Sichuanese people
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Peoples' Republic of China |
Sichuan Chongqing |
 Republic of China (on Taiwan) | As part of Mainlander population |
| Languages | |
|
Historically Ba-Shu Chinese, also known as Old Sichuanese. Presently Sichuanese dialects of Southwestern Mandarin. | |
| Religion | |
| Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Chinese folk religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other Han Chinese | |
Sichuanese people (Sichuanese: 巴蜀人 Ba1su2ren2; IPA: [pa55su21zən21]; alternatively 川人, 川渝人, 四川人 or 巴蜀民系) are a subgroup of Han Chinese living in mostly Sichuan province and Chongqing municipality of China.
Origins
Beginning from the 9th century BC, Shu (on the Chengdu Plain) and Ba (which had its first capital at Enshi City in Hubei and controlled part of the Han Valley) emerged as cultural and administrative centers where two rival kingdoms were established. Although eventually the Qin dynasty 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 Valley. The now-extinct Ba-Shu language was derived from Qin-era settlers and represents the earliest documented division from what is now called Middle Chinese.
During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the population of the area was reduced through wars and the bubonic plague and settlers arrived from the area of modern Hubei, replacing the earlier common Chinese with a new standard.
Language
The Sichuanese once spoke their own variety of Spoken Chinese called Ba-Shu Chinese, or Old Sichuanese before it went extinct during the Ming dynasty. Now most of them speak Sichuanese Mandarin. The Minjiang dialects is thought by some linguists to be a bona fide descendant of Old Sichuanese, 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.
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