Editing Sichuan (section)

==<span class="anchor" id="Etymology"></span><span class="anchor" id="Names"></span> Names==
It is commonly assumed that the name ''Sichuan'' means 'four [[rivers of China|rivers]]'; in [[folk etymology]], this is usually taken to mean four of the province's major rivers: the [[Jialing River|Jialing]], [[Jinsha River|Jinsha]] (or [[Wu River (Yangtze tributary)|Wu]]), [[Min River (Sichuan)|Min]], and [[Tuo River|Tuo]].<ref name=ruf>{{citation |last=Ruf |first=Gregory Anthony |title=Pillars of the State: Laboring Families, Authority, and Community in Rural Sichuan, 1937–1991 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |year=1994 |page=68}}</ref><ref name=rowan>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JXYgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 |title=Ancient Central China: Centers and Peripheries along the Yangzi River |first1=Rowan K. |last1=Flad |first2=Pochan |last2=Chen |page=26 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=21 January 2013 |isbn=978-0-521-89900-0 |access-date=15 January 2019}}</ref> According to historical geographer [[Tan Qixiang]], 'four rivers' is an erroneous interpretation of the name.<ref name="谭其骧">{{cite journal |last1=Tan |first1=Qixiang |author-mask1=Tan Qixiang; |author2=王天良 |author3=邹逸麟 |author4=郑宝恒 |author5=胡菊兴 |year=1980 |script-title=zh:我国省区名称的来源 |trans-title=Etymology of our country's provinces |script-journal=zh:复旦学报(社会科学版) |issue=S1 |page=128 |author1-link=Tan Qixiang}}</ref> The name of the province is a contraction of the phrases 'Four Plain [[Circuit (administrative subdivision)|Circuits]]' ({{zhi|c=四川路|p=Sìchuān lù}}) and 'Four Circuits of Chuanxia' ({{zhi|c=川峽四路|p=chuānxiásìlù}}),<ref>{{cite book |author1=张学君 |script-title=zh:四川省志·卷首 |trans-title=Annals of Sichuan Province, |volume=1 |location=Beijing |publisher=Fangzhi chubanshe |year=2003 |isbn=7-80122-933-9 |page=103}}</ref> referring to the division of the existing [[imperial China|imperial]] administrative circuit in the area into four during the [[Song dynasty|Northern Song dynasty]], which were [[Yi Province|Yizhou]], [[Lizhou District|Lizhou]], [[Zi Prefecture (Sichuan)|Zizhou]], and [[Kuizhou]].<ref>{{in lang|zh}}[http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shenghuo/1090/2435218.html Origin of the Names of China's Provinces] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427100058/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shenghuo/1090/2435218.html |date=27 April 2016 }}, [[People's Daily Online]].</ref> The word ''chuan'' ({{lang|zh|川}}) here means 'plain', not its typical meaning of 'river' as popularly assumed.<ref>{{cite book |author=牛汝辰 |script-title=zh:中国地名掌故词典 |trans-title=Dictionary of Etymology of Chinese Places |location=Beijing |publisher=中国社会出版社 |year=2016 |isbn=978-7-5087-5238-9 |page=321 |language=zh}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=贾文毓 |author2=李引 |script-title=zh:中国地名辞源 |trans-title=Etymology of Chinese Places |location=Beijing |publisher=Huaxia Publishing House |year=2005 |isbn=7-5080-3790-1 |page=360 |language=zh}}</ref> In addition to its [[Postal Map Romanization|postal map]] and [[Wade–Giles]] forms, the name has also been irregularly romanized as ''Szű-chuan'' and ''Szechuen''.

In antiquity, the area of modern Sichuan including the now-separated Chongqing Municipality was known to the Chinese as ''Ba–Shu'', in reference to the [[states of ancient China|ancient state]] of [[Ba (state)|Ba]] and the [[Shu (kingdom)|ancient kingdom of Shu]] that once occupied the [[Sichuan Basin]]. ''Shu'' continued to be used to refer to the region to the present day; several states formed in the area used the same name, for example, the [[Shu Han|Shu]] of the [[Three Kingdoms]] period (220–280), and [[Former Shu]] and [[Later Shu]] of the [[Ten Kingdoms]] period (907–979).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RcH7PLTz3OIC&pg=PA71 |title=Ancient Central China: Centers and Peripheries Along the Yangzi River |first=Rowan K. |last=Flad |first2=Pochan |last2=Chen |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-521-89900-0 |page=71 |access-date=15 January 2019 }}</ref> Currently, both characters for ''Shu'' and ''Chuan'' are common abbreviations for Sichuan.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://english.sc.gov.cn/SichuaninPerspective/BriefingaboutSichuan/200906/t20090624_770675.shtml |title=Historical Geographical Characteristics |publisher=General Office of Sichuan Provincial People's Government |access-date=16 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819023648/http://english.sc.gov.cn/SichuaninPerspective/BriefingaboutSichuan/200906/t20090624_770675.shtml |archive-date=19 August 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The region was formerly referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by [[Protestantism in Sichuan|Protestant missions]].