Chongqing

Japanese: 重慶 - じゅうけい

A city in the northeast of southwest China. It was part of Sichuan Province, but in 1997 it became China's fourth direct-controlled city (equivalent to a province). It covers an area of 82,400 square kilometers, and has jurisdiction over 26 city districts including Wanzhou, Fuling, Jiangjin, Hechuan, and Yongchuan, eight counties including Wushan, and four autonomous counties, with a population of 30,484,300 (2016). It is located at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Jialing River. Its abbreviation is Yu.

The city center is on the peninsula between the two rivers, and it also spreads into the surrounding mountains, earning it the nickname of a mountain town. It has long been a key transportation location, and even today it is the intersection of the Chengdu-Chongqing Line (Chengdu-Chongqing), Xiangyu Line, Chuanqian Line (Chongqing-Guiyang), and Lanzhou Line (Lanzhou-Chongqing), and is a center of automobile and river transportation, and has the largest commercial functions in the Sichuan Basin. Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is located near the city. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the mining and manufacturing industries that were destroyed during the civil war also developed, and with coal, iron ore, natural gas production and agricultural products as its backdrop, steel, electricity, various machinery, chemicals, textiles, and other industries can be seen. It is also the cultural center of the southwest region, and is home to many scenic places and historical sites, including hot spring resorts such as Qutang Gorge, one of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, Wu Gorge, and Bei Hot Springs, as well as ruins from various eras, and the site of the Communist Party office from the time of the Kuomintang-Communist cooperation.

[Ono Kikuo]

history

In the pre-Qin period (before the unification of China by the Qin Dynasty), this area already had the state of Bazi. The Qin Dynasty defeated it and made it Ba Commandery. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was called Yuzhou, and after the Song Dynasty, it was called Chongqing Prefecture. In 1876, it became an open port based on the Treaty of Chifu. During most of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Nationalist government moved its capital here (November 1937 to April 1946) and stubbornly resisted Japan. This was because Chongqing was far from the front line and was convenient for receiving aid from the United States and Britain via Burma (now Myanmar). For this reason, it was bombed repeatedly by the Japanese military, causing a lot of damage. Although Chongqing is located 2,400 kilometers inland from the mouth of the Yangtze River, it has strong ties with the lower Yangtze River region because fairly large steamships can travel up the river. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chengdu-Chongqing Chengdu-Chongqing Railway was completed in 1952, and together with shipping on the Yangtze River, it has become the economic center of southwestern China.

[Kurahashi Masanao]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中国、西南地方の東北部にある市。四川(しせん)省に属していたが、1997年に中国4番目の政府直轄市（省と同格）となった。面積8万2400平方キロメートル、万州(ばんしゅう)、涪陵(ふりょう)、江津(こうしん)、合川(ごうせん)、永川(えいせん)など26市轄区、巫山(ふざん)など8県、4自治県を管轄し、人口3048万4300（2016）。揚子江(ようすこう)と嘉陵江(かりょうこう)の合流点に位置する。略称は渝(ゆ)。

　両江の間の半島に中心部をもつ市街地は、周辺山地にも広がっており、山城とよばれる。古くからの交通要地で、今日も成渝線（成都(せいと)―重慶）、襄渝線、川黔(せんけん)線（重慶―貴陽(きよう)）と蘭渝線（蘭州(らんしゅう)―重慶）の交会点、自動車・河川交通の中心地であり、四川盆地最大の商業機能を有している。市街近郊には重慶江北国際空港がある。中華人民共和国成立後、内戦で破壊された鉱工業も発展し、石炭、鉄鉱石、天然ガス産地や農産物などを背景に鉄鋼、電力、各種機械、化学、紡織その他の諸工業がみられる。また、西南地方の文化中心地でもあり、さらに長江三峡のうちの瞿塘峡(くとうきょう)、巫峡、北温泉などの温泉保養地、各時代の遺跡、国共合作当時の共産党事務所跡など名勝、史跡も多い。

［小野菊雄］

歴史

先秦(せんしん)（秦による中国統一以前）時代、この地にはすでに巴子(はし)国があった。秦はこれを討って巴郡とした。隋(ずい)・唐では渝州、宋(そう)以後は重慶府とよばれた。1876年、芝罘(チーフ)条約に基づき開港場となった。日中戦争の大部分の期間、国民政府はここに首都を移し（1937年11月～1946年4月）頑強に日本に対し抵抗した。重慶が前線から遠く離れ、またアメリカ・イギリスによるビルマ（現、ミャンマー）経由の援助を受けるのに便利だったからである。このため日本軍によってたび重なる爆撃を受け、多くの被害を出した。重慶は揚子江河口から2400キロメートルも奥地にありながら、相当大きい汽船がさかのぼれるので、揚子江下流地方とは結び付きが強い。1949年の中華人民共和国成立後、1952年に成都―重慶間を結ぶ成渝線が完成し、揚子江の航運と相まって中国西南地区の経済的中心地になっている。

［倉橋正直］

[参照項目] | 永川 | 江津 | 合川 | 三峡 | 重慶政府 | 襄渝線 | 万州 | 巫山 | 涪陵

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