Editing Sichuan (section)

===Republic of China===
[[File:Japanese bombing chinese main road.jpg|thumb|upright|Japanese bombers bombing a road in [[Chongqing]], then part of Sichuan province, during WW2]]
In the early 20th century, the newly founded [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] established the Chuanbian Special Administrative District ({{lang|zh-hant|川邊特別行政區}}) on the province's territories to the west of the [[Sichuan Basin]]. The Special District later became the province of [[Xikang]], incorporating the areas inhabited by [[Yi people|Yi]], [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]], and [[Qiang people|Qiang]] ethnic minorities to its west, and eastern part of today's [[Tibet Autonomous Region]].{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

In the 20th century, as [[Beijing]], [[Shanghai]], [[Nanjing]], and [[Wuhan]] had all been occupied by the Japanese during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], the capital of the Republic of China had been temporarily relocated to [[Chongqing]], then a major city in Sichuan. An enduring legacy of this move is those nearby inland provinces, such as [[Shaanxi]], [[Gansu]], and [[Guizhou]], which previously never had [[History of education in China|modern Western-style universities]], began to be developed in this regard.<ref>{{cite book |title=Teachers' Schools and the Making of the Modern Chinese Nation-State, 1897–1937 |first=Xiaoping |last=Cong |publisher=UBC Press |year=2011 |page=203}}</ref> The difficulty of accessing the region overland from the eastern part of China and the foggy climate hindering the accuracy of the [[Sichuan invasion|Japanese bombing]] of the Sichuan Basin made the region the stronghold of [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s [[Kuomintang]] government during 1938–45 and led to the [[Bombing of Chongqing]].{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

The [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] was soon followed by the resumed [[Chinese Civil War]], and the cities of East China are obtained by the Communists one after another, the Kuomintang government again tried to make Sichuan its stronghold on the mainland, although it already saw some Communist activity since it was one area on the road of the [[Long March]]. Chiang Kai-shek himself flew to Chongqing from [[Taiwan]] in November 1949 to lead the defense. But the same month Chongqing switched to the Communists, followed by Chengdu on 10 December. The Kuomintang general [[Wang Sheng (soldier)|Wang Sheng]] wanted to stay behind with his troops to continue the anticommunist guerilla war in Sichuan, but was recalled to Taiwan. Many of his soldiers made their way there as well, via [[Burma]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Marks |first=Thomas A. |title=Counterrevolution in China: Wang Sheng and the Kuomintang |publisher=Frank Cass |location=London |year=1998 |isbn=0-7146-4700-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04QiOlNKQGEC&pg=PA116 |pages=116–117 |access-date=2 July 2020 |archive-date=2 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702194757/https://books.google.com/books?id=04QiOlNKQGEC&pg=PA116 |url-status=live }}</ref>