Chongqing Baisha Ancient Town

Chongqing Baisha Ancient Town

Chongqing Baisha Ancient Town is located in Baisha Town, Jiangjin District, Chongqing, situated on the banks of the Yangtze River and about 72 kilometers from downtown Chongqing. Covering an area of 237 square kilometers, it has long been honored as the "Famous Town of the Land of Abundance" and the "Cultural Hub of Eastern Sichuan," and is among the first batch of historical and cultural towns designated by Chongqing Municipality. With a long history, Baisha Town has been inhabited since the late Eastern Han Dynasty, forming a village, and during the Tang Dynasty, the Dasha Temple was built here. From then on, during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, it was established as an official town, and during the Republic of China period, it served as the Third District Office of Jiangjin County. After the liberation, it served as the seat of the Jiangjin County People’s Government for six years. Since 1980 to the present, it has been administered by the Baisha Town People’s Government and is now a district-level town.

Historical texts such as "Extensive Records of Shu" and "Extensive Records of the Taiping Era" indicate that Baisha gained fame during the Tang Dynasty due to the Dasha Temple, reflecting the town’s considerable prosperity at the time. It may have even been a proper town, but the exact year of its establishment, its scale, and layout remain unknown. The earliest documented establishment of the town dates back to the early Northern Song Dynasty. The "Yuánfēng Jiǔyù Zhì" (Yuanfeng Regional Records), revised between 1068–1077 during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song by Zeng Zhao and Li Dechang based on the original "Jiǔyù Tú" (Map of Nine Regions) compiled in 1013 during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, records in Volume 8: "In the fourth year of Yongxi, Nanping County was merged into Jiangjin. Jiangjin, located 120 li south of Yuzhou, included fourteen towns: Hándōng, Fúshì, Báishā, Chángshā, Shèngzhōng, Shíyáng, Yùlán, Línggǎn, Shígǔ, Shāxī, Xiānchí, Píngtān, Shídòng, and Sānchuí." From this, it can be determined that Baisha was established as a town no later than the fourth year of Yongxi, 987 AD, making it over a thousand years old.

During the Yuan Dynasty, the town’s administrative status continued. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when Ming Yuzhen took control of Sichuan and established the Daxia regime with Chongqing as its capital, Jiangjin was renamed as an imperial frontier town, and Baisha became an “imperial frontier” area for the first time. In the fourth year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1371), after Ming Yuzhen’s son Ming Sheng surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty renamed Baisha as Baisha Li. In the ninth year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (1581), a water courier station was set up in Baisha, and both the "Míng Huìdiǎn" (Ming Code) and the "Dúshǐ Fāngyú Jìyào" (Essentials of Historical Geography) listed the Baisha Water Courier Station alongside the Boxi, Handong, and Baidu Water Courier Stations as the four major water courier stations of Jiangjin.

In the Qing Dynasty, a patrol inspection office was established, and the town’s administrative structure continued. By the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty, benefitting from its advantageous position along the water courier routes, Baisha increasingly emerged as a regional hub for goods distribution. It became not only a key river transport junction in eastern and southern Sichuan, but also an important town along the Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan post road.

During the Republic of China period, a town office was established, and Baisha served as the Third District Office of Jiangjin County. With the thriving commerce and transportation along the Yangtze River, Baisha developed into a prosperous town.

On November 29, 1949, Baisha was peacefully liberated. In December of the same year, the Fifth District Committee and the Fifth District People’s Government of Jiangjin County were established, governing five townships including Baisha, Sankou, Jizi, Tanghe, and Yongxing, with both the district committee and government stationed in Baisha Town. In April 1951, the seat of the Jiangjin County People’s Government was also moved to Baisha Town, making it the county seat and the political, economic, and cultural center of Jiangjin. This status lasted until July 1956, when the county government was relocated back to Chengguan Town (i.e., Jijiang Town), returning Baisha to its previous status. The following month after the county government's relocation, Baisha was restructured from a district into a town. In 1957, the Baisha Town People’s Committee was established. In 1970, the Baisha Town Revolutionary Committee was formed. Since 1980 to the present, it has been governed by the Baisha Town People’s Government as a county-level town.