Editing Chengdu (section)

==Name==
The name Chengdu is attested in sources dating back to the [[Warring States period]]. It has been called the only major city in China to have remained at an unchanged location with an unchanged name throughout the [[imperial China|imperial]], [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|republican]], and [[History of the People's Republic of China|communist]] eras.<ref name="cd.wenming.cn">{{cite web |url=http://cd.wenming.cn/lsmc/201101/t20110106_655.shtml |title=Chengdu, the City Whose Name hasn't changed for 2300 years |publisher=cd.wenming.cn |date=6 January 2011 |access-date=6 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301114805/http://cd.wenming.cn/lsmc/201101/t20110106_655.shtml |archive-date=1 March 2011 |url-status=live  }}</ref> However, it also had other names; for example, it was briefly known as "Xijing" (Western Capital) in the 17th century.<ref name="eccp"/> The etymology of the name is unclear. The earliest and most widely known explanation, although not generally accepted by modern scholars,<ref>{{cite web |title=Origin of the name 'Chengdu' |script-title=zh:["成都"得名的由来] |url=http://www.cdmuseum.com/shihaigouchen/201701/473.html |publisher=Chengdu Museum |access-date=29 January 2020 |archive-date=29 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129012900/http://www.cdmuseum.com/shihaigouchen/201701/473.html |url-status=live }}</ref> is provided in the 10th-century geographical work ''[[Universal Geography of the Taiping Era]]'', which states that the ninth king of [[Shu (state)|Shu]]'s [[Kaiming dynasty]] named his new capital Chengdu after a statement by [[King Tai of Zhou]] that a settlement needed "one year to become a town, two to become a city, and three to become a metropolis."{{efn|{{lang-zh|以周太王从梁王止岐山，一年而所居成聚，二年成邑，三年成都，因名之成都。}}}}<ref>{{citation |first=Endymion |last=Wilkinson |title=Chinese History: A Manual |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |date=2000 |page=849}}</ref> (The character for ''cheng'' {{lang-zh|{{linktext|成}}}} may mean "turned into" while ''du'' {{lang-zh|{{linktext|都}}}} can mean either a [[metropolis]] or a capital).

The present spelling is based on [[pinyin]] [[romanization of Chinese|romanization]]; its [[Chinese postal romanization|Postal Map romanization]] was "Chengtu". Its former status as the seat of the Chengdu [[Fu (administrative division)|Prefecture]] prompted [[Marco Polo]]'s spellings "Sindafu", "Sin-din-fu", &c.<ref name=marco/><ref name=yule/> and the [[Protestantism in Sichuan|Protestant missionaries]]' romanization "Ching-too Foo".<ref name=Britannica1878>{{cite EB9|title=China||volume=5|page=638|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediabrit05newyrich/page/638/mode/1up|oclc=1387837}}***''Please note that a wikilink to the article on [China] in [EB9] is not available''***</ref>

Although the official name of the city has remained (almost) constant, the surrounding area has sometimes taken other names, including "[[Yi Province|Yizhou]]". Chinese nicknames for the city include the {{nowrap|"Turtle City"}}, variously derived from the old [[Chinese city wall|city walls]]' shape on a map or a legend that [[Zhang Yi (strategist)|Zhang Yi]] had planned their course by following a turtle's tracks; the {{nowrap|"Brocade City"}} (see [[Sichuan embroidery|Sichuan brocade]]), a contraction of the earlier "City of the Brocade Official", after an imperial office established under the [[Western Han dynasty|Western Han]]; the {{nowrap|"Hibiscus City"}} (Rongcheng, [[wiktionary:蓉|蓉]]城), from the [[hibiscus]] which King [[Meng Chang]] of the [[Later Shu]] ordered planted upon the [[Chinese city wall|city wall]] during the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|10th century]].<ref name="nix">{{cite web |url=http://www.chinadmd.com/file/uxso6zvszcxueixcwoue3wto_1.html |script-title=zh:龟城刘备审阿斗_中华文本库 |website=Chinadmd.com |language=zh |date=29 June 2015 |access-date=31 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223351/http://www.chinadmd.com/file/uxso6zvszcxueixcwoue3wto_1.html |archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doc88.com/p-287304379997.html |script-title=zh:成都味道 PDF – 综合课件 – 道客巴巴 |website=Doc88.com |date=2 June 2013 |access-date=31 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812052807/http://www.doc88.com/p-287304379997.html |archive-date=12 August 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=刘飞滨著 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pg8pEAAAQBAJ&dq=%E8%93%89%E5%9F%8E+%E6%88%90%E9%83%BD&pg=PT18 |title=老成都记忆 |date=2017-03-01 |publisher=Beijing Book Co. Inc. |isbn=978-7-5090-1171-3 |language=zh}}</ref>

According to [[Étienne de la Vaissière]], "Baghshūr" ({{literal translation|pond of salt water}}) may be the [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] name for the region of Chengdu. This toponym is attested near [[Merv]], but
not far from Chengdu are found the large salt water wells of the [[Yangtze]] basin.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vaissière |first=Étienne de la |author-link=Étienne de la Vaissière |translator-last=Ward |translator-first=James |date=2005 |orig-date=2002 |chapter=Chapter Five: In China — The Sogdians in Sichuan and Tibet |title=Sogdian Traders: A History |url=https://library.samdu.uz/files/a749175ad108c9940aea64df56ca0a3c_%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D2%9B%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%20%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8.pdf |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill Publishers |page=145 |isbn=90-04-14252-5 |access-date=16 June 2023 |archive-date=11 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211232058/https://library.samdu.uz/files/a749175ad108c9940aea64df56ca0a3c_%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D2%9B%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%20%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>