the size of the Three Gorges Project was too large, so it was not advisable to rush. In this way, the preparations of the Three Gorges Province were officially abolished in May 1986.
So since the preparations for the Three Gorges Province have been cancelled, the next development of the southwest needs to find another new way out.
At this time, Comrade Deng Xiaoping proposed: divide Chongqing into making it a municipality directly under the central government in my country. Why did Comrade Deng Xiaoping put forward such an idea? The specific reasons are the following points.
Picture | Deng Xiaoping
Why did Chongqing be established as a municipality directly under the central government
As for the arrangements for Chongqing to be divided into and established into another major municipality directly under the central government in New China, 966, Chongqing Mayor Pu Haiqing made detailed memories.
He once dictated "What I know about Chongqing's establishment of a municipality directly under the Central Government". In this article, he showed us some reasons why the central government at that time divided Chongqing into a municipality directly under the Central Government.
Pu Haiqing said that although many people were not aware of this arrangement at the time, as early as the mid-1980s, Comrade Xiaoping had proposed the idea of dividing Chongqing from Sichuan area and establishing a separate province.
When talking to Li Peng and hearing the idea of "Three Gorges Province", Comrade Xiaoping also said that can consider dividing Sichuan into two provinces, one centered on Chongqing and the other centered on Chengdu.
implies that Chongqing, which has a relatively rapid development momentum, is divided into municipalities directly under the central government. Comrade Xiaoping's idea was proposed, and Li Peng took it to heart, and he also began related preparations.
Picture | Chongqing
First, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China planned to establish a municipality in Chongqing, based on the overall consideration of the situation in Sichuan. At that time, Sichuan Province, was a veritable province in terms of area and population.
When Chongqing was still a jurisdiction in Sichuan Province, the entire Sichuan had a total area of 570,000 square kilometers and had a population of 110 million. The population of is equivalent to the total population of the two developed countries, Britain, France and at that time.
has a vast area and a large population. The problem brought about is some management difficulties.
Because there are many large and popular areas, there were 23 prefecture-level administrative regions in Sichuan Province at that time, and 221 county-level administrative regions, which was the province with the most administrative units at or above the county level in New China.
Pu Haiqing said that he had been the vice governor and deputy secretary in Sichuan Province for 11 years, but because Sichuan was too big, he failed to complete all counties. Therefore, dividing Chongqing can greatly improve the government's management level of Sichuan and Chongqing.
In addition to this, the division of Chongqing into a municipality is more important in its economic development. In 1996, Sichuan Province's GDP reached more than 410 billion , only 200 million lower than Zhejiang, a major economic province in the southeast, ranking fifth in the country.
pic | Conference
, and the total economic output of Chongqing alone has reached 95.6 billion yuan, and Chongqing has thus become the fourth largest economic city second only to the three municipalities directly under the central government of Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.
This also laid a very exciting foreshadowing for Chongqing to become the next municipality directly under the central government. At the same time, Chengdu, another major city in Sichuan, has a total GDP of 70 billion yuan.
This is also a very excellent existence and is a pillar of the Chengdu-Chongqing Gemini stars in the old Sichuan. But as the saying goes, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, and Sichuan's development cannot be separated from the two economic markets of Chengdu and Chongqing.
But similarly, a province in Sichuan may not be able to perfectly accommodate the two great Buddhas of Chengdu and Chongqing. In terms of , Jinan and Qingdao in Shandong are very distinct precedents.
At that time, Sichuan had a total economic scale of several dozen provinces in my country, and it was one of the top students. , but because its place was too large and its population was too large, the per capita GDP suddenly fell to the ranks of the last students in the country.
The internal development contradictions in old Sichuan have become very prominent as a result. The contradiction of is specifically reflected in that both Chengdu and Chongqing need vigorous development and huge amount of funds and resources.
map | Sichuan map
However, under its vast area, appears to be relatively scarce. In addition to the Chengdu-Chongqing Gemini stars, old Sichuan also needs to nurture other places.
In other words, old Sichuan is in a situation where it is grand on the surface, but the competition for internal resources is very fierce and the total amount of resources is not sufficient.
. Chongqing's development is also due to this situation that it has been hindered to a certain extent. However, it was difficult to solve this problem in a short period of time based on the strength and resources of Sichuan at that time.
If Chongqing is to be developed more fully, then it is undoubtedly the best choice to make it a municipality directly under the central government and embark on the road of solo flight. The construction of the Three Gorges Project is also an important reason why Chongqing is divided into a municipality directly under the Central Government.
Three Gorges Project is the greatest water conservancy project in the history of the world. This historical feat that is unprecedented and unparalleled has brought great convenience to us today.
But while this great project is being built, there are millions of residents along the Yangtze River, so they have lost their original home and have to move.
Figure | Three Gorges Project
The resettlement of a total of 1.2 million people has become a common concern for the central leaders at that time.
Whether the immigrants of this million and two million can be properly resettled, and the good development of has also become an important symbol of whether the Three Gorges Project is successful.
And 70% of these immigrants are in East Sichuan , which is now Chongqing City, Wanxian City, Fuling City and other places.
The local economy was not developed at that time, so at this time, it is a crucial thing for to find a city with a large economic scale and a high level of economic development to drive its economic development.
As we mentioned earlier, Chongqing's total GDP in 1996 had reached more than 90 billion yuan, becoming one of the top students in the country.
So let Chongqing take on this big task is undoubtedly the best and only choice. This is of great significance to the successful completion of the Three Gorges Project.
In addition, separating Chongqing from old Sichuan and establishing a municipality can promote Chongqing to play a good radiation role and drive the economic development of one party.
At that time, Chongqing was the largest economic city in the southwest and eastern Sichuan region. so it was able to play its role as a megacity economic center when it was independent.
Picture | Chongqing
links major provinces in southwestern my country, and the entire region in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and promotes the development and progress of this large area with a stalking leadership attitude . The effect of
is exactly in line with the idea proposed by the central government at that time: "first develop some regions, and then drive insufficient development areas to develop inadequately, and move towards glory together."
And if Chongqing is really divided into a municipality directly under the central government, Chongqing also has a superior condition that is unparalleled in other regions, that is, Chongqing is a city with independent planning status.
, whether it is the development of its various economics or its financial indicators, is very easy to separate from Sichuan Province. In this regard, Chongqing has many obvious advantages over other ordinary cities from .
Starting from September 1996, after approval by the State Council, Sichuan Province entrusts Chongqing to manage Wanxian City, Fuling City and Qianjiang District.
Picture | State Council
Chongqing also carried out this stewardship work very well. Although the economic development of these regions was not impressive at that time, still had various problems such as large rural population, large area, and heavy immigration tasks.
However, after Chongqing received this task, added many immigration, poverty alleviation, agriculture and rural work institutions. through these special assistance institutions has driven the development of surrounding areas and achieved good results.
This also allowed the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to see Chongqing's development potential and responsibility. has laid a good foundation for Chongqing to become a municipality directly under the central government.
To sum up, after layers of considerations from the central government, as well as the strong support of Comrade Deng Xiaoping, and the efforts of the local government, Chongqing finally officially launched on June 18, 1997. The sign of the municipal government was completely separated from Sichuan and became a municipality .
has also become the only municipality directly under the central and western regions of my country.
Picture | Deng Xiaoping
Conclusion
It has been 25 years since Chongqing was established as a municipality directly under the central government.
In the past 25 years, has played a role in the development of Chongqing itself, its role in Sichuan's economic development, is its radiation and driving role in surrounding areas, or its successful construction of the Three Gorges Project. The contributions made by
are all telling the world: What a correct choice for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to establish a municipality in Chongqing.
Today's mountain city attracts more and more people's attention and plays an increasingly important role on the big stage of our country. These are inseparable from Comrade Deng Xiaoping's unique and wise gaze considerations.
cannot be separated from the country’s construction of Chongqing in recent years. Chongqing’s becoming a municipality directly under the Central Government is a major successful move in my country’s history and is worthy of praise!
