The Sichuanese, Sze Chuan or Ssu Ch'uan people ( zh, c=四川人;

Sichuanese Sichuanese, Szechuanese or Szechwanese may refer to something of, from, or related to the Chinese province and region of Sichuan (Szechwan/Szechuan) (historically and culturally including Chongqing), especially: *Sichuanese people, a subgroup of the ...

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...

: ''Si⁴cuan¹ren²'';

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

zh, p=Sìchuānrén, w=Szŭ4-ch'uan1-jen2, zh, c=川人, labels=no or zh, c=川渝人, labels=no) are a

Han Chinese subgroup The subgroups of the Han Chinese people are defined based on linguistic, cultural, ethnic, genetic and regional features. The terminology used in Mandarin to describe the groups is: "minxi" (, pronounced ), used in Mainland China or "zuqun" (, pr ...

comprising most of the population of China's

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of th ...

province and

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...

municipality.

History

Beginning from the 9th century BC, Shu (on the Chengdu Plain) and Ba (which had its first capital at Enshi City in

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The pr ...

and controlled part of the Han Valley) emerged as cultural and administrative centers where two rival kingdoms were established. Although eventually the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

destroyed the kingdoms of Shu and Ba, the Qin government accelerated the technological and agricultural advancements of Sichuan making it comparable to that of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan ...

Valley. The now-extinct Ba-Shu language was derived from Qin-era settlers and represents the earliest documented division from

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

. South Sichuan was also inhabited by the

Dai people The Dai people (Burmese: ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; khb, ᨴᩱ/ᨴᩱ᩠ᨿ; lo, ໄຕ; th, ไท; shn, တႆး, ; , ; ) refers to several Tai-speaking ethnic groups living in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and t ...

who formed the

serfs Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...

class. They were later thoroughly sinicized, adopting the local language of speech. Large numbers of foreigner merchant families from

Sogdia Sogdia ( Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Em ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

and other countries immigrated to Sichuan. During the Yuan and

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

dynasties, the population of Sichuan, Chongqing had been reduced due to immigration, deportation and flight of refugees fleeing war and plague, new or returning settlers from modern

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

and

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north into h ...

, replacing the earlier spoken language with different languages they adopted from the former regions to form a new standard language off communication.

Recent history

Many migrant workers from rural Sichuan have migrated to other parts of the country, where they often face discrimination in employment, housing etc. This is due to China's household registration policy and other parts of people from midwest China face the same problem.

Language

The Sichuanese once spoke their own variety of spoken Chinese called

Ba-Shu Chinese Ba-Shu Chinese (; Sichuanese Pinyin: Ba¹su²yu³; ), or Old Sichuanese (or Old Szechwanese; ), is an extinct Sinitic language formerly spoken in what is now Sichuan and Chongqing, China. This language is first attested in '' Fangyan'' durin ...

, or Old Sichuanese before it became extinct during the Ming dynasty. Now most of them speak Sichuanese Mandarin. The Minjiang dialects are thought by some linguists to be a bona fide descendant of Old Sichuanese due to many characteristics of

phonology and vocabulary being found in the dialects,试论宋代巴蜀方言与现代四川方言的关系》">刘晓南（2009年第8卷第6期），《试论宋代巴蜀方言与现代四川方言的关系——兼谈文献考证的一个重要功用：追寻失落的方言》，语言科学 but there is no conclusive evidence whether Minjiang dialects are derived from Old Sichuanese or Southwestern Mandarin.

Cuisine

Sichuan is well known for its spicy cuisine and use of Sichuan peppers due to its more arid climate.

Notable people

Well known Sichuanese people are such as: * Ba Jin (1904–2005), author and political activist * Bai Ling (1966–), actress *

Chang Dai-chien Chang Dai-chien or Zhang Daqian (; 10 May 1899 – 2 April 1983) was one of the best-known and most prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century. Originally known as a ''guohua'' (traditionalist) painter, by the 1960s he was also renowned a ...

(1899–1983), artist * Chang Chün (1889–1990), premier of the Republic of China * Fala Chen (1982–), actress * Chen Pokong (1963–), author, political commentator and democracy activist *

Chen Shou Chen Shou (; 233–297), courtesy name Chengzuo (), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China. Chen Shou is most known for his most celebrated work, the ''Records of the ...

(233–297), official and writer * Cheung Chung-kiu (1964–), business magnate *

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...

(1904–1997), revolutionary and politician * GAI (1988–), rapper, singer, and songwriter *

Guo Moruo Guo Moruo (; November 16, 1892 – June 12, 1978), courtesy name Dingtang (), was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official. Biography Family history Guo Moruo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November ...

(1892–1978), author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official *

Huang Jiguang Huang Jiguang (; January 18, 1931 – October 19, 1952) was a highly-decorated Chinese soldier during the Korean War. Biography Huang was born in Sichuan Province, his mother is Deng Fangzhi and brother is Huang Jishu. In March 1951, Huang dec ...

(1931–1952), highly decorated soldier during the Korean War * Jiang Zhuyun (1920–1949), revolutionary martyr *

Li Bai Li Bai (, 701–762), also pronounced as Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet, acclaimed from his own time to the present as a brilliant and romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights. He and his friend Du F ...

(701–762), poet * Li Bifeng (1965–), activist, poet and Christian * Liu Yonghao (1952–), businessman * Li Yifeng (1987–), actor and singer * Li Yuchun (1984–), singer, songwriter, and actress * Luo Ruiqing (1906–1978), army officer and politician * Sanyu (painter) (1901–1966) * Chʽeng-Tsi Song (1892–1955), Anglican bishop * Song Yonghua (1964–), scholar *

Su Shi Su Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, gastronomer, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and travel writer during the Song dynasty. A major personality of t ...

(1037–1101), writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and statesman *

Su Xun Su Xun (; 22 May 1009 – 21 May 1066) was a Chinese writer during the Song dynasty, best known for his essays. He is considered one of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song, along with his sons Su Shi and Su Zhe Su Zhe (; 1039–1112), ...

(1009–1066), writer *

Su Zhe Su Zhe (; 1039–1112), or Su Che, courtesy names Ziyou and Tongshu , was a Chinese essayist, historian, poet, and politician from Meishan, located in modern-day Sichuan Province, China. Su was highly honored as a politician and essayist in ...

(1039–1112), politician and essayist * Tan Weiwei (1982–), singer and actress * Tang Chun-i (1909–1978), philosopher and scholar * Wang Chiu-chiang (1957–), painter * Wang Jianlin (1954–), business magnate, investor, and philanthropist *

Wang Xiaoya Wang Xiaoya (; born 22 January 1968) is a Chinese television host and media personality. She won the Golden Mike Award in 2003. Biography Wang was born in Zhaojue County, Sichuan in January 1968, her father was an editor in ''Liangshan Daily'' ( ...

(1968–), television host and media personality * Wang Yi (pastor) (1973–) * Xu Youyu (1947–), scholar * Yang Xiong (53 BC – 18 AD), poet, philosopher, and politician * Y. C. James Yen (1890/1893–1990), educator *

Lucy Yi Zhenmei Lucy Yi Zhenmei ( zh, t=易貞美, s=易贞美, first=t, w=I Chên-mei, p=Yì Zhēnměi; December 9, 1815 – February 19, 1862) was a Sichuanese Roman Catholic saint from Mianyang, Sichuan Province, China. She is the lone woman of the five Gu ...

(1815–1862), Roman Catholic saint *

Yu Jie Yu Jie (), is a Chinese-American writer and Calvinist democracy activist. The bestselling author of more than 30 books, Yu was described by the ''New York Review of Books'' in 2012 as "one of China's most prominent essayists and critics". Yu Ji ...

(1973–), Calvinist democracy activist * Zhang Lan (1872–1955), political activist * Zhang Yong (restaurateur) (1969/1970–), Singapore's richest man in 2019 * Zhao Yiman (1905–1936), resistance fighter * Zheng Ji (1900–2010), nutritionist and pioneering biochemist *

Zhu De Zhu De (; ; also Chu Teh; 1 December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party. Born into poverty in 1886 in Sichuan, he was adopted by a wealthy uncle at ...

(1886–1976), general, warlord, politician, and revolutionary * Zhuo Wenjun (), poet * Zou Rong (1885–1905), revolutionary martyr

References