The early period

According to ancient accounts, Chongqing was the birthplace of the consort of the legendary Yu emperor, founder of the Xia dynasty, about 4,000 years ago. In the 11th century bce, under the Xi (Western) Zhou dynasty, the region surrounding Chongqing became a feudal state known as Ba. In the 5th century bce Ba established relations with the mid-Yangtze kingdom of Chu. It was later incorporated into the Qin empire. By the mid-3rd century bc the region was part of the kingdom of Shu and was totally independent of northern and central China.

The swing of the historical pendulum—in which the city and its surrounding area’s status alternated between forming part of an empire in northern and central China and detaching itself to become independent of both northern and central China—continued throughout subsequent centuries. The city became an integral part of the unified Chinese empire first under the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and then under the Qing, or Manchu, dynasty (1644–1911/12).

The first substantial city wall was constructed about 250 bce. It was repaired and expanded during the 3rd century ce and about 1240 and was rebuilt with solid stone early in the Ming period. In the 1630s, near the end of the Ming, the rebellion of Zhang Xianzhong subjected Chongqing to plunder, slaughter, and destruction. The city wall was restored in 1663. Some 5 miles (8 km) in circumference, it had a total of 17 gates: 8 gates remained closed on the advice of geomancers (practitioners of divination by means of figures or lines), while 9 were open to traffic. Additional work was done to strengthen the city wall in 1760.

The modern period

Chongqing was opened to British trade in 1890, but navigational difficulties on the Yangtze delayed steamer traffic for more than a decade. Meanwhile, the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895), which concluded the first Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), gave Japan the right to access the wharves of Chongqing as well. Accordingly, in 1901, when British trade opened, a Japanese concession also was established at Wangjiatuo, on the south shore of the Yangtze. This concession lasted until 1937, when it was abandoned by Japan on the outbreak of the second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45).

In 1911, on the eve of the Chinese Revolution, Chongqing—along with the Sichuan provincial capital, Chengdu—played a major role in bringing about the overthrow of the Manchus; many patriots of the region joined the revolutionary party of the Chinese Nationalist leader Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan). Despite such progressive trends and a nominal allegiance to the central government, Chongqing was unable to break away from the grip of regional separatism.

Yet in 1938, a year after war had again broken out with Japan, Chongqing became the capital of the Nationalist government. Hundreds of government offices were moved to the city from Nanjing, along with the diplomatic missions of foreign countries. Tens of thousands of people came from coastal provinces, bringing with them arsenals, factories, and schools. Friendly powers at the time also rushed supplies to Chongqing to bolster its war effort. Despite the Japanese bombings, the morale of the population—which had grown to more than 1,000,000 from a prewar total of less than 250,000—was high. Chiang Kai-shek’s failure to control inflation and corruption, however, caused the war effort to falter from 1942 onward. In 1946, on the eve of the renewed civil war against the communists, the Nationalist capital returned to Nanjing. Three years later, in April 1949, communist forces took Nanjing. The Nationalist government fled to Guangzhou (Canton) and then once again—for less than two months—to Chongqing (October to late November 1949). When the Nationalists fled to Taiwan in December, the communist victory on the mainland was complete.

More than a decade of warfare had devastated the city, but repair of the war damage began shortly after the communist takeover. The new regime also vigorously pursued restoring and expanding the city’s industrial base, which had been established in the early 20th century. Even though energies were temporarily deflected during the periods of the Great Leap Forward (1958–60) and the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), the city nonetheless succeeded in carrying out extensive modernization projects and significantly raised the standard of living.

Chongqing had been an independent municipality during the Nationalist period, but from 1954 to 1996 it was a city under the administration of Sichuan province. In 1997 it was separated from the province to become a provincial-level municipality directly under the central government. At that time, jurisdiction for the entire eastern portion of Sichuan was transferred to the new municipality, thereby greatly expanding Chongqing’s area and population. Chongqing’s population grew dramatically and its economy boomed after that.