10 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



is in II22 B. C, when the Shu united with the Chou people and others, 

 overthrew the Shangs, and estabhshed the Chou dynasty. 



In 316 B. C. Shu attacked Pa, and Pa appealed to Ch'in for help. 

 The Ch'in armies first attacked and subdued Shu, then conquered Pa. 

 Later Ch'in used the men, grain, and boats of Szechwan and attacked 

 and subdued Ch'u in the east. Other Chinese leaders in later centuries 

 used the same strategy. 



In the year 311 or 310 B. C. the city of Changtu was built. The 

 histories report that it had a wall 12 li in length and 70 feet high. 

 Later, in order to make the rule over Szechwan more stable and 

 permanent, thousands of Chinese families were moved from the north 

 and the east into the Chengtu plain and the Red Basin. In time a 

 majority of the people were Chinese, and the Shans were either 

 absorbed or moved southward. 



Before the coming of the Chinese the culture of the Shans was 

 high. The Chinese people also brought their culture with them, and 

 Szechwan became, and has generally been since, a place of learning 

 and high culture. 



In 250 B. C. Li Ping was appointed governor of Szechwan. He 

 showed remarkable ability and is credited with the work of perfecting 

 the irrigation system of the Chengtu plain. Owing to the rich alluvium 

 and the superb irrigation, there is never a famine in this district, it 

 being one of the most fertile and populous farming regions in the 

 world. 



In 206 B. C. the Ch'in dynasty fell and the Han dynasty was estab- 

 lished. Under the Han rulers China prospered both materially and 

 culturally, and this prosperity was shared by Szechwan. There was 

 trade with India through Tibet and Burma and trade with southeast 

 China through Kweichow. Through the Kansu corridor or "the north- 

 west passage" there was trade with western Asia and possibly with 

 Egypt. Chinese silks were worn by the fashionable women of Rome, 

 and Chinese pottery was carried westward by the "ship of the desert." 

 There was much trade with East China over the Yangtse and its tribu- 

 taries, and a trade route led northeastward to Peking. Evidence of 

 the material and cultural prosperity of Szechwan during the Han 

 period is found in the elaborate cave-tombs and graves of ornamented 

 bricks throughout the province. These contained miniature terra-cotta 

 houses, towers or pavilions, vases, tables, stoves, kitchen utensils, 

 dishes, horses, cows, sheep, pigs, dogs, chickens, ducks, pigeons, geese, 

 and a great variety of human figures including cooks, house servants, 

 soldiers, farmers, beautiful maidens, and elderly women. In these 



